Man hurt in game race: Wal-Mart reportedly made buyers run to get a PlayStation 3.

Byline: Stanley A. Miller Ii

Nov. 17--The long, cold wait for the PlayStation 3 turned ugly on Thursday when customers eager to get in line at a Wal-Mart stampeded, trampling each other in a debacle that left at least one man injured.

Some witnesses said the store's management set the scene for disaster when the crowd of about 50 people was told to race to 10 chairs for a chance to buy the 10 rare videogame systems the store expected to sell today.

"It was terrible and really, really stupid," said Quoizel Williams, 24, who was one of those waiting in line at the West Bend Wal-Mart before shifting to the location at Milwaukee's Midtown Center shopping center. "Anyone with any common sense would know things would get violent."

Mike Dooley, the store's manager, said in a phone interview Thursday morning that there was no race and that the chairs were put outside for the convenience of the shoppers, some of whom he said had been standing outside for a long time. Later in the day he declined to comment further about the incident, and an assistant manager at the store referred questions to Wal-Mart's corporate relations department.

According to West Bend police, an assistant store manager announced to the crowd -- which had formed about 7 a.m. -- that the store expected to receive only 10 of the video game systems.

He said the PlayStation 3s -- which cost $499 and $599 -- would go on sale at 12:01 a.m. today. .