As brick and mortar dies, share your favorite midnight release memories

[Nigel Tufnel]

I actually traveled to a Wii U midnight launch event at one point, it was a relatively plain experience in comparison to the other stories on here.
I think there was only, like, 12 people there? and not enough Wii U's for everyone. I still have the image of me unboxing the system for the first time.

It wasn't my first attempt at getting a console at launch, i had actually pre-ordered the 3DS back then. But i merely ordered it online.
It's become a trend for me to always get the mainline Nintendo systems on Day One, i nabbed the Switch through sheer luck after rolling into a store as soon as they opened.
There's also the Vita, but that was another case where i grabbed it during normal store hours, though i did at least pre-order it beforehand.

Click to shrink...

I got my switch the same way, funny enough.

 

[Hilbert]

I went to game stop on 9.9.99 for the release of the dreamcast. It wasn't midnight though, it was 5 am or something. The old ladies powerwalking around the mall looked at us like we were crazy.

A coworker called me up and asked me to wait in line with him on the midnight release of Halo ODST. Probably wouldn't have even picked it up otherwise.

 

[Baphomet]

Halo 3

 

[elzeus]

Wasn't midnight but for the 360 launch 200+ people camped outside and a group that managed to get one at midnight rode by our line and waved it out the window being douches... well they didn't see the ice at the end of the parking lot and spun out and crashed into a tree.

 

[Petruccis Biceps]

My favorite midnight release was when COD MW2 came out. I've never seen a line that long that wrapped around the plaza at my local Gamestop. It was ridiculous. I remember finally getting my hands on the game and everyone being online when I got home, everybody was freaking out about how many new killstreaks there were in the game. It was just a great time. MW2 and Black Ops 1 were probably my favorites just because it felt like COD at its peak and all my friends were on playing it at the same time. It really did feel like a huge event that you were taking part in with everyone else at the same time. This rarely happens anymore nowadays, it was a special time.

I also camped out for the Wii launch overnight at Target. This was completely on a whim with my friend after work. We didn't attempt to get preorders and just figured "hey what the hell?" It was a pretty cold night and we were pleasantly surprised that the first person on line actually had a big notebook that had everyones name and place in line so that if you needed to step out during the night to get some food or take a nap or something, your place would be saved. It was really great and everyone was having fun. My friend brought a 2 liter of dr pepper, drank one or two cups from it and then when he put it back in my car before we went to get our Wiis, he never screwed the cap on tight, so when I drove away, the bottle tipped over and just soaked into the floor of the backseat. My car was pretty old at that point but it was impossible to get the stickiness out.

 

[Deleted member 7279]

It wasn't midnight.

I was like 15 posting on the old Maddenmania forum.

Thread there talking about which stores had the game at a certain time and said my local one did.

Turned out that another poster there was like hey I live like 10 minutes from there.

So we met up and hung out in line for like 15 minutes while they unpacked the games and got everything organized for preorders.

Waiting in those lines for NCAA and Madden was like a rite of passage when I was in high school.

 

[Slappy White]

My girlfriend and I managed an indie game store for over a decade in a college town. One year for my then girlfriend now wife's birthday I bought tickets to see a local production of The Producers, which was about an hour away. Didn't really think about the consequences of the date of the show, just wanted to go! Turns out it would end up being the same night as Smash Brawl's release, and we had cultivated a pretty big scene, for a small store, by running monthly Smash tournaments for years (since Melee came out).

So, flash forward to launch night, the show ends, the cast comes out for their final curtain, it's 11pm and then we make a dash to start the one hour drive to get to our store! We turned a one hour if you're lucky drive into a 50 minute one, entered the closest entrance to our store which is in a large mall. We make it to the foot of the second floor escalator heading down (where the store immediately sits). There are over 100 people standing single file waiting for anyone to show up, and then it's thunderous applause as we hop down that escalator.

Keep in mind we're dressed for theater. GF is wearing an incredible dress, I'm in a suit and now it's time to sell some games!

Neither of us work there anymore, but that's where we met and fell in love. I have 100s of stories I'll always treasure from the time I spent there. I can honestly say there was not one day I wanted to be somewhere else during my entire ten plus years running the place. All the nights, early mornings, weekends, holidays, Black Fridays ... I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Click to shrink...

