Launch Day Stories

[Drexel923]

I don't know if this has been done before (I searched and didn't find any posts like this), but I was wondering if anyone has any interesting launch day stories. It doesn't have to be anything out of the ordinary, it could just be a memorable thing. I have two, which in fact are the only two system launches I have been apart of. Both of these stories come from my habit of never reserving anything (I don't know why I don't do it).

The first is on the launch day of the N64. My father had taken me to Toys R Us to buy the N64 around 6:00 PM (As you can see my chances were already low due to the time of day). When we got there we found that all of the systems were sold out. I of course was upset. So we decided to go to the mall since it had three stores that sold games. We get to the mall, got to Babbages...no systems. We got to KB...none left. Once again I was upset. But never fear, there was one more store to go in the mall, EB. So we walk over the EB and ask if they have any systems left, they say that have one left...hurray! BUT the guy tells me that its on reserve for a lady for was supposed to pick it up earlier that day. Well that certainly ruined my mood for a while. I must have looked really upset because as we were walking away the guy called us back. He told us that since it was close to closing time and since the lady didn't look like she was going to show, he was going to sell the system to us. Well I certainly have never met a nicer employee at any game store before or after that night. So I picked up my N64 with Mario and when I played that game for the first time, I can still remember the awe that I had. I guess I kinda feel bad for that lady...nah :P

The second story is from the Gamecube launch. I was in college at the time and my buddy and me wanted to get a cube on launch day. Knowing that we weren't going to find one in the city (Philly) we decided to get one near our homes in NJ. We also knew that most of the places around my house would have mostly all the systems on reserve. So we decided to go near my friends house because he knew of some stores that didn't take pre-orders and wouldn't be crowed. We also decided that we should stay up all night, so it would make sure we were up. We convinced two of our friends to tag along and at 11PM the night before we took off towards Cherry Hill. We first decided to scope out the area for stores. We found a bunch of places that looked ok, but then we saw a sign ;) KMART...not your every day regular K-mart, but a 24 hour K-mart. We rushed over to ask if they would be selling the cube at midnight but they weren't. They said that they had to wait for the electronic guy to come and that wasn't until 8:00 AM. So we took off to get some late night food at Ulga's Diner and decided that Kmart was the best place so we went back. We bought a football and basically spent the whole night playing in the parking lot. As moring arose some other people showed up so we decided to go inside and stand at the counter. Around 7:00 the lady gave out numbers of the order of customers. My friend and I were number 1 and 2 out of only 8. We spent the next hour just chilling with the other people waiting and playing gameboy. So 8:00 rolled around and we got our cubes...I didn't need any games since I picked up a couple of the pre-launch ones. So we get back in the car and my friend had an interesting idea. We decided to go back to a Best Buy we had passed to see if there was a line because they didn't open until 10:00. As we were pulling up we saw a long ass line stretching the length on the store. Then we decided to be assholes for at least one time...we drove down the line with our cubes hanging out the window almost taunting everyone there. Needless to say it was pretty funny and even the people in line had a good laugh. We went back to school, I played a little Rogue Leader and went to sleep.

Well those are my two long stories. Anyone else have any stories of their own?

[Nature Boy]

I don't really have any tales to tell, but I would like to say that everybody here should be there on launch day at least once if they can.

I've been a launch day customer twice now (PS2 and Gamecube - hey, I was dirt ass broke/still in school for the consoles that came before them). Both times I enjoyed myself. The people watching is fun, the conversations are fun, deciding what game(s) to get/will be available is fun. It's *all* good.

(Mind you I wouldn't enjoy the massive lines of the previous story - even though I had a preorder both times I stood in line outside the TRU close to work and never had to wait for more than a dozen or so people in front of me).

[Gamereviewgod]

I waited 6 hours in Meijers for the X-Box, and it was truly a memorable night. Nature Boy hit it right on the head. It's a blast. Your with a bunch of other people just like you who are crazy enough to sit there, waiting for the console. Stories are exchanged, people (like the 10 year old we were waiting with) get cracked on, and the employee's just sit there in awe at us. It doesn't gte much better than that.

