At the pray station

Michael Huggings took an early holiday this week to visit his cousin Daniel Gonzales in Costa Mesa. Why? Well, it seems too early for Christmas. An early start for Turkey Day maybe?

Nah, the two cousins are camped outside a Best Buy store to get in line for PlayStation 3, the rabidly anticipated video game system that goes on sale Friday. Huggings and Gonzalez, like many other PlayStation fanatics, will spend the next two days near the corner of Bear Street and South Coast Drive.

More than 20 people on Wednesday lined the sidewalk next to the Metro Pointe shopping center, all hoping to be one of the first purchasing the new system, priced at $499 for the basic model and $599 for a system with extras.

Managers of the Best Buy in the shopping center would not allow anyone to wait in front of the store until the morning the game is released, said Chris Broderick, 30, of Bakersfield.

The head security “guy said he would come out here and literally ‘Pied Piper’ us back at 4 or 5 a.m.,” Broderick said.

Holding the first spot in line on Bear Street, along with two of his friends, Broderick drove roughly three hours to Costa Mesa so he would not have to wait alone.

“Instead of waiting in line by myself, I decided to take a few days off and wait with my friends,” Broderick said.

Huggings is a self-proclaimed video game addict, but he said he won’t hang on to his PlayStation for long. He and Gonzales plan to sell their systems to the highest bidder, gaining an expected 200% in profits.

That’s why they shrugged off the lost income from work.

“I will make more money selling it than the two days of work it cost me to take off,” Huggings said.

Most of the early-bird shoppers in line at Best Buy said they would sell their game consoles, but that wasn’t the case for the PlayStation fanatics waiting in front of the Costa Mesa Target on Harbor Boulevard.

“I’m not going to wait in line for three days just to sell it,” Target camper Greg Worthing said.

Worthing decided to take a few days off from his job tending bar to treat himself to an early birthday present. He turns 24 on Saturday.

The Costa Mesa resident drove less than a half a mile to the store, pulled out a chair, ordered some pizzas and made friends with the eight people spending the next few nights with him.

“If I’m sitting out here for three days I’m sure not exercising to get here,” said Worthing, who arrived at about 9 p.m. Tuesday.

After an initial disagreement with management, the Target crowd convinced store representatives to let them camp out near the front doors until 8 a.m. Friday when the PlayStation games will go on sale.

Unfortunately, fewer than 20 of those in line at Target will walk away with a new game system.

Best Buy has only a few more to offer than its competition, with 10 20-gigabyte hard-drive models costing $499 available and 24 of the 60-gigabyte models going for $599, store employees said.

Even the Sony Style store in South Coast Plaza didn’t receive a huge inventory. The store will have only five of the game consoles to sell at first.

Sony Style plans to open by 8:30 a.m. Friday, although the time has not been confirmed, and campers are not allowed, the mall’s security said.

Can’t wait that long to play? You can still stop by the store and get a sneak peek at the hot toy. A kiosk inside has a demonstration system set up for potential patrons to test the unit.