This is a really cool story. I loved reading it.

 

[samred]

Nintendo Wii, November 2006, Toys 'R Us at 75 and Park, Dallas, TX.

I don't for the life of me remember what I had been doing that evening, but I remember deciding to pull off while driving home at the LAST second. "I kiiiiinda want a Wii," I thought, and if the line wasn't bad, I'd go for it. I got to the parking lot at around 10pm, and people continued pulling in and lining up, which I thought was a good sign for arriving late.

I rushed to the line of ppl and asked if anyone had any clue what their inventory was. I figured I'd save my spot in line and then walk up to the door to sleuth it out if not. A 12 year old boy proceeded to list exactly how many Wiis they had and exactly what place in line he was (I forget the numbers, but like, 180 and 120.) I'll never forget that kid.

It was freakishly cold in Dallas and I didn't have a jacket. TRU made us all wait outside anyway.

The next day, everyone realized how fucking sold out the Wii was. We'd all expected higher stock and/or lower sales ahead of launch. But I never considered selling mine. So many people came over to my house just to play Wii Sports. It was a THING.

 

[The_R3medy]

Back when Halo 3: ODST came out, my friends and I grilled out in front of the GameStop in town. When Reach released, we grilled out again and had coolers along with it. It was just a wonderful time, man.

Wish I could have experienced like that again.

 

[perfectchaos007]

I remember getting my mom to take me to Walmart for the midnight release of GBA. I remember waiting in line and some of my friends were there with their moms. I got a purple GBA with mario advance. God bless our moms who took us to a midnight release

 

[Hardvlade]

My SM was the most disorganized guy ever and didn't know what he was doing at all

Click to shrink...

Oof, I know the feel. I had to help with another store a few times since they were close to each other and their store was an absolute mess. I disliked every time I was sent over.

 

[TheXbox]

3DS at midnight was the only one I've been to. Pretty lowkey, although the turnout was strong. I think I got Street Fighter and Pilotwings? Those days were rough.

 

[Man God]

I hungout at the 360 launch and they let me buy Mario Kart DS at midnight. Totally nice crew at that Gamestop.

 

[NCR Ranger]

I only really did one midnight launch and that was Final Fantasy XII. It was at my local Gamestop and they haded out prizes and all that. I, of course, didn't win anything.

Though my friend and I were up late the night GTA5 launched and decided to swing by Walmart and grab a copy. I don't count that because we showed up after all the hubbub and just bought one of the many copies left over.

 

[cdm00]

I've been to 4 I think.
First was for Smash 3DS. Me and my mom drove up to Walmart and picked it up at midnight. Nothing too special.
The next was Smash Wii U, Pokemon Omega Ruby, and a Mario amiibo. I had to get an amiibo after all. Pre-ordered all of them. Didn't get to skip school that day though. We went up to the GameStop to get them, line was at least 20 to 30 people. I excitedly opened Omega Ruby, as I was extremely excited for hoenn remakes. I played that more during launch week than I ever did Smash 4.
Next was Black Ops 3. Went up to Best Buy, got this with GCU and the $10 bonus, so $38 for the new COD at launch was a steal, even back in 2015. We went at 11pm, and after I got home, I didn't know that I wouldn't be able to play it until everything installed. I remember my ass getting whooped in one MP round. 1-15 was a terrible start.
The latest was Mario Odyssey. Same thing with BO3, $38 at launch for a new freaking 3D Mario game was the steal of the century. This time, I forgot we could pick it up at 11pm instead of at midnight, so I could've been exploring the Cascade Kingdom an entire hour earlier! Oh well.

Every game pre-order I have now is either through Game Pass, Amazon, or eventually through digital. I have enough Switch vouchers to get me through the holidays and I know not to buy COD at launch without a discount now. I miss going to midnight launches. There's a sense of excitement, exploring a brand new game world with other people.

 

[Smokey_Run]

SOCOM Confrontation. I called a Wal-Mart about 30 miles away and the person who answered the phone told me they had copies in the back and they'd bring them out at midnight. So I head out with two friends, both long-time SOCOM fans like myself. We arrive and there are probably a good dozen people there. I figured everyone is there for SOCOM and it's a good turnout. The person working electronics asks us what games we are waiting to purchase. Turns out, the three of us were the only ones there for SOCOM. All the others were there for FIFA and one person (the smartest one of the group IMO) was there for Dead Space. Oh yeah, SOCOM Confrontation was not in the back and the person lied to me. So we went home emptied handed but buying FIFA became an inside joke for years to follow.