[maxlords]

When the PS2 launched, I had one reserved at Kay Bee Toys, so I went and waited in line at a different store at 4am with a folding chair. Around 6:30 they handed out numbers to people waiting in line...14 systems, 14 numbers, and I got hte first PS2 from that store for $300, then went to Kay Bees and got the other one for another $300. Then I promptly listed the spare PS2 on eBay and cleared $635 + shipping on it, making my system and memory card...FREE! Yay! Silly eBay rules!

[Oobgarm]

Not much of a story, but I do remember getting my N64 2 days early at TRU. Super Mario 64 and Cruisin' USA were the games I got that day.

I did, however, stay outside of Best Buy on October 25/26th, 2000, in order to secure a PS2 for a co-worker at my day job. He gave me $100 to do it, which pretty much meant that he was buying me games for mine, which I reserved at the Funco(Gamestop) I work at.

[Steven J. Lumas]

I will never forget the day that Apollo 13 launched. It was a mild April afternoon, as I recall. I had eaten some stale biscuits that morning and was launching something of my own during the take-off.

[YoshiM]

The first system I waited for was the N64. My soon to be brother-in-law and I stood outside of a Toys R Us in Fond du Lac, WI. It was a bit nippy that morning as we huddled next the wall of the building that sheltered us from the wind. Earlier we stopped at Target, which didn't have systems but had games. Bought Super Mario 64. TRU didn't open till later so we waited. We were the only ones waiting. Got in and found out they got shorted and all their stock was reserved. Upset we hopped in my car and we drove across to ShopKo. Asked the clerk if they got in systems and she said she didn't know. She pointed us to the aisle and lo and behold there were systems. Mission accomplished.

[sisko]

I got the PS2 and GCN on launch day.

I initially reserved the PS2 at funco where I worked, but the stupid company said I couldn't buy it because I worked there, despite the fact that I put the full $300 down on it! So I waited at Best Buy from 9PM that night until they opened the next morning. It was pretty cool, I brought a TV, some extention cord, and my N64 and a few of us played Perfect Dark for hours. Someone else brought a projector and we watched movies on the side of the building. It was damn cold though, but fun.

When I got my 2nd PS2 I sold it for $200 and $500 worth of anime.

Gamecube was easy. Walked in. Gave my reservation slip. Walked out.

I don't know if I will buy another system on launch day. It just doesn't seem worth all that extra money after the fact.

[GrandAmChandler]

I worked at Funcoland for the following system launches

Dreamcast. opened at midnight, got those cool tensabarriers for line purposes, made tons of comission money, well worth working at midnight.


Gameboy color. Received 4. I kid you not. One atomic purple was mine. :P Sorry about your luck customers....


Gameboy Advance. Too many reservations not enough systems. received about 12-16, again one was mine. :P took months to fulfill reservations.

PS2. Worst experience ever. FuncoLand told me that I couldn't purchase one even though I reserved one like everyone else. I emailed Chuck director of marketing, who knew my exceptional sales figures at the time, along with my ability to remerchandise 5 stores in my district. I threatened to quit, so he let me purchase one. We received 26, with over 150-200 reservations. We had a ton of pissed off people that week.............

Launches can be fun, or horrible, depending on the situation I guess :roll:

[Oobgarm]

I posted my stories and realized that I already posted once.

Damn Steven J. Lumas and his resurrection of old threads.

[Flack]

My PS2 Launch Story.

About two days before the actual PS2 launch, I made an Excel spreadsheet on my computer with every place in town that was selling them. Then I called each place and found out exactly how many they were going to have. The Wal-Mart by my house was getting 10 (I think), and the Wal-Mart in the town next to me was getting 6. The difference between the two was that the one in my town (Yukon, OK) is 24 hours, so they were going on sale at midnight. The one in the town next to mine (Mustang, OK) was an old-style Wal-Mart, that closes at 10pm and opens at 7am.

I was sort of excited about the PS2 but I gotta admit I fell into the hype when they began saying you might not be able to get one for Christmas. So, my wife and I went up to the 24 Hour Wal-Mart by my house around 10:30pm to see what was going on. When we got there we found probaby 50-60 kids all hanging out, in line, in the toy dept. I knew we were not going to get one, so we went back to the car and my wife asked if I wanted to go to the other Wal-Mart. I was like ... "I guess", I mean I wasn't DYING to get a PS2 but I thought we'd go check it out.

