midnight-launch
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No midnight launch for Wii U at EB Games Canada
Before you pack up the 3DS, blankets and folding chair to go wait in line for Wii U in the Great White North, know that EB Games Canada has decided not to hold midnight openings for Nintendo's new console. Rather than opening in the evening for the Wii U launch, locations in five provinces across Canada plan to open early – at 9am or 10am local time – on Sunday, November 18.Joystiq has reached out to GameStop for clarification on its Wii U launch strategy stateside after several U.S. readers sent word that their local stores will not open at midnight for the console's arrival. We know of at least 500,000 people here who are directly affected by the uncertainty.
Halo 4 midnight launches at 4,400 US GameStops
Dare we assume you'll be out at midnight on Monday, driving from store to store in the hopes that just one will sell you a copy of Halo 4? It's a pretty safe assumption, but just to be certain that you know, GameStop has announced 4,400 of its US locations will be open at midnight to ring you up for a copy of Halo 4.All participating stores will kick off the festivities starting at 9pm local time – though, if you're on the east coast, Hurricane Sandy may have thrown a monkey wrench into the midnight launch plans like it did with Assassin's Creed 3. Some east coast stores are likely to cancel or alter their midnight launch plans, so GameStop suggests calling ahead.
Nintendo's throwing an all-day 3DS launch party in NYC
It's been a good long time since we lost the kind of party-stamina required to persevere through a day-long rager, but perhaps you possess the endurance required to make this invitation more inviting: Nintendo's throwing a lengthy soiree to celebrate the launch of the 3DS this weekend in New York City. You can stop by the Best Buy in Union Square starting at noon Saturday to check out the new handheld before queueing up to purchase one between midnight and 2AM. Now, considering you'll be indulging in 14 whole hours of bacchanalian delights, you'll need to come prepared -- we suggest applying multiple coats of sunscreen throughout the day, remaining well hydrated, and bringing along some extra eyeballs. On the off-chance you play the 3DS for 14 hours straight, you'll probably end up disintegrating your corneas.
GameStop hosting WoW: Cataclysm midnight launch events
Even though you'll have to temporarily step away from the World of WarCraft, and abandon your guild, in order to pick up Cataclysm (unless you buy it digitally), you'll still have the opportunity to commune with fellow WoW players while buying the new expansion. GameStop will be hosting midnight release events, including "trivia and dance" contests, starting at 10PM on December 6, at its 3,500 stores across the U.S. Buying the expansion at one of these locations won't just increase your risk of vampire attack (what, you don't worry about that at night?), it'll also qualify you for savings on routers, headsets and other PC gaming accoutrements. Additionally, people who buy Cataclysm from GameStop within the first 48 hours of release get a 50-percent bonus in PowerUp Rewards points.
Cataclysm playable at midnight PST Dec. 7, no matter how you buy it
Here's a bit of sad news for all WoW players not lucky enough to live on the west coast: Blizzard CM Bashiok has announced that the official Cataclysm start time for all North American servers will be Dec. 7 at midnight PST. This will include servers on other time zones. So, sorry eastern time people. You may be able to pick up your copies of the game at midnight EST, but you'll have to wait a few hours for the west coast to catch up before you play. The full announcement is as follows: Bashiok Wondering exactly what time you'll be able to begin playing your goblin or worgen or making your way to level 85? On all North American realms, World of Warcraft players who upgrade to Cataclysm will be able to begin experiencing the new content at 12 a.m. Pacific Standard Time (3 a.m. Eastern Standard Time) on December 7, whether they purchase the digital download through Battle.net or buy a physical retail boxed version in stores. Players will not be able to access Cataclysm expansion content prior to 12 a.m. PST, regardless of how they upgrade or what time zone they're located in. source World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it; nothing will be the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion (available Dec. 7, 2010), from brand new races to revamped quests and zones. Visit our Cataclysm news category for the most recent posts having to do with the Cataclysm expansion.
