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WRUP: Waiting is the hardest part edition
Seems like we're in a lull for gaming in general, doesn't it? You'd think by now that game companies would realize that the summer months were prime time for gaming, and that we'd get more releases in May, June, and July, but that's not usually the case -- most of the time, releases are crammed into that all-important fourth quarter, so it's feast from September through January, and famine right around now.So we're waiting to play things instead of playing them this week, whether it be Warhammer, Jumpgate Evolution, Guild Wars 2, or any other upcoming MMO that you just can't wait to play (but have to anyway). Not that there aren't things to do -- you could get ready for the Empyrean Age in EVE, play some more with the original Guild Wars, or visit the Midsummer Fire Festival this weekend (with new Frost Lord boss!) in World of Warcraft. So tell us, dear readers: What aRe yoU Playing lately? Leave a comment below and let us know what you've been up to in the MMO genre.Around the Massively HQ, Age of Conan is still getting a turn, and Tabula Rasa is experiencing a resurgence of sorts, but as usual, we're playing it all. And waiting. Always waiting, for the next big thing.
Part Time Druid fights WoW apathy
It's that time again -- we're in the slump right before the expansion, when people get bored of playing, no one wants to reroll another character because new options are just around the corner, and there's a general sense of apathy around the game. Why play what we've got when the new and shiny is almost here? Fortunately, this time seems a little better than last time -- lots of guilds are still rolling through the endgame, and there's still lots to do, from Arena to battlegrounds to reputation and daily quest grinding.Fortunately, Part Time Druid has some good ideas about how to "fight WoW apathy," just in case you can't think of any yourself. PvP and money farming are in here (those are goals that are practically never ending for sure), and the time-tested idea of going back and finding refreshment in an old alt is a good idea as well. But there are some more original ideas in here as well: helping out lowbies (whether they be 16 or 61) is a good idea, and organizing for five mans might be the best idea. With the daily Heroic quest, there's no better time than now to find four friends who want badges and gold, and set up a regular weekly or even daily time to run a Heroic instance.Let's be honest: we're going to at least be waiting a whole summer for this expansion, if not a few months after that. Might as well make the most of it -- set some goals now and get productive (or go try out Age of Conan, we're not picky), and the boat to Northrend will be loading before you know it.
Grand Line Auto: A diverse gathering (Broken Arrow edition)
Given the nearly unquantifiable level of anticipation building up to the midnight unveiling of Rockstar's opus, it seemed prudent to roll up to the local Broken Arrow, OK Gamestop well in advance of the game's release. All of the preparation went for naught, however, as the store kept its doors open all night as enthusiasts congregated inside, joked in the secret language that only we nerds can appreciate, and not-so-quietly chatted about the game they would very soon be playing.
Grand Line Auto: Almost failure to launch (Boston edition)
click to embiggen I don't have much luck with midnight launches. Turns out the midnight launch at the Best Buy in Dedham, Massachusetts, was no exception. Signs that something was wrong were quite evident when I was driving through the parking lot and noticed the considerable lack of vehicles present. Standing outside the store was the manager, Howard, who had some bad news.
Grand Line Auto: Waiting for GTA IV (Baltimore suburbs edition)
Believe it or not, the police car in that photo actually belongs to an off-duty Anne Arundel County police officer looking to pick up a copy of the anticipated crime simulator for himself. But that doesn't mean there wasn't active law enforcement involved with the Grand Theft Auto 4 launch festivities at this Laurel, MD Gamestop. Keep reading for more pictures and a full account of the line-waiting experience as GTA4-eve finally bled into GTA4-day.
The Daily Grind: On waiting for new MMOs
With the announcement this morning that Age of Conan: Hyborean Adventures has been delayed, we can't help but be torn about it. We covet the shiny precious, yes we do -- and we're sure we're not the only ones who are really wanting to see more of this title. But on the flip side, we've all seen truly abysmal MMO launches due to rushing to market, and certainly don't want that for AoC either. How about you? Would you rather see them bring games to market on-time with a few potential bugs, or are you firmly in the "release it only when it's absolutely done" -- even if that means delaying for months (if not years) camp? How long are you willing to wait to play some of the upcoming games?
