Tanked up on coffee and wrapped in a warm jacket, this morning I once again set forth into the wastelands of mid-lockdown Brighton for another episode of "what does a console launch look like in 2020". This time, it's the PlayStation 5 edition.
If you missed my prior escapades, last week I visited GAME's Brighton store to see exactly how the retailer was handling the launch of the Xbox Series X/S in the middle of England's Covid-19 lockdown. Game stores are classed as non-essential shops, meaning they're officially closed - but GAME has organised a click-and-collect system to allow customers to pick up their consoles on the day. For the Xbox launch I arrived at lunchtime, when things had really quietened down, so to catch some of the prospective PlayStation 5 owners as they were picking up their consoles, I set my alarm clock to arrive slightly before opening time at 8:30am.
GAME Brighton is located within Churchill Square Shopping Centre, which normally opens at 9am, but special arrangements had been made for the PlayStation 5 launch. Queue spots were marked out to remind customers to keep a distance of 2m from one another, and a security guard was on duty to ensure a timely opening... and hand out the occasional elbow-bump.