 

[qa_engineer]

PS4 launch at Bestbuy in Northern VA right outside DC. Line is stretched around the block (I'm number 20 or 30, can't remember). Younger guy in a Maserati GranTurismo (140K USD GT car) speeds through parking lot, parks car and walks to the front of the line. Maserati bro then offers up 1000 USD to anyone at the front to sell their spot / PS4. One person near the front of the line accepts and walks away with a cool G for standing in line and can now buy two PS4s. Turns out the guy in the Maserati was one of the five guys from the Five Guys burger chain (which was founded in VA). I get my PS4 and go on with my life. Fin.

 

[Mr Delabee]

My girlfriend and I managed an indie game store for over a decade in a college town. One year for my then girlfriend now wife's birthday I bought tickets to see a local production of The Producers, which was about an hour away. Didn't really think about the consequences of the date of the show, just wanted to go! Turns out it would end up being the same night as Smash Brawl's release, and we had cultivated a pretty big scene, for a small store, by running monthly Smash tournaments for years (since Melee came out).

So, flash forward to launch night, the show ends, the cast comes out for their final curtain, it's 11pm and then we make a dash to start the one hour drive to get to our store! We turned a one hour if you're lucky drive into a 50 minute one, entered the closest entrance to our store which is in a large mall. We make it to the foot of the second floor escalator heading down (where the store immediately sits). There are over 100 people standing single file waiting for anyone to show up, and then it's thunderous applause as we hop down that escalator.

Keep in mind we're dressed for theater. GF is wearing an incredible dress, I'm in a suit and now it's time to sell some games!

Neither of us work there anymore, but that's where we met and fell in love. I have 100s of stories I'll always treasure from the time I spent there. I can honestly say there was not one day I wanted to be somewhere else during my entire ten plus years running the place. All the nights, early mornings, weekends, holidays, Black Fridays ... I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Click to shrink...

That was a cool story to read, I know the exact feeling of not wanting to trade any of that time spent working at an indie store.

This was my view at work for around 5 years.

Customers view.

I need to find those original pics so I can scan them.

I met so many great people working at that place including my gaming brother EvilBoris I also had so many strange conversations with my boss and customers as well, mostly all console warz and bias.

Worked there over Xbox/GameCube/GBA SP+Micro/DS/PSP/PS2 Slim launches, we generally had midnight launches for big games like FIFA/GTA/Halo and consoles. We would open at 11:30, let people do some trades, gear up credit and sell at midnight. I fondly remember Halo 2 launch where we had Xbox system link going playing MP levels before selling at midnight, people were SO excited to get that game home after having a quick play on MP. Sold SO many Xbox Live bundles too.

As for personal midnight launches as a customer, I will always remember going to my local EB for Dreamcast launch back in 1999. They had sonic adventure playing on loop and everyone in the queue was HYPED just watching it, I got the last Dreamcast keyboard in the shop that night alongside a VMU, Sonic Adventure and Power Stone, such a great console.

The last midnight launch I attended was for the switch, I went with a friend who was picking up a console, thought I would join him to take in the hype as it was the first time I had ordered a console online instead. My console got delivered at 4pm day of launch, he was texting me picture of his switch and Zelda and I was getting jealous.

So if GAME survive til next Xmas I'll be going back for midnight launches of PS5/Xbox Scarlet, nothing beats having a new console as soon as it's released.

 

[MoosetheMark]

I went to Gamestop at midnight to pick up the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, which just so happened to coincide with the launch of either the latest Call of Duty. I figured if they were going to be open anyway, I might as well pick up MGS. I was the odd man out to say the least.

 

[zoltek]

PlayStation 2. No pre-order. Impulse buy. Sony Metreon in San Francisco. All night long. Number 49 in line out of 50 available. I held that PS2 and it's damn bright blue bag to me as tight as possible the whole way home. I was convinced someone was going to jack me on the BART ride through Oakland. SSX was all worth it. My buddy got Midnight Club Racing and I don't think he was very happy.