In the line for passes at BlizzCon
I think we were just plain unlucky-- right at 5pm, we hit the big rush for BlizzCon passes, as the line started way outside the convention center, and slowly moved inside to the checkin area. But there was lots to see, including the WoW Radio guys doing their thing, the All Access pass (the guy I took the picture of was very suspicious of why I was so interested in a picture of Arthas at BlizzCon), and the official BlizzCon Staff t-shirt (featuring, yes, an item called the BlizzCon Staff).All that and more in the gallery below. Who knew something as boring as picking up a pass could be so exciting somewhat interesting?%Gallery-5482%
Blu-ray movie releases for the week of July 16
This summer has been a little dry on the Blu-ray release front, but we get a pretty decent batch this week. The most interesting movie is probably the remastered Fifth Element release; a move by Sony to help appease critics who dinged the initial release for poor visual quality and compression artifacts. In a rare move, they're also allowing the people who originally purchased the movie to send it in and get the new updated version for free. The Fifth Element (Remastered) Premonition Wild Things: Unrated Edition Waiting... Unrated and Raw Other releases include an unrated version of the sex and drama packed cult classic Wild Things, the Ryan Reynolds comedy Waiting (another unrated treatment), and the Sandra Bullock mystery Premonition. Not exactly a bunch of the most high-brow movies ever, but good fun all in all. What are you going to check out this week?
Line walk, AT&T State Street and Apple Michigan Ave.
Click To Play Maybe it's just me, but I thought the State Street AT&T store line had much more verve and character than the Michigan Ave. Apple Store line. The Apple Store had Starbucks coffee being given out for free, but the State Street line turned back into a brickwalled alley. There were balloons, and guys impatiently waiting "until 6:00," and dudes sitting with their laptops, and generally just a more both concerned and cordial atmosphere.But I'll let you decide-- the State Street linewalk is above, and Michigan Avenue (which did curve all the way around the building-- I had to shoot it in 3 seperate cuts) is below the jump. Enjoy-- now you too can pretend like you waited hours for a phone you could have waited 5 minutes for.
Line report: iPhone mania!
Oh, buddy. It's 4:30 in the middle of the country, lots of people are just starting to get out of work, and things are really starting to pick up now. Benjamin Gilbert sends pictures from his campout at Legacy Village in Ohio. Andrew Abate is lineblogging from the West Farms Mall Apple Store in Farmington, CT, where California Pizza Kitchen is apparently handing out free food. Nick Bodkins sends a note from Orlando, FL, where he's sitting in line at the Millenia Mall. Apple is handing out free water there, too, and apparently security says no shopping throughout the rest of the mall. Danny Perez is at the 5th Ave. Store in New York (where I believe our own Mike Rose is headed very soon), and says the feeling there is good: "There are about 300 people in line that I can tell from my location, I'm almost at the end of the line, they are giving away some free stuff. Items include, FREE Baked Caramel Popcorn (FreeEvil), Water (Water is directly from Apple - Branded by smartwater), Virgin Atlantic Airlines just gave away a gift bag with toothbrush/paste, Eye covers, Ear plugs, socks, and Lemonade. I also got some free music CD's and the best part, A FAN TO COOL OURSELVES OFF!!!" And finally, the best thing I've heard today comes from Rick and Simon at the Fashion Valley Mall in San Jose, CA: The Woz is live and in person there (or was, this afternoon), and apparently the Hummer and the Segway made the trip as well. Just under a half hour until 6pm on the East Coast, and then iPhone mania sweeps the nation. Thanks everyone for sending in all the tips, and I hope all you intrepid linesitters get your phones. I'm off to the Michigan Ave store for a report later tonight-- good luck out there.
Metroid Prime 3 not shipping before July
In a recent interview with Newsweek, Reggie Fils-Aime revealed that he likes ponies Metroid Prime 3: Corruption would not be shipping before July. This is hardly a surprise, as we expect Nintendo to hype the heck out of what will surely be the first killer-app FPS on the console, but we find it slightly disappointing nevertheless.More disturbing, however, is the concept of the "Big Three" (Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl) all supposedly being released in 2007. Realistically, one of these three will be pushed back (most likely Brawl, since Prime is extremely far into development and Shigeru Miyamoto recently reconfirmed a 2007 release for Galaxy), but with nothing coming before July, will Nintendo risk putting even two of its heavy hitters in close proximity to one another? Nintendo could get away with only one release, provided certain games are released as scheduled, but the prospects are disturbing.
