Do you miss the midnight launch for games?

MayauMiao

MayauMiao

Member
While gaming is growing, one dying trend I notice is the midnight launches(not consoles). I just don't see much videos of people lining up waiting to purchase their favorite games this year unlike back in the old days (last gen). I love see gamers get together chatting about their favorite hobby while having good time socializing.
 
I worked those midnight launches. I'm glad they died out.

Now you want to talk "gamers get together chatting about their favorite hobby while having good time socializing"? Support your local arcade, if you have one. Drive a few towns over if they have one and spend an afternoon there.
 
My local Gamestop has done them for most big PS4 games.

God of War, Crash Bandicoot, and even Detroit just to name a few. Always a line of people too which was strangely amusing to see.
 
I absolutely do not miss midnight launches. I really don't enjoy waiting outside gamestop for hours to then have to drive home and play, especially now when I can't really do that since I wake up early. I much prefer to have it preinstalled and just unlocked when it's ready to go. I remember one time gamestop had us waiting outside for hours before an employee came out and told us they only had 6 copies of the game.
 
Yeah. When I was younger, my friends and I would go to some. Go and talk and bullshit around. Then get the game and play together later.

I was young once :messenger_crying:
 
I think the last thing I lined up for might have been Halo 3 (or Halo 2?). I remember it's always fun because everyone's just standing around being super hyped for the same thing so you can just talk to random people about stuff.

As much as I did enjoy lining up for games and other products... I'm more than happy these days to just digitally download on release day or order it online to be delivered.

There's definitely something to be said about the atmosphere of "the line" though. Kinda miss is. Kinda don't.
 
God no.

Definitely one of the upsides of digital, not having to stay up to midnight to get the game. Yeah you have to download a massive file but I'm too old to start playing a game at midnight and not be a wreck the next day so whatever.
 
Nah. I'm good. Was fun in high school but not now. Haven't gone to one in years. I'd have to download a big file and install that shit anyway before getting to play it.
 
Not at all, but it's because I'm older and lazier now and have gone all digital. It was much better being able to just switch from my TV to my PS4 at midnight last night and start playing Spider-Man than needing to take the time of running out to a store to buy it or waiting until today to grab it.
 
Kinda I had some fun at them or at least was entertained by what I saw ..last one I went to technically was for Forza 3 ..no one gave a shit there was like 2-3 people there at the Gamestop and at like 1130 they started handing them out to all 3 of us lol..I think they had to stay open to a certain time so they just said take it and go . Last one I went to that people actually cared about was Modern Warfare 2 and had a ton of people ..on the preorder line ..lolol..so people like me that didn't preorder were in and out in like 15 mins while those that preordered were stuck in line while they waited for them to find their preorder and verify this and that , we just walked in picked up whichever copy we wanted paid and walked out.. what was one hell of a shit show . When I was leaving the preorder line was getting quite upset and complaining quite loudly .
 
I miss chatting with other gamers at events. Last one I did was destiny 2. I have a limited edition gathering dust somewhere.....

I'll stick to just picking up next day
 
No nerds are weird.

AdmiralMikey said:
Not at all, but it's because I'm older and lazier now and have gone all digital. It was
much better being able to just switch from my TV to my PS4 at midnight last night and start playing Spider-Man than needing to take the time of running out to a store to buy it or waiting until today to grab it.
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You could also like order things so that they get delivered to your house.
 
My first standing in line for a midnight launch was World of Warcraft The Burning Crusade and still with all the midnight launches I have been to that one was the longest wait, craziest group of people I have been around and loved every minute of it.

But no, I don't miss them.
 
The last thing game related I got at "midnight" (it was actually like 7 AM, when the store opened) was the PS4. My midnight launches right now are looking at a countdown since I buy mostly digital and if I buy physical, I just wait until it arrives.
 
I never liked them. The last one I went to was for San Andreas. Standing in line at the mall after work to get a game I could only play for a few hours before sleeping and going back to work felt utterly pointless.

Nowadays, if you know you want a PS4 game, you can buy it digitally 2 days in advance and it downloads and installs so that you can boot it up at midnight if you want to. For hyped up releases you're definitely buying, that's a way better alternative for me.
 
The last thing I did a midnight launch for was the 360. It was a cool experience, but nothing I need to do again. Plus, I'm an old man in my thirties. Staying up that late sounds kinda shitty.

I've never had any problem getting my hands on any piece of physical gaming that I've wanted in the past six or so years.
 
HeisenbergFX4 said:
My first standing in line for a midnight launch was World of Warcraft The Burning Crusade
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This was actually my first and only midnight launch, and I felt like such a loser. So many weirdos and my buddy was with me and ripped me for so many years about "My people", lol.
 