Kinect and GameStop team up for midnight launch madness
If you can't make it to the Times Square launch of the Microsoft Kinect this Wednesday evening, perhaps your local GameStop will be offering a similarly scintillating launch experience? This morning, the nation's largest game retailer announced plans for "more than 2,000" GameStops to re-open at 10PM (local time) on November 3 for "launch-night activities," as well as sale of the device at the strike of midnight. A list of participating locations can be found here. Furthermore, GameStop plans on hosting a "Kinect demo day" this coming Saturday (Nov. 6) at 330 outlets, in case you're still not convinced (participating locations found here). Nothing quite says "sold!" like demoing touchy motion technology in a crowded retail store!
GameStop holding midnight launch events for PlayStation Move
Announcing a nationwide midnight launch approximately seven hours before midnight? It may seem bizarre, but GameStop did just that, informing us that 440 GameStop stores across the country will be reopening at 10:00 p.m. (local time) to allow customers to purchase a PlayStation Move at 12:01 a.m. Unfortunately, in announcing these plans so late, it seems GameStop didn't have time to come up with a creative name for the proceedings. Or perhaps the company just wasn't able to secure the rights to "Night Moves" by Bob Seger? Just imagine Kevin Butler, vice president of acoustic covers, performing a rendition on the ukelele in front of a GameStop. It's syngergistic gold!
Walmart doing midnight launches for Madden NFL 11
Just eight more days until Madden NFL 11 hits store shelves. Those of you itching to get a copy as soon as possible will be happy to learn that Walmart's holding midnight launch events for the game, even giving $5 discounts to midnight purchases.
Vivendi considered digital distribution for WoW expansions
Amidst all the talk of digital distribution versus retail sales at the LA Games Conference today, one big reason arose for game publishers to keep the retail channels open: the midnight launch. While a lot of gamers might tell you that it's a pain for them to schlep out into the cold to pick up the latest game or expansion, publishers actually prefer it. Pascal Brochier was the president of Global Retail at Vivendi Universal Games when it released World of Warcraft's Burning Crusade expansion (one of the biggest retail launches ever), and he says that while Blizzard had the option to digitally distribute that game, it chose not to. "We were patching all the time," he told Joystiq. "It was always in the discussions internally; 'Should we go direct digital or should we go both with retail?'" In the end, the company wanted the extra exposure that a big retail launch provides. "When you're at the store with all of the events, you actually have people who've dropped [their subscriptions] come back." And being in the stores doesn't just drive return players, it drives new players as well. "The midnight events and all of the functions help people come back who've stopped playing, but also guys who've wanted to try it will be attracted to the event and become new-found players." A few weeks after launch, says Brochier, Vivendi did enable digital distribution quietly. But even for a game so tied to the online experience, he adds that "retail is a very important critical part. There's also a significant percentage of players who just play through pre-paid cards, and that's retail, that's a retail model. So you've got to find the balance."
BioShock 2 gets midnight release, new launch trailer
If you've been jonesing for your second hit of ADAM, you won't have to wait a moment past 12 a.m. on February 9th; 2K has announced that BioShock 2 will get a midnight launch at Best Buy and GameStop stores. It's great news for us, but bad news for the clerks who have to work until the Witching Hour, just so some dude can fall asleep playing it an hour later, his drool and Cheetoh dust congealing into a loneliness gravy on his Big Daddy PJs. Hoping to pile some extra coal into the hype train's engine, 2K took up the whole first commercial block of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon with a 3-minute-15-second launch trailer. It's a cool clip, but we get the uneasy feeling that the heavy reliance on non-gameplay, first-person action is just a touch misleading. That said, it's just a couple of inches above this sentence, so you can judge for yourself.
London's Leicester Square to host Modern Warfare 2 midnight bash
Late-night revelers and iron-sight junkies situated near London should note that Activision plans a proper launch for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 at Leicester Square, on the night before the game's November 10 launch on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. Hip square visitors to-be can gape at the shooter's action on the nearby ODEON's cinema screen, purchase it from the HMV Trocadero at the stroke of midnight, and then give Tom Cruise a solid high five on the way home. There's also talk of a secret VIP party in an underground bunker, set to feature "one of the UK's biggest male artists of 2009." Don't tell anyone, but we heard they'll also have dedicated servers there. They'll bring you whatever drink you want.
