PlayStation 3 generation has begun

SAN FRANCISCO--Sony is fond of saying that each new generation of video game consoles doesn't really begin until it launches its entry.

If that's so--and Microsoft would certainly have some quibbles with the notion--then the next-generation console era is most definitely on.

At just before midnight, Sony Computer Entertainment of America Vice President and co-COO Jack Tretton handed over the first PlayStation 3 bought on the West Coast. The lucky recipient? Chris Toribio of San Francisco, who, along with a group of friends, had been waiting in line since 8 a.m. Wednesday.

It was a scene straight out Hollywood. As Toribio walked to the counter to pay for his PS3, he was encircled by photographers and cameramen and women and there was a virtual strobe effect from all the flashes going off.

Toribio, who looked a little unsteady on his feet--and who can blame him after nearly 40 hours waiting in line on a downtown street here--took the proffered bag, turned around, posed for pictures and acceded to demands that he pull out the PS3 and show it off.

He then shouted, in a fairly hoarse voice, "Alright! Everybody get yours!"