When we got to the other Wal-Mart, no one was there. I mean, no one. So my wife asks me if I really want one and I said yeah I guess so, so she said she would go home and get the lawn chairs and I should stand there and wait for her to return. The funny thing was, we got there around 10:45pm and Wal-Mart was still open so I just kind of stood outside the door. Then some employee came out and asked if she could help me and I explained that I was waiting for the PS2. She said they weren't selling them until the morning and I go, "yeah, I know." and she just stood there like I was the biggest idiot of all time. Then she says, "you're just gonna stand there until morning?" and I go "yeah" and she goes ... "ooooookay" and goes back in.

By 11pm or so my wife was back in the chairs and so we moved our chairs to the door and sat alone for like an hour. Around midnight this guy pulls up in a truck and goes, "you guys aren't waiting for PS2's, are ya?" and I was like "yeah" and he goes "well damn, I'll be right back." The guy came back 10 mins later with his chair and set it up in line as well. He was all into wrestling and video games, so until around 2am or so it was just the three of us, sitting out under the awning, talking and hanging out in our chairs.

Around 3am some more people came and everyone kept asking, "I wonder how many they're going to have," and I kept telling everyone 6, but no one believed me. There was this one big ass dork and he kept saying, "there's more than that but he's just saying that to try and get people to go home." I showed them my list but no one cared so I was like oh well, if you wanna hang out for 4 hours in the middle of the night, be my guest. Plus, my wife and I were each planning on buying one, mine for me and hers for her sister.

Around 6am, the line went from 15 people to 50. All these people started coming out of the woodwork. People with kids, older people, younger people, just tons of people. And I'm thinking to myself the whole time ... six PS2s. Around 6:30am the manager came out and said that there were in fact six ps2's (duh) and that they would sell them one PER address -- and they would be checking drivers licenses to make sure nobody bought two. I just about got mad but then I remembered that my wife got her license before we moved, so we had in fact two separate addresses on our licenses.

At 7am, they let us (the first six) in the store, and just as planned, my wife and I bought PS2's #1 and #2 from the Mustang, OK Wal-Mart. When I left the store that nerd guy was outside and offered me $500 for one of them. Unfortunately, like I said one was for me and the other was for my wife's sister and her kids so I had to say no. Then he called me an asshole and stomped off. Oh well.

[Slipdeath]

a little off topic but did the gc have any pre launch titles???

[Tritoch]

I bought the N64, GameCube, Dreamcast, and PS2 on launch day.

With the N64, I reserved it many many many months before release day at Toys 'R Us. I had just started college, and when I went home for lunch I had a message saying it had arrived two days early! I hurridly rushed back up to Toys 'R Us and picked it up, but there really wasn't any need sense most people were still in school/work and it was a surprise release (thus people trickled in all day). Unfortunately I couldn't afford a game, so I spent one agonizing night staring at it. Using this depressed look I was able to convince my parents to let me borrow their credit card to purchase a game with, so the next day I went out in search of one (Mario of course). After hitting all of the regular spots with no luck, I finally found a ton of copies at my local Sears (with the game section right in the middle of zero-traffic area) and promptly purchased one. That night was one of the greatest of my video gaming life. :)

I pre-ordered my Dreamcast at EB along with a copy of NFL2K, and got up early in the morning of 9/9/99 to go stand in line about 45 minutes before the store opened. They actually had the store open already (but not selling anything), but the line still stretched around and out well into the mall hallway. Unfortunately the people I was in line with were uber-geeks, and thus incapable of competent social interaction. The employees were pretty nice though, and we chatted it up the entire time.

Since I had already had the "launch day line" experience once, I pre-ordered the PS2 and GameCube online. I actually ordered each through several retailers (EB, Amazon, etc.), then canceled the ones that weren't going to be able to ship a system on launch date or had slightly worse terms.

I think I'll do the line thing the next time I buy a system at launch, because those few days waiting for it to arrive from an online retailer are torture. :D

[Querjek]

GBA launch day... June 13th, 2001. I remembe rit well... went to Kmart (That si now gone) with my dad at 7 am. He had already bought one for me online, but I managed to cinvince him to buy me one and sell the other on eBay. The were 4 of us... quite a surprise, really. It was to be a birthday present for me (Turning 12 I believe on the 30th), but I got it that day. I also bought F-zero and Mario Advance. Ah, the joy... I had already bought an import game (Embarrassed of title... but it was a good price!) 3 months previous 8-)

[RoboticParanoia]

a little off topic but did the gc have any pre launch titles???