Borderlands launching at midnight at 1,300 GameStops
Want to get Borderlands a little early and stay up a little late? In addition to the North Texas midnight launches that Gearbox staffers will be attending, the company has announced midnight launches at around 1,300 different GameStop locations. We guess 2K does have more pull than we thought! You can browse the list right here and see if your closest store is on the list. If it isn't ... think of it as a chance to get acquainted with some new GameStop employees.Basically, you now have only one excuse for not getting Borderlands tonight if you're into the game and you're in the US, and that is not wanting to go to GameStop and stand in line at midnight. Which is actually pretty reasonable.
Borderlands devs heading out for midnight launches in Texas
So, Gearbox and 2K may not have the pull to grant Borderlands a nationwide mega midnight launch, but gosh-darn-it, they're gonna keep a couple GameStops open late on October 19! For those in the DFW (Dallas Fort Worth, holla!), the developers will be showing up to sign copies (at least "five guys with sharpies") -- and they'll bring some posters and T-shirts along, too. 2201 Preston Rd Plano, TX 75093-2306 6245 Rufe Snow Dr, Fort Worth, TX 76148-3321 The Plano location will have a "four-player LAN setup available to play starting around 9PM." A Gearbox representative tells us they'll "hopefully" have something set up at the Ft. Worth location as well.
One Shots: Just waiting in line
We've seen outdoor shots, and occasional solo characters, but as yet we hadn't really seen any large groups of World of Warcraft players enjoying all there is to offer in Wrath of the Lich King. Today's One Shots from our regular contributor Deadend (who you may remember as sending us screens from the Wrath beta) from the Exodar server sent in this screenshot with a bit of a humourous twist. While we know this is likely a screenshot of a group finishing up an instance run, Deadend instead sent it in with the following description that made us stop and laugh: "I had a shorter line picking up WotLK at a midnight opening." We're also pretty impressed with whoever managed to get them all to line up - our groups aren't nearly that orderly!Do you have a screenshot that you've got a unique and funny take on, totally unrelated to what's actually going on? If so, you should send those to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com! Remember to include your name and the game it's from; a description is entirely optional. We'll post it out here for everyone to check out, and tell them you sent the awesome screen to us.%Gallery-9798%
The best of WoW Insider: November 11-18, 2008
Wrath of the Lich King is open for business. The game's second expansion showed up on store shelves last week, and Joystiq's sister site WoW Insider has been covering (and playing) it ever since. Whether you're a Northrend newbie or have been playing since beta started, odds are there's news you need on our site. Check our most popular links below, and keep up on the blog itself as you level up to 80. The Lich King awaits -- we're here to make sure you're ready. News Bug rewards free and discounted PvP gearRight before the expansion, Blizzard made a mistake, and ended up giving out some good gear (and then taking it away again). Nymh of EU Drek'thar first to level 80Just about a day after the expansion was released, we had our first level 80 character. World first level 80 Death KnightAnd later in the weekend, someone took a Death Knight to level 80 (quite a feat -- they had to go from level 55). TwentyFifthNovember clears all Wrath PvE contentAnd just to complete the trilogy of content-clearing feats, a merged superguild also stepped up and cleared all the endgame content over the weekend. Fifteen-year-old collapses after playing Wrath for hours on no sleep or foodThis just in: avoiding sleep or food is not healthy. Features The Wrath of the Lich King Death Knight roundupEverything you ever wanted to know about the game's new Hero class. The Queue: Yes, this is what we call it nowSince the beta is over, our Ask a Beta Tester column undergoes a name change, but still answers all of your questions about the game and how it plays. Wrath 101: How to get to Northrend and where to go once you get thereLost looking for the new content. Here's help. And also check our Alliance and Horde flight point guides. Wrath profession goodiesThere's a whole new swatch of profession items to make out there, so we've got tips on where to begin. Wrath of the Lich King: Midnight approachesWe were at midnight launches all over the country, and we brought back pictures and stories from fans of all kinds.