Easiest job ever: dentist hires 60 temps to wait in PS3 lines
If we weren't sure before, then we're definitely positive now: the impending PlayStation 3 release has officially driven people to madness. As if folks quitting their jobs, ditching their fiancés, and perpetrating drive-by shootings weren't enough, we've just gotten word that a dentist in Columbus, Ohio leveraged some of those cavity-filling profits to hire an unbelievable 60 temp workers to stand in line at four area Wal-Marts. Although not a videogame fan himself, Dr. Murry Newlin wanted to spread the Christmas cheer to his grandchildren, nieces, and nephews by picking up 15 of the next-gen consoles -- a feat that would be impossible for one man to accomplish alone, but that would seem rather trivial for an army of temporary employees. Newlin rotated the line-goers every eight hours, and if sour grapes complaints to store managers and the temps' employment agencies hadn't caused him abandon the plan yesterday afternoon, our rough estimate is that the whole deal would have set him back about $23,400 when all was said and done -- or about the cost of two PS3s on eBay. So what did we learn from this whole ordeal? Simple: if you're one of Dr. Newlin's grandkids, we hate to break it to you, but scuttling his plan because of a few whiny fanboys means grandpa just doesn't love you very much.Update: Whoops, it turns out that this all went down in Columbus, Georgia and not Columbus, Ohio. Oh Christopher Columbus, why did you have to inspire almost as many city names as Jebediah Springfield?[Via Blogging Ohio]
Joystiq Cares: Please rethink waiting in PS3 lines
We start you off with this video submitted to Kotaku of the NYC Circuit City line, just to give you a small taste of what's to come tomorrow. Reports continue to pour in that, other than certain Circuit City stores, most retail locations will not be receiving their intended, expected, hoped, dreamed, whatever you want to call it, shipments of Playstation 3 for launch. Although none of the retailer HQ's we contacted will give us their launch numbers -- because those greedy guys hope you'll walk out with another system in hand -- many retail store employees continue to send in tips that their stores are receiving fewer (if any) expected units. Although Sony still hasn't said anything official, please just look at a fraction of evidence regarding the launch numbers. There are other ways of procuring a PS3 if you're desperate and rich enough to afford one. In general, if you aren't one of the first few people in line -- don't forget the people who pre-ordered in some cases -- double check and ask exactly how many units the store will receive. That's it. Cold hard truth. But, we ain't your motha', go wait in line if you want.
Observational standpoint: PS3 preordering
All right, I admit it. I may be a Wii fanboy, but that doesn't mean I can't preorder a Playstation 3 and attempt to resell it for twice its value on eBay enjoy other consoles too. As such, I took a little trip down to my local mall (which has both a Gamestop and an EB Games) to see if I couldn't pick up a preorder for that bullet train of a console, the PS3, for pickup on November 17th. I arrived ninety minutes early, got to the front of EB Games ... ouch. Fifteen or more in line. I quickly bolted (provoking the ire of a security guard) to the Gamestop, where only eight or nine waited in line. I decided to throw my chips in with them.The Gamestop employee arrived about thirty minutes before opening. He actually admitted the first two people in line several minutes later, and presold them PS3s. He then came out to the line and said that his store had only been allocated two measly units. While I later found out that the EB Games had twelve units allocated, it was far too late for me. And to think, I could have slept in.Where does this leave us Wii-goers? Well, we know that Nintendo will have a hell of a lot more units at launch than the PS3, but this by no means guarantees you a unit. EB/GS preorders open this week, and if you want to ensure your spot in line, you'd best get there early. Use your best judgement, but the earlier, the better ... besides, chances are that a few people in line will be rocking the DS. Multiplayer action FTW.May the Force be with you!
Overheard at E3: "That @!#$! in the Yoshi shirt cut in line"
Overheard in section 324B of the the Nintendo Wii line:"That @!#$! in the Yoshi shirt cut in line"