I enjoy the convenience of modern downloads, but I do miss some aspects of the old physical purchase days. I didn't do the midnight queue thing, just not my scene, but I do miss getting the game, opening the box on the bus home and reading the manual, that certain physicality that's missing today in a world where we don't own, we rent.
 
Vlaphor said:
The last thing I did a midnight launch for was the 360. It was a cool experience, but nothing I need to do again. Plus, I'm an old man in my thirties. Staying up that late sounds kinda shitty.

I've never had any problem getting my hands on any piece of physical gaming that I've wanted in the past six or so years.
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The 360 was my last midnight launch experience as well! My local Software Etc. didn't get my pre-order in, so I instead of waiting I decided to camp at the local Walmart and managed to snag one of two premium 360s. I got there around 1pm and was second in line. It turned out to be a lot of fun. The first four of us in line ended up becoming friends and we bought a couple board games to pass the time. Around 10pm scalpers showed up and they were super aggressive. They tried cutting in line, but thankfully one of the employees gave us at the numbers to mark our spot in line so it didn't matter.

Along with the console, I snagged Perfect Dark Zero (the night club level was amazing at the time) and Kameo (which gave me terrible motion sickness so I only got about an hour in).

Perhaps a result of being older, I pick up my system pre-orders the next morning and I'm fine with that. Amazon has been good about delivering games the day of release.

I remember seeing pictures of hundreds of people in Japan lined up for launches and wished I could one day do something like that. Camping for the 360 wasn't quite the same experience, but I look back at it fondly.

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Zangiefy360 said:
The 360 was my last midnight launch experience as well! My local Software Etc. didn't get my pre-order in, so I instead of waiting I decided to camp at the local Walmart and managed to snag one of two premium 360s. I got there around 1pm and was second in line. It turned out to be a lot of fun. The first four of us in line ended up becoming friends and we bought a couple board games to pass the time. Around 10pm scalpers showed up and they were super aggressive. They tried cutting in line, but thankfully one of the employees gave us at the numbers to mark our spot in line so it didn't matter.

Along with the console, I snagged Perfect Dark Zero (the night club level was amazing at the time) and Kameo (which gave me terrible motion sickness so I only got about an hour in).

Perhaps a result of being older, I pick up my system pre-orders the next morning and I'm fine with that. Amazon has been good about delivering games the day of release.

I remember seeing pictures of hundreds of people in Japan lined up for launches and wished I could one day do something like that. Camping for the 360 wasn't quite the same experience, but I look back at it fondly.
Click to expand...

I got mine at Best Buy. I started at 10pm and managed to get a premium console, Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo, and PGR3. The one thing I didn't count on was how cold it was going to be that night. Insanely cold in fact. Luckily, the person next to me let me borrow their hand warmers, and there was a 24hr McDonalds right next door and the people would hold your place in line while you made a quick run there.
 
I remember camping outside Walmarts for my favorite games [and systems]. Truly, they were experiences to have had and always cherish, as the people you are with can make or break the time you have.

On top of that, I'm pretty okay with it not being a thing anymore. I miss the talks, but, I understand that people might rather order video games to their own residences than spend time outdoors in implement weather.
 
Vlaphor said:
I got mine at Best Buy. I started at 10pm and managed to get a premium console, Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo, and PGR3. The one thing I didn't count on was how cold it was going to be that night. Insanely cold in fact. Luckily, the person next to me let me borrow their hand warmers, and there was a 24hr McDonalds right next door and the people would hold your place in line while you made a quick run there.
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Ouch! The weather definitely raises the stakes. I was able to wait inside thankfully, but if I had to wait out in the cold for 11 hours I doubt I would have gone through with it.
 
I used to live across the street from a Gamestop so it was good to occasionally walk over there and grab a game at midnight. Now I am old and have to work early in the morning so I don't care.
 
not at all. Chicago weather doesn't lend itself well to standing outside all night, especially during the pre-christmas flood of games.
 
I didn't ever do midnight launches for games because of school. I did pick up my X1 at midnight though. I do really miss picking up a game on launch day or getting one as a gift and then playing in person with friends and learning crazy new things about the game together. I think because of leaks/the internet/social media a lot of the excitement of getting new games has gone away. I mean, I get excited about getting a new game but there isn't that excitement of the unknown if that makes sense. When the only video games news/info was what you could get from a magazine, games just had more, for lack of better wording, mystery.
 
