Metal Gear Solid 4: The SF Midnight Launch
As a few of you may or may not be aware of, I am currently on "vacation" in scenic San Francisco. While here, I realised that I would be missing the launch of the much anticipated Metal Gear Solid 4, and consequentially, the target of my economic stimulus act gov't payoff rebate. As such, I twisted some arms and got myself to the scenic downtown GameStop on Powell to see if I could snag myself a bundle.
Apon arriving, we were hopeful seeing no large gathering leading into the store. These hopes were quickly dashed as the absense of a "large gathering" was actually a haphazard line that stretched around the block and nearly half way down the subsequent street. While no accurate count was made, we estimated somewhere over a hundred people had arrived to pick up their pre-orders and MGS4 bundles. Unforunately, the man at the front of the line refused to release details on the number of pre-orders they had received.
The fellows at the front of the line were there for a relatively short amount of time. The chap leading the pack, under the alias "Bank" had arrived at 6pm waiting for his copy of the game. I was rather suprised to find that only two gamers had shown up in cos-play.
Promptly at midnight, patrons began filing into the building, directed by security to one of three registers. After aproximately 24 minutes of waiting in line, I was told there were still consoles behind the registers and I should walk up to the first one available. My elation was quickly dashed as I was told that they had actually sold all the consoles to the patrons in line at 10pm, but they were not actually allowed to receive their products until after the midnight launch hit. Thus, I left empty handed and I will be making my trek of shame back to the midwest soon enough. It looks like I will be waiting for the next shipment of bundles like the rest of the unpre-ordered masses.
Asterick
Posted to Video Games on 12 June 2008
· Comments (4)
Other stuff like this: at least airport security will be easier, bundle, kojima productions, metal gear solid, playstation 3, sony
Name: Dave
I got the game last night, and it's even better than I'd hoped it would be so far. I'm loving every second of it.
i always knew i would be buying, eventually, a playstation 3. i was burned, like we all were, by the launch, and just didn't feel as though resistance was a good enough reason to buy a 500 dollar system. i told myself i'd get it when either mgs4 or ff13 came out.
well, like an idiot, i didn't feel the need to preorder the mgs4 bundle. i didn't think it would be nearly as popular as the wii, particularly since a lot of people already own a ps3, right?
last night the online commerce industry failed me. i was disappointed. despondent, even. on a whim, i decided to go to my local gamestop a little before they opened at ten this morning. there was one guy waiting outside. he said he had been there since 7.45 in the morning, since this was one of the ones that didn't have a midnight launch. i went in, cautiously pessimistic, and asked if they had any bundles that weren't tied up with preorders. he said they hadn't even taken preorders for the bundle, and he knew he had one that i could have, but he thought that store had only gotten three total.
i was a very happy boy, and really have to hand it to my local gamestop (not often i get to say that).
of course, my boyfriend is here right now, so i can't exactly shove him out of the house and demand some quality alone time with old snake. soon enough, though...
I'm currently playing it (well, taking a food break). Game is mind blowingly awesome. I'm nearing the end of act 2 and can't stop for too long as it's like a beautiful form of crack. I got the LE myself which was a bit pricey but I'm hoping the bluray docu is worth it (it contains game spoilers) so I must wait until I beat the game to view it.
So... no GameStops were supposed to sell the bundle at any Midnight openings. Any stores that did sell them will be audited and possibly punished.
On a separate note... you could NOT reserve the bundle. They were all first come first serve.