At 5am today most 17-year-olds were asleep in bed. Not Ritatsu Thomas. Hunched in a sleeping bag, a woolly hat pulled around his ears, the teenager lay on the floor of Oxford Street’s Virgin Megastore. At midnight tonight he is set to become the first person in Britain to own a PlayStation 3.

In America the introduction of the coveted console brought muggings, brawls in shopping centres and a drive-by shooting. But Sony is hoping for a more civilised affair as the product goes on sale in Britain.

The store opened its doors at midday yesterday for gaming fanatics prepared to queue for 36 hours. Extra security and police have been drafted in amid fears that youngsters leaving the store in the early hours of tomorrow could fall prey to marauding hoodies.

Not that that bothers Ritatsu, who persuaded his reluctant father to drive him from Mitcham, South London, in the early hours. Mr Thomas will drive back again today to drop off £195 of the £425 cost that his son has not managed to save from his Saturday job.

“I should be at college,” Ritatsu said. “But I’m doing a B Tech in graphic design and this counts as research into the history of computer games.”

The teenager said he had no qualms about spending 43 hours on a shop floor. “I play games for long periods, sometimes for two days solid without eating. So I’m used to sitting around doing nothing for long periods of time.”

Throughout the afternoon a slow trickle of pasty faces and questionable haircuts headed for an area that had been cordoned off for sleeping. The company had made provision for free food, drinks and sleeping bags for up to 500 people. “For most launches they’d queue outside,” a spokesman said. “But it’s so cold out there we’re giving them sanctuary.”

A spokesman for Sony said that there were enough PS3s to supply the crowd whatever its size. But for those queueing it was being there that mattered.

“I’ve always wanted to go to a console launch,” said Shanie Chatfield. “It’s definitely worth the wait, especially as you get a free game for queueing.”

Scotland Yard advised buyers to organise a safe route home. A spokesman said: “It doesn’t take a genius to work out that these are vulnerable people who will be encumbered with large amounts of money or a valuable electronic item.”

Virgin said it had organised taxis for those who had queued.

Three cheers?

* The PlayStation 3 will be launched in Britain at midnight at the Virgin Megastore on Oxford Street

* The console will run Bluray discs, which can store 50 gigabytes on a single disc, 77 times more than a traditional CD

* It will be HD ready, giving games five times more detail than the PlayStation 2

* It will have a 60 gigabyte hard disk, enabling players to store photographs and other material downloaded using internet connection

* The console also supports a wireless controller that can generate a reaction in games by being tilted to various angles.

Source: Times database

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