I don't think it did.

[GaijinPunch]

GBA Launch day (Japan).
I had to work, so I sent my GF (now wife) who hates video games with a passion to the local store to wait in line for 2 hours.... so, I married her.

Rewind a few years to PS2 launch day (also Japan).
Didn't want one b/c the lineup sucked so bad, but did go to Akihabara for some other stuff, and noticed the lines a full 24 hours before the launch, at the only two stores in Tokyo that didn't take preorders.

[hu6800]

Walking several miles in the rain with my brother and friend to the mall
to buy a colecovision on its launch date.
we played that thing til the controllers cried.

The american release of the master system
me and my brother chipped in.

The american release of the NES...
You know, i played it for a week and gave it away.


The american release of the turbografx16
I remember i was in music school at the time, i was always argueing
over the fact that it was better than the master system with my friends.
I bought the system and a few carts and played it like all the time.

Then i got the CDRom for it,,, I almost peed myself when i picked it
up at toys R us and seen how big the box was.

The american release of the SNES.
i bought mine at Leechmere and they had several large screen tv's
hanging from the ceiling displaying it.

The american release of the turboduo..
I remember paying out the ass to get mine, but i did and i was happy
I sold my genesis and snes to buy this system.

The release of street fighter II for the SNES.
Who didnt freak?

MORTAL MONDAY
i remember my friend crashing his car with me in it, on the way home
from buying that game on launch date...

RESIDENT EVIL...
you know you all stood in line...
I got mine two days earlier than most of the people in my area, so
i let my buddy at funcoland use it to calm the impatient customers
that stood in line waiting for thiers... come to think of it, i think funco had a delay and many people got pissed.
remember how some of them came scratched?
poor packaging.

I could go on and on

[Gabriel]

I didn't get a PS2 on launch day. I was in school at the time and poor. But, my friend/roommate had enough money to get one, so I went to Wal Mart with him on his trip to get one.

When we got there at 6PM (they would be selling the console at midnight), there was already a line of people. The store would have 20 and there were already 20 people in the line. But it was worse than that.

Apparrently, all 20 of the people in the line were business associates of one person. This person had come up with a scheme to take up all the spaces in line to get PS2s. If someone other than his associates wanted a PS2, they'd have to pay $300 for a spot in line. If he didn't sell all the spots in line, he would sell any PS2s he ended up with on eBay for $800 each.

My friend was insanely pissed off. He complained to the Wal-Mart manager, but got no justice out of it. Of course, the Wal Mart manager was in on the deal and was getting a split of the cash. Needless to say, my friend didn't get a PS2 until a few months later.

We found out later the guy who dreamed up this scheme also had friends in line at the other Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Best Buy, Circuit City, and Toys R Us. In short, every store which was going to get the PS2s on launch day had the lines controlled by this guy and his cronies.

He made thousands of dollars off of the scheme.

[charitycasegreg]

Thats a pretty good scheme. I wish taht would have been my idea...:(

[hu6800]

Japanese launch dates mattered to me more...
because i always wanted a game or system the moment it became avail.

Letsee...
Buying a grey saturn before it was launched in the US.
Buying Two Sega Dreamcast before they were launched in the US
Buying the TG16 CDROM attatchment on launch day
the playstation, N64, psx2.. all japan launch dates..
some from game stores, some from online shops.

But i remember picking up streetfighter II for the sfc , biohazard for the psx and tekken tag from a japan launch ...

[roxybaby]

I saved up my pennies FOREVER so I could buy a Dreamcast on launch day. I lined up the night before in pouring rain at a Toy Works (or KB Toys depending on where you live) under an awning that didn't really keep the rain away. There were about 25 of us in line all night and I was third. We had a great time and some dude came in a Sonic suit. He was probably nice and warm all night!

The next morning the line was up to about 50 or so and at 9 am on 9/9/99 the manager comes out and tells us that he will be giving out tickets to everyone, and then randomly drawing a ticket to determine who gets to be first in line to be "fair." @_@

I was floored! Anyway, the 20th guy in line ended up having the winning ticket so as a result instead of being 3rd I was 33rd and that meant no Dreamcast for me. I was so mad! I haven't bought one since...

