The Midnight Launch

Midnight launches are almost always used by gaming stores for new consoles (or new iterations of consoles, such as the Nintendo DS Lite or DSi), and are often used for larger gaming titles, ones they expect to sell well, such as Halo or Call of Duty, but also sometimes for less “hardcore” titles such as Zelda or Mario games. Essentially, if it's 'hotly anticipated', there will be a midnight launch, though perhaps not in smaller stores. Leading up to the event, the companies (both the developers and the stores) will likely advertise it with promises of freebies and bonuses, usually the quality of these is directly proportional to the size of the store and how much the games company actually cares. The closest “official” launch to us here in York was in Leeds, but I refuse to travel to Leeds just to buy a console.

My first impression was that a midnight launch in York isn't exactly like the ones Nintendo advertise on their website, taking place at the large flagship stores in London and other cities. This was a decidedly low-key affair, and while those queuing at the Oxford Street HMV may have got free games and goody-bags, we got sweets and a chance to win a free 3DS. Myself and fellow games writer Nathan Blades turned up at GAME on Coney Street at about eleven, a full hour before the launch would take place. There were only three people in front of us, a far cry from the massive crowds I saw in photographs of the Wii launch. Having worked in the store, Nathan had warned me what to expect, but it was still a little underwhelming. After a few minutes queuing, we were allowed into the store, where they had provided some sweets and Coke for us, as well as a demo unit of the 3DS itself. We were also issued with raffle tickets, for the aforementioned competition to win a free 3DS. Over the course of the 45 minutes, more people arrived, and there was something of a “party” atmosphere to the proceedings, the salespeople wandering around, answering questions and such. One of the more surprising aspects was the lack of “young” people, ie, students, since I guess we've broken up for Easter and other universities haven't, so York seems to have a dearth of twenty-somethings.

At twelve they started taking orders, and as fourth in line I was served relatively quickly, buying the 3DS itself and a copy of Super Monkey Ball 3DS, on Nathan's recommendation. While the evening certainly wasn't unenjoyable, I don't think I'll be attending another one, at least not in a city like York. Had I ordered it from an Internet retailer (even from GAME's online store) I would have saved myself £20-30, ASDA for example selling it at £187 versus GAME's £220, and many people who did buy online received their consoles on Thursday morning. I'll be reviewing the console some time this week, so check back!

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