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Meet WoW Insider at the Wrath midnight launch
Blizzard's holding official launches across the world, various retailers in all sorts of places are planning out midnight launches, and we here at WoW Insider are no different -- we'll be covering the release all across the world, and we're inviting you readers to come out and join us wherever we are.We've got a full list of meetup locations after the break -- I'll be in Chicago, co-lead Dan O'Halloran will be at the Fry's in Anaheim covering the Blizzard event there (Chase Christian will be in Santa Barbara, also in CA), and Elizabeth Harper will be in Austin, where Blizzard devs will be meeting and greeting as well. We've also got reader meetups planned in North Carolina and Minnesota (where BBB will be passing out buttons), and our own Jennie Lees will be picking up Wrath in Edinburgh, Scotland. And if you're in Orlando, BRK and Mania from Petopia are holding their own event down there.Stay tuned to this post for more updates (if we've missed anyone on the team, they'll add their information here), and feel free to organize your own meetups and events in the comments. The second expansion launches next week -- let's party!
Blizzard announces official Wrath midnight launches
If you're interested in getting Wrath of the Lich King at a midnight launch with Blizzard employees present to sign your copy and discuss the game, Blizzard will be holding officlal midnight parties around the globe. For the moment, it looks like Amsterdam, Anaheim, Austin, Berlin, London, Madrid, Mexico City, New York City, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul, Stockholm, and Taipei will all have official midnight launches, complete with extra copies of the Collector's Edition Wrath on hand and Blizzard developers, executives, and CM's around.I've gone to the different WoW sites to see if there's any hard info on non-U.S. midnight launches and can't find it yet. I've possibly just missed it, so please let us know if there's information available on which stores outside the States will be hosting an official Blizzard launch. The one thing that we do know is that each site's launch will occur at midnight local time November 13th, and while there will be a ton of stores doing midnight launches, the official ones are just the locations where the Blizzard folks are going to be.U.S. official launch sites ahead!
Overheard @ the line for Grand Theft Auto IV
The collection of folks waiting hungrily for their copies of Grand Theft Auto IV in Huntington, W.Va.'s lovely Pullman Square was ... unique, to put it kindly. Here are a few of our favorite tidbits from the line."Well, you know Jack Thompson or whatever the f*** his name is, he's already on the warpath. He said that everyone who sells the game should go to jail and that it's the biggest threat to kids since polio. ... Back, you know, when polio was a problem."-Some really loud dude in line"Spish."-A water balloon cast from a passing truck, which landed just inches from our feet"It's really too cold for shorts out here, but it's OK because I have a really nice drunk going."-Justin McElroy"What are you guys all in line for?"-A cute girl in a passing car*utter silence*-The lineBut enough of our recollections! Did any of you have any midnight adventures?
Seen @ Huntington GTA IV launch: A history of Nerf-related violence
The brave souls who soldiered through the vast queue at the Gamestop in downtown Huntington, W. Va. were put through a rigorous gauntlet of trials and tribulations before being rewarded with Rockstar's blockbuster shoot em' up -- including, but not limited to a freak, unseasonal cold front; a somewhat humorous (but unfortunately brief and unphotographed) drive-by water balloon strike; and alarming in-line discussions of bomb recipes and Sedan-mounted automatic weaponry.However, the most disturbing sight seen at the launch is pictured above -- a tragic crime scene, just a few feet away from the store's registers. These two poor fellows were just mere moments from claiming their respective copies of the much anticipated title, leaving behind a puzzling forensic tableau. Hastily driving from the event with copies of Grand Theft Auto IV in hand, we were left with these pertinent questions: What kind of altercation could have lead to this unfortunate double homicide? What modifications were made to the pictured Nerf guns that imbued them with lethal force? What sort of Crime Scene Investigation squad leaves behind the murder weapons in such a public place? Most importantly, why did Gamestop remain open following this horrible act of violence?
Midnight launch for Rock Band keeps Best Buys open late
We've already traveled to the land of blue, bleak, and reek to check out Rock Band, so with the in-store buzz definitely there, we had to think a midnight launch would be coming -- and it is. 75 locations in 32 states open their doors at midnight to arm you with your "rocksenal," which is actually more than were participating in the Guitar Hero III launch.So if you're worried about potentially securing a copy (thanks to EA's boast of confidence regarding their stock), this might be a possible solution for you. And after all that sweet unannounced, but coming DLC spied from the pages of OXM, how is anyone with a pulse not excited? Full listing of stores participating rest behind the break.