[Pantechnicon]

The only launch I was there for firsthand was GBC's Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons.

There wasn't a queue or anything at the local Toys R Us, which surprised me. I walked in right as the store opened and asked for both titles. The clerk at the counter looked at me blankly and said they weren't in and they weren't sure when they would be. Fifteen seconds later in walks the UPS man with two packages bearing a return address for Nintendo of America...I got to buy both titles straight out of the shipping boxes. Freshest. Purchase. Ever.

[Lone_Monster]

Ok, well I can't say this is the most interesting story. But here I go. (This happened today...)
Well, I just got home from school, and I told my mom to drive to GameStop to pick up Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. (I've been waiting for it for about a year or maybe more) So we get there, and I ask if they have Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles in. They don't. And it sucks. I was going to play this all day and they don't have a single one in. That completely ruined my day and to make things worse I won't be getting it for the next month or so... I know, this story just brings tears to your eyes...

[NintendoMan]

I have gotten a Gameboy Color and Dreamcast on launch day. For games on lauch day I have gotten at least 50-75 games the day they came in, but the one that really sticks out (For games) is Zelda:Ocarina of Time Gold Edition.

I thankfully never have had any trouble getting anything that I have reserved. I usually just go in later on in the day when the rush is over and just walk in and get it.

Me and my friend both reserved dreamcasts and about 3-5 games each (That got expensive for the both of us) at a local toys r us. We just walked right in after we both got off school and got everything, no lines. We both though this would be the system to end all systems, but looked what happened to it. I traded mine in a couple years later and recently picked one up again, and love it more now than I did when it was released. (9/9/99)!

[EnemyZero]

Ok I have 3 different occasions. 1 from a different perspective...

OK lets take a trip back in time to the launch of GBA:SP. I opened in electronics at target alone. I pull into targets parkinglot at 7:45am to see an amazingly huge line. Living in Buffalo, NY seeing lines isnt to often (esp at target). So as im walking to the doors im counting, and there must of been over 75 people, as im walking in all I get are shouts "when are you opening?" "do you have alot of sp's" ? and so forth. So I go in and walk to electronics but...whats missing? Theres no SP's, and my manager walks back and im all goin crazy telling her we have none. So she calls some people from the back room and she tells me..."Looks like they never sent us any." O.O at this point I could of used a gun. So the store opens and people run in and lord knows I don't wanna tell these people we have none. Well the first wave hits and I bare the bad news and of course no one is compassionate...I get swore at and even threatened...BUT...im saved! they find 6 boxes locked up in the back...back back room, and im saved...saved from a near death...I pray to God that never happenes again!

Next was my Sega Dreamcast...longest night of my LIFE. 9/9/99 I remember I had off from school, so me, my cousin and 4 other guys we went to school with went to the local EB around 2am, and no one was there yet. When I told everyone how early we were going they laughed because they thought the DC would flop, but thank goodness we went so early. We brought 2 big ass coolers with pop and we sat against the wall being stupid and telling jokes. Around 4ish a van pulled up right next to the walk way and 5 older guys jumped out, opened the back and to our suprise had a small 13 in tv with a genesis hooked up and we took turns playing nba jam all night. So by 8:30 there was alot of people, probably 40-45...take or give a few, EB opened and we got our systems...unluckily for everyone else, because according to the manager, they were suppose to be shipped 10 boxes full but only recieved 2 which ment only 8 systems, 6 for us and the other 2 went to the van guys. We high tailed it out before things got messy.

Moving on to the launch of GCN...this one wasnt as exciting...went to toys 'r us around 8, an hour before it opened and there were maybe 20 people in front of us. My parents brought me because it was an early x-mas gift :P. By the time we got in there was probably another 20 behind me....so we all get in and everyone was happy EXCEPT the idiots put all there accessories and games out the day prior and sold out of alot of stuff, so i got stuck with luigis mansion and no memory card or anything else >.<

[Drexel923]

Well let me add another story to the two I started with. The other launch day system I picked up was the GBA SP. However unlike my previous two, this one is very short and boring. Walked into Toys R Us around noon the day of, went to the display and picked up the system, paid and walked out. No lines, no hassel, no nothing. Can't beat that. Good stories above, keep them coming.

