An Overview of the Night
Entertainment
Gamestop does a pretty decent job of keeping it's customers entertained. Last monday night there were three different giveaways of miscellaneous items including: the countdown display, MW3 shirt, a nerf ball, a clown mask, Battlefield poster... and the list goes on. ( I did not receive anything.) Even pizza, candy, and water were offered for free at the front of the line.
Not all of these prizes came free, however. The first round of prizes required contestants to answer rigorous questions about the Gears series. It started out that way until the employee got bored with the provided pages of questions and began to improvise. Questions ranged from 'What's my favorite weapon on COD?' to 'Who was the first emperor of Rome?"
One other thing that was popular amongst the slowly growing crowed was the Xbox stand that had Gears of War 2 hooked up. At first no one dared to approach it but after awhile people warmed up to it. Gamers were playing up until five minutes before midnight!
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| "You look like you're peeing when you play like that," - Brittany the Girlfriend. |
The People
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| LaBonte's five hours of waiting finally pay off. |
"I think I've had this pre-ordered since the first day it became an option," said long time Gears fan LaBonte. "I'm most excited for the servers that will make online play better and the conclusion of the series' story."
Although Kirby isn't as hardcore as his friend, he did make an effort for the night aside from showing up five hours early.
"Earlier today I went out and bought this just for tonight," Kirby said as he flashed his brand new Gears of War shirt.
There was another group of attendees that particularly struck my fancy - the girlfriends. Since I've never been one of the girls who just followed their boyfriend to the release party, I decided to see what made them want to come.
"Its better than just sitting back at home alone in the apartment," Brittany said as she watched her boyfriend play on the Xbox. "I do play video games, though. I just don't play much because my boyfriend Mitch hogs it,"
And that is one way a girl's journey to gamer-ness begins. Hopefully, one day she'll become a full-fledged gamer! For those of you boys out there with girlfriends like Brittany, remember, sharing is caring.
The Arrival
"Alright guys, make sure you are lined up. PowerUp card holders make your way forward!" said the man with the Gamestop tag. I think I'm the only one who started squealing and jumping around a bit, but there is no shame in that! It was 11:56 when we took our first steps into the glowing doors of goodness and took our place in the final lines. I was zipping around taking pictures (which you can view below) and before I knew it, they were handing out The Game.
LaBonte stood there at the counter, the very first one in line. As soon as he walked up to the counter the clerk began preparing his bags and LaBonte began joking around with him, hoping to get his hands on the game a bit early. The clerk played around but once it was 12:01, he made sure LaBonte was the first one with the game in his hands. Before he ran out of the store, I was able to ask him one final question: Was it worth it?
"Waiting these past few hours was definitely worth it. Now its time to go kill some Locust!" and with that said, he ran out the doors into the night.
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| Me geeking out a bit. |
"Did you really think you could go to a Gears of War launch event and come out unharmed?" My friend Eric asked me as he pulled me out of a hole. Yes, you read that right, a hole. It engulfed my left leg up to my knee. What's worse is that the hole was filled with warm water that smelled like fish.
With my boot ruined, my sock wet, and the game in my lap, I drove back to my dorm to fire-up the game I ruined my boot for!
Have any interesting stories from your experiences at launch events? Post them here!
Your's truly,
HavokRose
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