 

[Oddish1]

Recently I picked up Smash Ultimate for a midnight release at Best Buy. They let us in early at about nine o' clock and let us buy the game as long as we waited until ten to leave. When we got into line to buy the game a Best Buy rep came up to the person ahead of me and told him somebody hit his car so naturally that person ran out of the store to check his car and lost his place. When everybody there had bought the game (there was only about twelve people) we were waiting around and somebody was watching TGS on their phone and when Joker was announced he triumphantly held up was phone and shouted "Guys, Joker from Persona 5 is the first DLC character for Smash Brothers!" Absolutely nobody there reacted or showed any interest or seemed to care at all. Eventually the Best Buy staff got tired of being there and just let us all leave a little after nine forty.

It was a very strange experience that sticks out because of how mundane it felt. Like, midnight releases are meant to feel like big deals but everyone there clearly just wanted to get their game and go home and not talk to anybody else.

 

[CountAntonio]

I worked at best buy when the PS2 launched. It wasn't a midnight release but people camped out.

 

[Deleted member 45130]

I did a bunch but some of the best were Halo 3, Halo Reach, GTAIV and Black Ops 2

I didn't care for the game much but the launch for Resident Evil 5 where I lived at the time was great!

It was an awesome, diverse community that all had at least one thing in common, the queues were really long but fun none the less.

 

[SJRB]

GTAV, not even close.

Midnight releases are not a common thing here at the time [still not]. It only ever happened for a Call of Duty, and then only about three stores.

But for GTAV, wow. It was amazing. EVERY game and toy store in town was open at midnight, and lines were HUGE. There were people everywhere waiting in lines for GTAV. It was unreal.

Atmosphere was awesome, everyone was happy and cheering and hyped.


Second midnight release was Black Ops. Dudes lighting off fireworks in the middle of the street, just cheering and all that. Super cool.


God I hope Cyberpunk 2077 gets a midnight release.

 

[Deleted member 45414]

I went to the midnight release for Diablo 3 with a friend and bought a used copy of 3D Dot Game Heroes.

Bought Diablo 3 digitally later when all the server issues had been resolved.

 

[xmassteps]

I've only been to one midnight release, Destiny (and that was only because I couldn't pick it up the next day). The place stunk to high heaven. Those people should have been queuing for a shower, not a video game. Never again.

 

[shotgunbob04]

It was 2011. My brother and I being the only ones at our local GameStop at midnight to buy Portal 2. To our surprise, it was also the launch of Mortal Kombat 9, and the place was packed. I remember the confused looks on all the customers' and employees' faces when we said we were there for Portal 2 lol. They had a stack of MK9 copies on the rear counter ready to go, but the employee had to run to the back to find a Portal 2 copy.

I remember the PS3 version was special because it was the only game (as far as I know) that supported Steam crossplay between PS3 and PC, AND it came with an extra Steam copy in the case.

 

[Deleted member 56752]

I always forget the hype around halo 3. I remember being in computer class (yes there's a class dedicated to it in elementary here), and just reading about the hype of this game and how it would outperform movies like Spider-Man. Then I remember begging my mom and dad to pick it up on the way home from work. Thennnn, I got locked out of the house and thought they forgot the game, but hey hadnt gotten it yet. Then I tried to finish beating halo 2 while they went out AFTER they got home to get HALO 3. Was a rollercoaster

 

[Yasuke]

The final 3 Harry Potter books are about it for me.

The only games I got at "midnight" were GTA V, RDR 2, and Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep (I walked about 5 miles at night to a Wal-Mart for the latter during my freshman year of college lmao)

 

[henlo_birb]

I think one of my favorites was for Pokémon X/Y just because EVERYONE in line had a 3DS and the StreetPasses were insane. I loved the 3DS and getting StreetPasses and I had all the extra games at the time. I just really loved the people in my life at that time too. It was a lot of fun.

 

[Chiramii]

Only time I ever went to a midnight launch for anything was Wrath of the Lich King. I live in a pretty rural area in Norway and was shocked to see about 70-100 people in line to get a copy at launch. It truly was the peak of WoW popularity.