[LittlePopTart]

I was at the launch day for N64, with my dad and my little cousin. It was fun. We stood outside of toys r us, for a couple of hours playing catch with these kids. And we talked about video games for a bit. While my dad complained about how gay and stupid this was, but he knew we were having fun. My little cousin had to use the bathroom but they wouldnt let him in so my dad took him to the side of the building and he peed on the wall lol. But all in all standing outside for a while was worth it. I got my n64, and a couple of games. It was fun!

[DigitalSpace]

I've never bought anything on launch day, although I came close with the PS2. I had a gift card with $400 on it that I got for my birthday, but I was dumb and didn't preorder. So I had to wait until when they got more in stock, which didn't happen until early 2001. But I did have my SNES and access to my brother's N64 to entertain me until then, so the wait wasn't too painful.

The day before Halo 2 came out, I was at the GameStop about five blocks down from my house around 8 pm and they were setting up for the lines. I thought about walking down there around 11:30 pm to see how long the line was, but decided against it.

And yeah, bump for the newer members and those who missed this the first time around.

[DigitalSpace]

Forgot to mention that the gift card was for Toys R' Us.

[NintendoMan]

[quote="Flack"]My PS2 Launch Story.

About two days before the actual PS2 launch, I made an Excel spreadsheet on my computer with every place in town that was selling them. Then I called each place and found out exactly how many they were going to have. The Wal-Mart by my house was getting 10 (I think), and the Wal-Mart in the town next to me was getting 6. The difference between the two was that the one in my town (Yukon, OK) is 24 hours, so they were going on sale at midnight. The one in the town next to mine (Mustang, OK) was an old-style Wal-Mart, that closes at 10pm and opens at 7am.

I was sort of excited about the PS2 but I gotta admit I fell into the hype when they began saying you might not be able to get one for Christmas. So, my wife and I went up to the 24 Hour Wal-Mart by my house around 10:30pm to see what was going on. When we got there we found probaby 50-60 kids all hanging out, in line, in the toy dept. I knew we were not going to get one, so we went back to the car and my wife asked if I wanted to go to the other Wal-Mart. I was like ... "I guess", I mean I wasn't DYING to get a PS2 but I thought we'd go check it out.

When we got to the other Wal-Mart, no one was there. I mean, no one. So my wife asks me if I really want one and I said yeah I guess so, so she said she would go home and get the lawn chairs and I should stand there and wait for her to return. The funny thing was, we got there around 10:45pm and Wal-Mart was still open so I just kind of stood outside the door. Then some employee came out and asked if she could help me and I explained that I was waiting for the PS2. She said they weren't selling them until the morning and I go, "yeah, I know." and she just stood there like I was the biggest idiot of all time. Then she says, "you're just gonna stand there until morning?" and I go "yeah" and she goes ... "ooooookay" and goes back in.

By 11pm or so my wife was back in the chairs and so we moved our chairs to the door and sat alone for like an hour. Around midnight this guy pulls up in a truck and goes, "you guys aren't waiting for PS2's, are ya?" and I was like "yeah" and he goes "well damn, I'll be right back." The guy came back 10 mins later with his chair and set it up in line as well. He was all into wrestling and video games, so until around 2am or so it was just the three of us, sitting out under the awning, talking and hanging out in our chairs.

Around 3am some more people came and everyone kept asking, "I wonder how many they're going to have," and I kept telling everyone 6, but no one believed me. There was this one big ass dork and he kept saying, "there's more than that but he's just saying that to try and get people to go home." I showed them my list but no one cared so I was like oh well, if you wanna hang out for 4 hours in the middle of the night, be my guest. Plus, my wife and I were each planning on buying one, mine for me and hers for her sister.

Around 6am, the line went from 15 people to 50. All these people started coming out of the woodwork. People with kids, older people, younger people, just tons of people. And I'm thinking to myself the whole time ... six PS2s. Around 6:30am the manager came out and said that there were in fact six ps2's (duh) and that they would sell them one PER address -- and they would be checking drivers licenses to make sure nobody bought two. I just about got mad but then I remembered that my wife got her license before we moved, so we had in fact two separate addresses on our licenses.

At 7am, they let us (the first six) in the store, and just as planned, my wife and I bought PS2's #1 and #2 from the Mustang, OK Wal-Mart. When I left the store that nerd guy was outside and offered me $500 for one of them. Unfortunately, like I said one was for me and the other was for my wife's sister and her kids so I had to say no. Then he called me an asshole and stomped off. Oh well.[/quote}

Lucky guy, I mean to have your wife there waiting with you in line. I actually am lucky enough too to have a girlfriend, (Future wife) that also would and will be waiting in line with me for future system release days.

