Waiting game over for 94 lucky Playstation fans

PS4 pop-up in Bethnal Green. Pic: James Benge

PS4 pop-up in Bethnal Green. Pic: James Benge

Bethnal Green Road was the place to be today if you are an avid gamer in search of the bargain of a lifetime.

In celebration of Playstation’s 20th anniversary, Sony opened a pop-up store selling the company’s latest special edition Playstation 4 for just £19.94, a saving of over £300 on the recommended retail price.

The special edition console, in the same colours as the original Playstation from 1994, was available to the first 94 customers in store this morning.

Proceeds from the sale will be going to the Games Aid charity, which helps disadvantaged and disabled children.

Many had queued for several hours after Sony tweeted the news of the special offer late last night.

Jim Peacock, a 45-year-old consultant from Luton, had travelled for over an hour to be in the queue for 8:15am.

He said: “I’ve already got a PS4 but I’m not selling this one [special edition]. I know you can get a lot of money for them. The other one might go to a family member.”

On Monday, the same console was selling on eBay for over $15,000. Only 12,300 individually numbered units will be produced, reflecting the original December 3 launch of the Playstation.

For those who missed out on the discounted systems, the Playstation ’94 shop had other pieces of memorabilia from the 20-year history of the consoles, including a playable original Playstation and custom cufflinks.

From left to right: Josephine Ruddock and Susan Branagh. Pic: James Benge

From left to right: Josephine Ruddock and Susan Branagh. Pic: James Benge

Two of the customers queuing for memorabilia were Josephine Ruddock, a 26-year-old admin assistant from Clapham and 25-year-old graduate Susan Branagh from Sutton.

Branagh said: “They are great to their customers. The Playstation Network has lots of free games, it’s great when you’re a student.”

The store will remain open on Thursday and Friday, selling another 50 special edition Playstations at full retail price on a first-come, first-served basis.

Leave a Reply