 

[henlo_birb]

My wife went to the midnight launch of Super Mario 3D World. It launched the same day the Xbox One launched. She was the only girl there in a long line of dudes that were there for the console. The manager announced to the line "Raise your hand if you're here for the Xbox One!" the guys raised their hands. "Raise your hand if you're here for Super Mario 3D World." My wife raised her hand. The line laughed, cheered and the manager called her straight to the front. :D

Click to shrink...

I was at this launch, but I was there for the special edition A Link Between Worlds 3DS.

Edit: not this exact one! I was just waiting for a different game that night as well!

 

[OG YOLOwen]

I got Halo TMCC at midnight.....

Fucking having to install your games first, man. I understand why it's there but it certainly ruins the magic of putting in a brand new game and booting it up.

Day 1 patches too.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

I remember lining up at Target at 6:00 AM on an absolutely freezing November morning to buy a Wii on launch day. I'd called Target the day before and they told me they would only have 36 Wiis on launch day and they were not doing reservations.

I was there with a friend and it was very dark, very cold, and very weird. Nobody wanted to talk to each other. There was a clear tension over who would get one and who wouldn't. We were some of the only kids in line, although we did hang out with a couple of others. Everybody else was obviously a desperate parent trying to procure a Wii for their children. I don't remember how we killed the time until the store opened. But eventually an associate came out and handed us numbered tickets printed specifically for the event. I remember thinking they were so legit and professional. When they had handed out all 36 vouchers, they told everyone else they could go home.

People were really, really mad. Well, maybe not mad. Just passionately disappointed. People waited two hours in the freezing cold to buy their kid a Wii and then they got sent home. Several people rushed the associate as if they could negotiate or change the circumstances. I listened to the employee explain over and over that there were only 36 Wiis and the were not doing reservations for future shipments and it would remain first-come first-serve. And no: they did not know when the next shipment was coming.

They let us in and marched an orderly line of people with vouchers to games department. They had a lot of temporary cardboard displays set up with all the launch games on them. I remember they appeared to have the same amount of every game, which meant there the same amount of copies of Twilight Princess as there were the licensed Cars and Barnyard games. I grabbed Twilight Princess, Excite Truck, and Red Steel. I'd never owned a system at launch before. I was head over heels.

My friend and I got two of the last three copies of Twilight Princess, after which they announced to the whole crowd that they were "sold out of Zelda". Then like five different parents who were clearly on a mission picked up their cell phones to urgently inform their spouses that they Zelda had sold out and they didn't know what to do.


It was very weird because I was a teenager and I was there for me and my excitement. But there were so many parents who were obviously there for their kids and desperately trying to buy things based on a list they didn't fully understand. I remember somebody asking over the phone, since Zelda was sold out, if they would like Spongebob instead. Lots of them went home unsuccessful.

A few years later, I met a friend who worked at a GameStop the year the Wii came out. He'd recounted to me that for all of 2007 and 2008 they sold their Wii shipments right off the delivery pallet. They did no reservations after launch, so when a delivery came, they would announce to the whole store that they received however many Wiis (usually between 5 and 8). Everybody in the store, regardless of why they were there or if they even wanted a Wii when they walked in, would rush the register to buy it.

I feel like the Wii launch is largely forgotten for how incredibly insane it was. Since then, I've preordered every system I've owned and it just showed up on my doorstep on launch day. Amazing how much has changed.

 

[Waffle-Stomper]

I didn't videogame much in high school so when I decided to finally buy a ps3 it was a big deal for me.

Went to the midnight release of metal gear solid 4 ps3 80gb bundle (ps2 backwards compatible so I could catch up on what I missed out on), plus I nabbed a copy of devil may cry 4 at the same time.

Those 2 games kept me busy for a looong time

 

[Rotobit]

The one and only time I went to a midnight launch was for the 3DS. I was always under the impression that it'd be an EVENT, so I was excited to meet like-minded people and chat before the store opened and we went inside.

Turned out only 3 other people arrived and the launch selection of 3DS games was so paltry I almost felt like a weirdo for going at all (I got Pilotwings Resort and Rayman 3D, that was it). It was fun walking by the river at like 10 past midnight on the way back, though.

Didn't say they had to be positive memories!