As posted earlier, I have never waited in line before for anything, but think it would be so cool too! I will for the Revolution, and would for the 360 if I have the money. I just have to find a place that opens at 12 or starts selling them at 12 or something. I really don't want to wait for store openings at like 7-10 in the morning, but will if I have too.

GOOD STORY FLACK!!!
:D

[Famidrive-16]

I got the GCN, DS, and GBA all on launch day through reserves. Nothing Special.

I remember some games being absolutely difficult to find on launch day. It took me three stores to find a copy of Diddy Kong Racing. Took me a whole night to find Harvest Moon for the SNES. It was also real frikkin' hard to find Kirby's Dream Land 3 on launch day.

[NintendoMan]

[quote="roxybaby"]I saved up my pennies FOREVER so I could buy a Dreamcast on launch day. I lined up the night before in pouring rain at a Toy Works (or KB Toys depending on where you live) under an awning that didn't really keep the rain away. There were about 25 of us in line all night and I was third. We had a great time and some dude came in a Sonic suit. He was probably nice and warm all night!

The next morning the line was up to about 50 or so and at 9 am on 9/9/99 the manager comes out and tells us that he will be giving out tickets to everyone, and then randomly drawing a ticket to determine who gets to be first in line to be "fair." @_@

I was floored! Anyway, the 20th guy in line ended up having the winning ticket so as a result instead of being 3rd I was 33rd and that meant no Dreamcast for me. I was so mad! I haven't bought one since...[/quote/

Holy shit, the end or your story makes me pissed off at the store for you! Wow, I would have been so mad, and would want to kick the store managers ass.
Well, sorry anyways!!!!!! (But you should have gotten one by now) I am guessing it pissed you off so much you didn't want one anymore??

[Ulticron]

I have two launch day stories. The first one was the 9/9/99 the Dreamcast. I had been stoked for months to get one. I really had my priorities screwed up back in college cause I actually went to class before I went to pick one up. Fortunately I went to this real out of the way walmart that no one ever goes to, and when I got there around 2PM I was the second guy to buy a DC.

The second story is the Xbox launch. At that point in time I was working in the electronics dept at walmart I knew how many we had and I had to work that night. So everyone that kept calling and asking about the Xbox I told them we only had six (which was true) and I told them we already had a line of 30 people (which wasn't true) LOL It wasn't until about 9PM when someone finally showed up, at that point I called the house and told my dad to get down there right away and get in line! Dad was number 3 in line although he let everyone else go ahead of him just so he could use my discount card an no would have to know what I was up to. I pulled some dirty punches to get my Xbox but I got it.

[joshnickerson]

I pulled some dirty punches to get my Xbox but I got it.

And it was worth all that trouble, wasn't it? ;)

[Ulticron]

joshnickerson said:

And it was worth all that trouble, wasn't it? ;)

It's a great dust collector! LOL Least you didn't bring up the fact that I used to go off about how it would be the next Saturn.

[Nz17]

I bought a Nintendo 3DS at launch in 2011. I bought it to play Mega Man Legends 3. Mega Man Legends 3's development got cancelled less than three years later. I guess the lesson here is, "Never buy a video game console until the game that you want is actually available." However, I must say that these past six years, I have played a lot of good games for my 3DS and I'm glad that I own one.

[celerystalker]

I bought a 3DS at launch as well. I had gotten a promotion about a year earlier, and was making lots of money compared to what I was used to at the time, so I just bought it on a whim launch day with Pilotwings, despite having never been a fan of the series. It didn't win me over.

Fast forward to now, I've picked up a small pile of games to mess with, but I feel like it's only recently come into its own. At least I was able to get a physical copy of Cave Story when it came out, though I wish it had an original graphics option.

[otaku]

I got the PSP at launch day (late in the day not hard to get) N64 my folks scored for me for xmas (so not launch?) and we got OG xbox at launch with two games halo (had to convince parents cause we were young) totally worth it I had been anticipating for awhile. Most recently got the switch with a buddy on launch day (his switch I had to get mine this week) we were in line at 5 am