Culture

Gamers Camped Out Overnight, Subjected Themselves To COVID-19 In Hopes Of Getting The Best Deals On Gaming Systems

#Black Friday
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Black Friday Shopping Lines

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Admittedly, I am not a gamer. I own only an Xbox360 and NCAA Football 2014. For whatever reason, I never gravitated toward the video game scene, but I certainly don’t hate on those who do. Playing games like Call of Duty and Halo are fun, and everyone has their own vices, but it was never mine. And that’s okay.

With that being said, there are very few reasons for which I would camp out overnight. If I were out in the wilderness or on a camping trip, that is the most obvious reason. Beyond that, I’m pretty much out. Ahead of Black Friday, people around the country set up their homes-away-from home outside of the Walmarts, Targets, GameStops, and electronic stores of the world looking to get ahead of the lines for top deals on the new Playstation Five and Xbox Series X.

In a normal year, this is a standard behavior beyond the video gaming realm. With the pandemic this year, much of that dwindled, and there is no chance you would find me entering a mall packed with people or any sort of crowd, anywhere.

Why voluntarily subject myself to Coronavirus when I could just… not? Gamers continued on.

On second thought, I may camp out overnight for a Duke Basketball game, or for a perfect tailgating spot in The Grove at Ole Miss, or something like a National Championship game. But that becomes more of a tailgate, in a sense. The concept of sleeping in the cold, in a lawn chair, to (maybe) purchase an item and leave without any sort of in-person experience, during a global pandemic baffles me. Nevertheless, the deals were too great and the people flocked.

To make it even more crazy, some of these people didn’t even get into the store in time for the limited supply of the new system. Imagine camping out for upwards of 24 hours only to be told they’re out of stock…. Oof.