 

[Cruxist]

I remember GameCube launch day was a Sunday for some reason. No pre-orders, nothing. I was 11 or 12. I had my dad drive me to the local target when it opened before he made us go to church. There was one other parent/child combo there waiting to get one. The long walk back to the electronics section felt like a victory lap. Picked up the og Luigi's Mansion and a players guide. They gave out these little 3-pronged folding stools and a coupon book to anyone who bought one. They forgot to give me the coupons, so we went back after church and they'd sold out at that point.

 

[Mecha Meister]

I've only been to one midnight launch so far, and that was for Red Dead Redemption 2 at GAME with one of my friends, it was a pretty chill night.
There was maybe around 20 people? The night as serene. I even broke out my Switch and started playing Mario Kart 8 with him.
I had been playing Red Dead Redemption 2 earlier on my Xbox One and even showed him some of the gameplay I recorded.

The store was in a shopping centre and I had never seen one so empty before, it was pretty cool! I actually got some Dead Rising vibes from it to be honest.
By the time I got home I was exhausted and hit my bed while leaving the game installing on my PS4 Pro.

 

[Deleted member 31873]

Midnight releases aren't a thing here in the Netherlands, so my closest (and only) similar experience would be waiting outside of NedGame just before it opened in the morning to get my launch day PSVR. I was literally only one of two people waiting, and the other person was there for something else entirely (can't remember what, but I think it was some Nintendo game).

Nevertheless, there was also a guy with a big TV camera who asked me if he could make a video of me purchasing my PSVR; I have no idea if that video ever got broadcast on any Dutch TV though.

Other than PSVR, no hardware or game has excited me enough to purchase from a store, so I usually just buy online and get it whenever it arrives at my house.

 

[Nickerous]

Switch release night. Rode by Gamestop and there were 8-10 people already camped out at 8pm. This is small town America, so that many this early was something. I have the next day off, but my wife has to work, but is willing to wait till midnight. We arrive at Walmart to see 3 folks sitting in electronics. I ask if they know how many are there and the guy would only confirm more than 5. So we grab a chair and wait too.

Guy that works there talks us up a bit before he gets off at 10 and mentions that they have the special edition of Zelda back there too. I ask if he's sure it's the special edition or just regular. He takes a picture and shows us. I hit brickseek and it shows 3 special editions. First guy says he will get one, second says maybe...third guy says no, only enough for switch. So, I'm pumped! I'm number 4 in line.

Midnight hits and there are about 20-25 people in line by this point (and my wife is thoroughly convinced I'm crazy). Manager brings out the systems and there are at least 30. I say what about the games? He says they didn't send any, only the systems. I start to argue that it doesn't make sense, that Nintendo wants to sell more than just the system and folks will buy at least one game. Guy doesn't budge. Only systems.

At this point, I'm pissed. Was thinking I'd get a special edition Zelda with my new system. I had a preorder of the wii u version at gamestop (which is across the street from Walmart), so we run in there. They say no more systems. I ask to change my wii u preorder to a switch copy. Get it and then go home.

Ready for a full day of gaming the next morning, but am still pissed about the manager refusing to get the games out, so I go back to Walmart. Electronics manager is there now and I ask if they have any games. She says no, we still got a couple systems, but no games. That they didn't send any....I say none at all?!?!

She says........all I have are these.........and shows me 3 special editions of Zelda. I grab one, but had already bought a case and opened the regular copy of Zelda a few hours ago.....that special edition is still sitting sealed in my closet. Still happy I got it, but really wished I hadn't hit the gamestop after picking up the system. I know I could have returned it, but just didn't want the hassle. Later on, I bought just the box and book from the travelers edition and stuffed my regular box in there for my shelf. I had a great time waiting for the release and chatting with the other gamers in line.

The only other time I waited like that was on a black friday to get the special edition og Zelda 3ds with Ocarina of Time. I already had it, so I was going to trade in my other copy to get $ off. Ended up selling it to a guy in line behind me for more than what gamestop would have given me. That was a small gamestop and there must have been 100-150 people in there for deals.

 

[Rotobit]

Reading some of the stories ITT makes me wish I went out for the Wii launch, I think there's something in particular about winter midnight launches that's weirdly appealing. It's like a massive communal camping trip. Might make the effort for the PS5 next year, assuming stores still exist by then.

I got my Wii for xmas though and have pretty strong memories of playing Twilight Princess on my tiny wall-mounted CRT, at least

 

[Vern]

9/9/99 was the only one that stuck in my memory as being worthwhile.

