Robbery, violence, profiteering, crashing infrastructure, rioting crowds in every city in the U.S. No, it’s not the prelude to Armageddon. It’s the launch of Sony’s latest gaming console, the PlayStation 3. And with the scarcity of units common knowledge for many weeks now, it raises an important question: When should a company’s desire to generate buzz be outweighed by a little social responsibility?

By now the reports are everywhere of riots ensuing after stores that had less than a dozen PS3s, but hundreds of customers lined up to buy one (some for days), ran out. In Kentucky, someone drove past a line of hopefuls spraying the crowd with BB fire. In another, thieves tried to rob customers waiting on line and shot one customer when he refused to give them his money.

For many of the very few who managed to get the sought-after units, their first act was to put their prize up on eBay – where crazed gamers were paying in excess of $15,000 for one.

The launch even managed to crash whole sections of the Internet for brief periods. Circuit City, Best Buy, even Costco Web sites were overwhelmed by a surge of users desperately seeking PlayStations. All this for a gaming console that has garnered mixed reviews from the few media outlets to receive test units.

It has been known for some time that Sony would not have near enough units on hand for launch to meet demand, although the company did claim to have 400,000 units ready for November 17. This may be true, but in The Geek Beat’s own informal survey of stores in the Los Angeles area (and a couple of online resellers,) we found few had more than 10 units and, in at least one case, a major online electronics reseller had none.

So, with demand so high and supply, whatever the number, so inadequate, why would Sony choose to launch now?

The answer is simple: Buzz. Long lines and sold-out stores are great publicity. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 launch last year had a similar buzz factor when first shipments ran out almost immediately. But at least there were no major acts of violence, and Microsoft was able ramp supply so that most users who really wanted a 360 got one within weeks of the launch. There is little doubt in my mind that Sony launched the PS3 prematurely in the hopes of generating similar buzz.

I’m sure no one at Sony wanted the shortage to devolve into violence. However, I think this situation begs the question of whether a company should ever launch a product, especially one as hotly anticipated as this one was, with insufficient supply. Most companies would never ship a product with a known defect, especially a defect that might cause harm. Don’t companies have similar responsibility not to create havoc by not shipping enough of a product? Do they have the right to cry “launch” in a crowded theater full of gamers?

It’s an interesting question, and one I’m not sure I know the answer to. I don’t want to see more regulation or other government intervention. But I do hope, in an environment of greater scrutiny over corporate governance issues, that we might add “Don’t Willfully Generate Mayhem” to the list of standards we ask all companies to adhere to. And just so you know, I’m not letting the thugs actually committing the mayhem off the hook. To all those people trampling each other for a gaming console, I have just one thing to say: Grow up! It’s just a game.

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