More people than consoles

Early Thursday, just after the stroke of midnight, the PlayStation 3 countdown begins. With 24 hours to go before the launch of Sony's game console, fanatics line up outside the SonyStyle store in midtown Manhattan.

Looking east on 56th Street between Fifth Avenue and Madison Avenue early Thursday, this was where the waiting line ended. Even the line's end was barricaded. As more people arrived, the barricades were shifted to corral them.

Publicists prowling the scene estimated the line at 450 people, already more than the number of PlayStation 3 units that will be available in the store the next night.