I never went to those things as I couldn't be bothered to drag myself out to some shop in the middle of the night for a game or system. That being said, I do enjoy hopping into MMO expansions when they go live, all from the comfort of my home. That can be pretty fun so long as there aren't any crippling bugs. (Raubahn bottleneck in Stormblood says hi)
 
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I went just last night to Gamestop to pick up Spider-Man. It wasn't midnight, but at 9pm. I did quit going for a while cause I was ordering most of my games from Amazon, but I don't shop as much for video games on Amazon anymore.

I always enjoyed them going with friends. I'll be going to pick up RDR2 at the midnight release too.
 
I guess age have caught up with is all and we have less time loitering around in the middle of the night. Digital download also contribute the urge to be there at midnight launch just so you could be the first one to play it.
 
LOL - I want to a 9 PM launch event at Best Buy (in Pittsburgh) for Spiderman yesterday, and the store was closed and locked at 9:16 PM. The employees were very nice and actually brought me the game (after unlocking the doors), since I had pre-ordered and paid for it.

I simply did not even occur to me that the event would have been over at 9 PM.

This is such a change from the old days of a midnight launch (like for the Sega Dreamcast) that went on way past 1 or 2 AM.
 
The only one I enjoyed was for Burning Crusade because it felt like an event. Didn't attend too many in addition to that though.

Aren't those midnight things usually swimming with weirdos? That's been my experience which is why I didn't enjoy them much.
 
I always felt like I would be missing out on something if I didn't go and then when I got there I felt like I shouldn't be there. A few times I waited for a few minutes then left. And the other few times I stayed, I am pretty sure I fell asleep before the game installed.

But new systems were worth it.
 
Craziest midnight launch I ever saw was for GTA 5 which the biggest crowed combined of both video gamers, and delinquents who like video games, and parents with children feeling really confused and embarrassed.

I've gone to tons of midnight launches and by that I mean the part where I show up, get my game, and leave. As a night owl and one who prefers physical over digital, I wish I could pick up every game at midnight.
 
It's 11 and I'm struggling to stay awake as is. Let alone get a game and play it. Now if anything, I miss my younger body that allowed me to do something like that.

I remember sitting in a chair in Walmart for 20 hours waiting for a ps2. Was in first position and just sat there. Now a days my back would be hurting and I would need a massage after 10 hours.
 
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I remember seeing Luke Smith on the news interviewing some big fat dude who said he was gonna give away a bunch of PS3s so I kinda do
 
The last one I actually enjoyed wasn't really a launch - it was the wait to preorder the Wii while I was in college. They weren't sure how many systems they were getting yet so a bunch of people camped out overnight. People brought their DS's and board games and blankets and chairs and tents, it was good vibes all around. Great fun. In the morning my then-GF brought a bunch of breakfast tacos for everyone in the line. They ended up only able to reserve 10 systems, I was the sixth person in line.

The last one I actually went to was for Brawl. I had been in a car accident earlier that week and was feeling pretty jacked up, so maybe my demeanor was part of it but I just hated everyone there. A stereotypical group to a tee; very loud and fat and very smelly. The plus side was I stayed up playing all night with my friends to beat Subspace Emissary and unlock all the characters.
 
I think the last time I went to a midnight launch of something was for Arkham Knight. I've gone to plenty over the years and they were exciting, and usually convenient for me because I work second shift, but nowadays, I guess I'm just old. Honestly, I can wait a few hours to play my game. Amazon gets physical releases to my doorstep the day of release. I could go digital and get it at midnight--I do for the release of some digital only or indie games--but until very recently Amazon Prime had the 20% discount, not to mention being able to trade it in later. Right now there's nothing that's been announced for this year or next that would make me want to go pre-order at a Gamestop and pick it up at a midnight release.
 
I've never done a midnight launch for a game, I wasn't aware that they're not a thing anymore.

Vlaphor said:
The last thing I did a midnight launch for was the 360. It was a cool experience, but nothing I need to do again. Plus, I'm an old man in my thirties. Staying up that late sounds kinda shitty.

I've never had any problem getting my hands on any piece of physical gaming that I've wanted in the past six or so years.
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The one time I did a midnight launch was for the Wii in 2006, at Walmart, it was a lot of fun and a great experience, that's a good memory.
 
No. What I do miss is the thrill of picking up the game from the a store, and the anticipation build up on the drive home.
 
No and I never understood people who attended these events. I mean I get it you can socialize with other people, but even if you buy the game chances are you're going to be too tired to enjoy it when you return home. Meanwhile "normal" people can visit the shop at 8am and buy the game without problems. And I won't even start the dicussion on how comfortable it is to order online (physical or digital).
 
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