Days of waiting paid off for Sergio Rodriguez, one of the relatively few able to buy Sony's PlayStation3 when the coveted game console went on sale early today.

He was among the die-hard gamers and entrepreneurs across the country who braved foul weather and heckling by passers-by all week for the chance to shell out $500 or more for the sleek PS3, plus about $60 per game.

With shortages resulting from production problems, many had camped out for days without knowing if they'd be going home empty-handed. At some stores, the crowds got rowdy and stampeded for the shelves, injuring a man in Wisconsin and forcing authorities to shut down a Wal-Mart store in California.

In Connecticut, two armed thugs who got wise to the PS3's high price and tried to rob a line of people waiting outside a Putnam Wal-Mart store at 3 a.m. One person who refused to give up the money was shot, state police said.

In Lexington, Ky., four people waiting outside a Best Buy were hit by BB pellets, though none was seriously injured, according to WKYT, whose own reporter was hit as she interviewed buyers.

Rodriguez had been waiting outside the New York Circuit City store since Sunday for the a midnight launch event, and he was the first to walk away with the PS3 as people still standing in line outside the store cheered.

"This is the best game ever. It's so worth the wait," the 25-year-old graphics designer said. "Some people may call me crazy, but I really love to play."

With Sony promising only 400,000 systems for the nationwide launch, the chance of disappointment was high. While retailers tried to keep expectations low, lines snaked around the block at many stores - even those that weren't going to begin sales until later Friday.

At the Best Buy in Seekonk yesterday, John McCarthy, 33, of Providence, was first in line.

“I got lucky because of the incident yesterday,” he said.

On Wednesday morning, people began camping outside the store for this morning’s release. But the store wouldn’t permit them to stay overnight until last night. So the line dissolved Wednesday evening and reformed yesterday morning, at 8, with McCarthy, who last May upon hearing the release date for PlayStation3 put in for two vacation days from Fidelity in Smithfield.

“I enjoy having the latest and greatest technology,” McCarthy said.

Jack Mitchell, 18, of Hanson, Mass., enjoys having it, too. But he has his limit.

“I am not spending $600,” he said. “It’s all about the money.”

Mitchell, who skipped classes yesterday at Massasoit College and said he’d attend classes today on no sleep, said he plans to auction the PlayStation3 on E-Bay for more than $2,000. Then, with his profit, he said he’d buy another unit later when supplies are higher, and the product’s better.

“Usually the ones that come out on launch day have problems,” he said.

Mitchell drove to three stores before he found one where he could qualify for the relatively limited number of PlayStation3 units for sale. The Best Buy in Seekonk had 26 units. Mitchell was 26th in line.

Glenn Blackledge, 20, of East Providence, works at Best Buy — , but not the one in Seekonk, but Warwick, where he said the line was too long, and he had no clout as an employee. So he drove to Seekonk, where he was third in line, not counting his fruitless day of waiting the day before.

Christmas is coming, Blackledge said. Demand for the games will grow.

“If you don’t get one now, you’re not going to get one,” he said.

Males make up the majority of electronic gamers. That was obvious in this line outside Best Buy. There was one woman buying a PlayStation3 for herself: Susan DeSimone of East Providence. As a truck driver, she said she doesn’t follow traditional gender roles, or generational ones. She’s 46.

“Maybe I’m a kid at heart,” she said.

Sony, which has contended with laptop battery recalls and trails rivals in key products such as music players and liquid crystal displays, is counting on the PS3 to maintain and build its market lead in consoles.

Some customers were buying PS3 machines for themselves or as gifts, but many were hoping to resell them at a profit. Units were fetching several thousand dollars early today at the eBay Inc. auction site.

Edgar Alcala, 18, who grabbed one of the first spots in line at San Francisco's Sony Metreon Mall on Wednesday morning, said he was looking forward to a warm, dry bed and a hefty profit.

"When I get home, I'm going to take a quick picture of it, slap it on eBay and go to sleep," Alcala said minutes before the store's doors opened at midnight Friday.

Potential customers braved freezing temperatures in Fargo, N.D., and heavy rain and winds in Baltimore and other East Coast locales.

Even a volunteer for former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina asked for help in getting a PS3 - from Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which the potential 2008 presidential candidate frequently criticizes.

Edwards said the volunteer "feels terrible" about seeking the console from Wal-Mart a day after his boss criticized the giant retailer, saying it doesn't treat its employees fairly. Wal-Mart accused Edwards, the Democrats' 2004 vice presidential candidate, of not wanting to wait his turn.

Short supplies and strong demand were feared to be a formula for trouble as the PS3 hit store shelves, a half-year late because of problems completing work on the console's built-in, next-generation DVD player.

Sony promised the 400,000 machines in the United States for Friday's launch and about 1 million by year's end. Worldwide, it was expecting 2 million this year, half its original projections.

Jack Tretton, executive vice president at Sony Computer Entertainment America, said retailers will be receiving new PlayStations daily - expedited by plane rather than ships.

"At some point we want to get to some degree of normalcy, but that remains to be seen," Tretton told The Associated Press, adding that seeing all the people camped out and lined up for the console "kind of makes all the effort worth it."

Enthusiasm for the PlayStation 3 wasn't dampened by its high price tag - $500 for the basic model with a 20-gigabyte hard drive and $600 for the 60-gigabyte version, which also has built-in wireless.

By contrast, Nintendo Co.'s Wii, which goes on sale Sunday in the U.S., retails for $250. Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360, which had a year's head start over rivals, sells for $300 to $400.

Sony crammed the PlayStation 3 with the very latest in cutting-edge technology, and it dominated the previous generation of consoles with 70 percent of the global market.