Picking up a Dreamcast and Final Fantasy 8 was a wild night. The next day at school I was so tired, but it was well worth it. Nothing interesting happened at the midnight launch though, just went in with my brother and grabbed everything. It was paid off already. There were a few other people grabbing one or the other, or both like us.

 

[BigHatPaul]

Bringing my friend to get his Switch, then driving around to Walmarts to find a copy of Breath of the Wild and seeing it on launch. That was mindblowing.

 

[SonicRift]

I had no intention of going to the midnight release when I preordered the big Halo 3 box with the helmet, etc, but I got dumped that day. The energy in the lineup waiting for my local EB was 2 parts electric, one part nerd cringe, but infectious all the same. I'd already taken the day off of work for a different reason and no longer had any commitments (see above, "dumped") and played all night. Napped during the day, met up with friends that night and played 3 player splitscreen co-op.

Forgot all about her.

 

[WestEgg]

Not quite a midnight release, but when the Ness amiibo went up for preorder, I went to Ganestop early to make sure I got my order on time. There were actually a few people there, but I was second in line. When the orders went live, the GameStop servers immediately crashed, leaving us stuck for an hour while they came back online.

Without much else to do, I started talking with number 1 and 3 in line, and we hit it off really well. More than 4 years later, they are among my closest friends, and the first real friends I have made since college.

 

[inner-G]

When I camped out all night in the cold rain for a PS4 on launch night, then when I got it home and the fans never worked, leading to a basically immediate red light of death.

 

[Torpedo Vegas]

I faked being sick at work so I could go and set for 16 hours and get a 360

 

[Sulik2]

Mine is a bit different, but working the Halo 3 release at blockbuster was quite fun. Tons of nice people, we were all excited and I went home and played campaign all night with my cousin after I got off work with the super discounted legendary copy I got when I pre-ordered before they decided the final price.

 

[Vern]

Just going back and reading the thread it is interesting to see people mentioning the amount of stock at launch for different systems at their local stores. Of particular interest for me is the 360/PS3/Wii gen because I worked in the R zone at Toys R Us back then. We didn't do midnight launches at our store but I did work the mornings of each launch and I remember exactly how many units we had of each and how well they sold even all these years later.

360 we had 18 launch units (they shipped in boxes of 2). We had 4 core units and the rest were the white box with the hard drive, forget what MS called those ones. We sold all the units except 2 cores, no one wanted those ones and they sat on the shelf in the back for a long time even while we got replenished with the white units.

PS3 we got 12 units, also came in packs of 2 I believe (maybe in 3 but I'm not sure anymore about this detail). I just remember the boxes they shipped in were huge and heavy as fuck. We presold 6 and then we couldn't get rid of them remainder for s long time. A few sold to normal people, and then the last 2 were eventually sold to a scammer who had been coming in with fraudulent visa gift cards. Us normal R zone employees always turned him away but someone covering a lunch or something got bamboozled and sold them. Then we didn't get anymore for ages. Sony has such a hard time replenishing our stock.

Wii has 72 units on the first shipment. These definitely came in packs of 3 and were much easier to deal with than the other 2 consoles. They were packed better and obviously weighed a lot less. This helped a lot because we flew through them every single time we got a shipment for the first year or so. Launch morning there was a massive line and we gave out like 60 tickets, so we still had a few leftover for people who weren't waiting before we opened. Those extra were gone probably within an hour. We got a few small shipments after launch but our biggest follow up shipment was just before Xmas and was around 120 units. I wanna say 114 for some reason, those went straight from the ups truck to a massive stack behind our counter, and never even got put away. Those things flew off the shelves so quick back then it was completely mental. We also got phone calls for months and we just answered.

So yea not midnight launch, but similarish and brings back fun memories.

 

[Shadow of the Void]

Halo 2 was the first midnight launch event I went to, and the most memorable. I still remember leaving work that night, forgetting my jacket, and freezing my ass off. But I still enjoyed the anticipation of getting the sequel to one of my favorite games ever, and talking to the other customers about their Halo experiences.

The other midnight launches I've been to were far less memorable, and now they just feel routine. But when it was something new and novel to me, I thought it was awesome.