Midnight launch event: your launches edition
Several of you sent in your midnight launch photos, and we managed to get a tiny cross-section of this event from around the world (any players from Europe or Asia care to send your photos? we'll add them in!) -- the US, Canada, and Australia. Click on for some photos from your launch events.[Above photo courtesy of Alec Paden]
Midnight Launch Event: Gainesville edition
I pre-ordered months ago, and finally the night had come. A few days ago GameStop robo-called my phone to tell me to come down at 11:00, so they could pre-process the transaction and make the whole thing that much smoother. Anticipating lines and general hilarity, I got to the mall around 10:30. It took me a while to find the part of the mall where the line was; here's what I saw when I stepped out of my car.
Midnight launch event: Burning Crusade, Southern style
(Picture left on a table at the mall by an unknown, presumably disgruntled Alliance rogue at the North Raleigh BC midnight sale event.) At about 11:30 p.m., I headed out to EB Games at my local mall in Raleigh, North Carolina, with an understanding and tolerant warlock friend, to pick up my Burning Crusade preorder. It was 75 degrees out today, so I took a quiet moment to gloat over people like Mike and Barb who had to brave the ice and snow to get their copies. Since I live in a fairly suburban part of town, we figured that there wouldn't be a lot of geeky folk out getting their preorders in the middle of the night. How wrong we were.
Midnight launch event: Chicago Edition
While Barb was freezing at the Pyramid Mall in upstate NY, I was freezing at the Fullerton Gamestop in Chicago. My copy of the Burning Crusade is currently winging its way to me via the fine folks at Fedex, but for you, dear readers, I went out in the snow and cold to see what there was to see at the Midwest launch of the Burning Crusade.This... is my story.
Midnight launch event: The Freezing Crusade
We braved the elements here in Ithaca, NY to join with our WoW-besotted brethren and sistren (sistren? it's a word now.) for our local launch event, and while the expansion is installing (disc 3 of 4!) we're updating you on our launch experience. Check after the break for what went down.
Midnight Launch Event with Blizzard Staff
Evan writes in to tell us:"Fry's Electronics in Anaheim will be hosting a Burning Crusade midnight launch event with the Blizzard team. We will open the doors at 12:01am and will have the Team from Blizzard signing autographs. This is the same type of launch in Fountain Valley Fry's a few years back, but will be held at the Anaheim one this year."NOTE: While I haven't yet seen confirmation of this event from Blizzard, this does seem typical of the team, having also done a Warcraft III launch at Fry's in years past.If you recall the midnight launch for the original WoW release, back in November of 2004, it was quite a doozy.Are there any big midnight events in your locale? If so, share them here, so others in your area can come on out and join in the fun. Me, I'm not holding out hope for any Walmart of EB Games midnight madness here. There wasn't anything the last time, so why this time?[If you have confirmation of this midnight launch event, let us know.]
Xbox 360 launches in South Africa
If you're a gamer living in South Africa, chances are that your visual periphery was dominated this past weekend by Microsoft's Xbox 360 launch and its accompanying marketing campaign. Nearly a year after the system's first-worldwide launch, the Xbox 360 became officially available to eager shoppers at the stroke of midnight on Friday, 29 September. Playable in-store kiosks, radio advertisements, campus tournaments and vaguely sinister cardboard stands announced not only the arrival of "the next generation of gaming," but the expansion of choice.Unless you wanted to import the original Xbox or stick your hand into the awkward and tangled mess of Gamecube distribution lines, the PlayStation 2 was the only console the average gamer could reliably and affordably find in game stores. The merits of Sony's system have long since been established and it's easy to argue that South Africa got the best console out of the bunch, though "best" loses much of its meaning when it becomes interchangeable with "only." Consider for a moment how your gaming habits might be affected if two out of three consoles weren't readily available to you. For comparison's sake (and because we didn't have much else to do) we attended one of the midnight launches at BT Games (Northgate) in Johannesburg, taking care to snap pictures and generally harass people who simply wanted to pick up their pre-orders in peace. Several midnight events took place all over the country, coinciding with the beginning of rAge -- a gaming expo we'll tell you about later.