Midnight launch parties herald the Lich King's wrath
Wrath of the Lich King launched in numerous locations across the USA at midnight (albeit much of the rest of the world needed to wait until business hours). People queued outside Best Buy and Gamestop stores for hours beforehand (though 7-11 broke the street date and were selling copies a couple days early, we hear). Several locations were particularly magical. A Best Buy in New York City and a Gamestop in San Francisco both sported particularly carnival atmospheres. Eurogamer says it was the UK's biggest launch and from the photos that's easy to believe. The French also had a blast with huge crowds and costumes. All of the celebrations made one thing abundantly clear: We can all get in and enjoy our favorite MMOG with each-other -- even when we're not actually playing it. What the heck is gaming, if you can't celebrate it? Gallery: Wrath of the Lich King Midnight Launch
Breakfast Topic: So. How's it going?
I'm sort of wondering to myself whether there's any real point to writing a Breakfast Topic this morning. Some of you already have Wrath and have probably spent the last several hours in a caffeine-fueled genial haze exploring Northrend -- or, alternatively, cursing your server's lack of stability and punching holes in nearby walls. Clearly you are in no fit state to be enjoying any breakfast that's not Red Bull or espresso. Some of you, like me, don't yet have Wrath and are anxiously awaiting a delivery or the opening of a store that's stocking it. Many of these folks spent a little time with me, Adam, and Mike in Ustream chat last night and got to witness: a). my first experience with IRC (painful, wasn't it?) and: b). a suspiciously-penned patch note of dubious veracity confirming that Ghostcrawler hates Paladins (see above), and: c). Mike deciding to fish instead of go to Northrend. For a few minutes, anyway.And some of you are comatose WoW Insider staffers whose articles today will be written by your household pets. I don't judge. We're all friends here. But I am madly curious as to what everyone's up to this morning, provided they're awake enough to click options on a poll. What are you up to in the day following Wrath's release?%Poll-22361%
GameStop having credit card issues
Just a quick note here for our readers who are lined up (or are planning to line up) at a GameStop: we're getting reports that GameStop stores are having serious issues with credit cards at the moment, and according to Adam Holisky, a number of people are being turned away or asked to bring cash in order to pay for the game. So far we've confirmed that the issue is occuring at GameStops in Madison, Fargo, Las Vegas, and Kansas City. We haven't heard about any issues occurring at other stores' midnight releases, so for the moment we're assuming that the issues are specific to GameStop's system and they're aware of the problem.So, just as an FYI if you've reserved a copy at a GameStop, you may want to bring enough cash with you to cover the game's cost just in case yours is one of the affected stores. I'll update this post as more information becomes available.UPDATE: Yep -- from both comments here and emails we've received, it's pretty apparent that it's a nationwide issue for GameStop. Credit card authorization has to be done manually so things are, as one of our readers has put it, "taking forever." Take cash, folks.
Wrath of the Lich King: Midnight approaches!
Wrath of the Lich King is nearly upon us and WoW Insider is waiting in line with the rest of you. If you're not braving a midnight launch yourself, you can live vicariously through our pictures of the crowds, updated as often as we can get internet connectivity. Have pictures of your own launch event? Toss 'em our way by mailing aroundazeroth AT wowinsider DOT com and we'll add them to the mix!%Gallery-36715%
Reminder: Come meet WoW Insider at the midnight launch
Today's the day! After years of speculation and months of waiting, Blizzard is finally officially releasing Wrath of the Lich King. More than a few people have grabbed their copies already, but the vast majority of us are heading out to midnight launches all over the country (and indeed, the world) to pick up the game's second expansion.Blizzard has their own launches planned (there's a rumor going around that the NYC event is canceled, but we've confirmed that's not true -- everything is still on as planned), and so do we here at WoW Insider -- in all the places that we're going out to take pictures and grab our own copies, we're inviting you to come along with us and say hi. We've reprinted all the meetups after the break -- I'll be in Chicago, we'll have people at the Blizzard events in Anaheim and Austin, and in North Carolina, California, Maryland, Minnesota and Florida, and our own Jennie Lees is hosting an event in Scotland. Take a look after the break, and if you happen to be in the area, definitely come out and meet us.No matter where you are, good luck getting the game, and have a terrific time. We'll be around tonight with coverage of the event as it happens, interviews with devs on the scene, and of course in-depth coverage of our (and your) first steps into Northrend. Today is the day!
