All out Brawl
The year was 2008. The month was March. I was seventeen, and waiting in line at a Gamestop for the release of a game I had obessed over for two year. Two freakin' years. It was finally time to stop looking up redundant news articles, majiruana-inspired theories posted on thread boards, and teaser trailers I had watch probably six-hundred times. It was time play the game. That game was Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
You see, the first time this game was made known to the public was back in 2006. Nintendo had unveiled it at that year's E3, and took two years to release it. Needless to say, the wait was more than I, or anyone else at the Gamestop, could bear.
All around me, I heard the murmors of other gamers. They were discussing topics like the game's controls, graphics, and character roster. The characters were definitely the most talked about. I heard one guy say, "Yeah, Ike's ridiculous," referring to the strength of one the sword-weilding characters. Everyone was anticipating what characters would stand out as the best. There was a growing excitement heard in the collective voices.
As I stood at the back of the already forming line, I watched on as a handful of people at the front of the store actually played the game. I unfortunately did not know it, but the Gamestop had its own copy of the game, and was using it to host an impromptu tournament for the people who signed up early enough. All I could do was watch from a distance as group of guys stood around a Wii demo kiosk, trying to play. I say
"trying" because they had no choice but to use the available Wii Remotes as controllers, and those do not work well for the game, especially if you are not used to them. They're terrible. That's what I'm trying to say.
Time passed. It was now close to midnight, the sham tournament had ended, and everyone stood in line. The manager (I assumed it was the manager.) gave the signal, and the cashiers began to ring everyone up. This was the single-longest part of the night, as well as the overall wait for the game. The two years of anticipation, a day of planning, and several hours of waiting in a confined outlet store could not compare to the agony of inching towards the register, all the while wondering how long it takes to ring up the people in front of you. And from what I could tell by the looks on everyone else's faces, I was not alone in this strife.
But the line did move, and eventually it was my turn. I handed my pre-order receipt and money to the cashier (Who in no way seemed excited to be working so late), grabbed my copy of the game and walked outside. I was finally released from the burden of my impatience. Now was my chance to play, and it was about dang time.
You see, the first time this game was made known to the public was back in 2006. Nintendo had unveiled it at that year's E3, and took two years to release it. Needless to say, the wait was more than I, or anyone else at the Gamestop, could bear.
All around me, I heard the murmors of other gamers. They were discussing topics like the game's controls, graphics, and character roster. The characters were definitely the most talked about. I heard one guy say, "Yeah, Ike's ridiculous," referring to the strength of one the sword-weilding characters. Everyone was anticipating what characters would stand out as the best. There was a growing excitement heard in the collective voices.
As I stood at the back of the already forming line, I watched on as a handful of people at the front of the store actually played the game. I unfortunately did not know it, but the Gamestop had its own copy of the game, and was using it to host an impromptu tournament for the people who signed up early enough. All I could do was watch from a distance as group of guys stood around a Wii demo kiosk, trying to play. I say
"trying" because they had no choice but to use the available Wii Remotes as controllers, and those do not work well for the game, especially if you are not used to them. They're terrible. That's what I'm trying to say.
Time passed. It was now close to midnight, the sham tournament had ended, and everyone stood in line. The manager (I assumed it was the manager.) gave the signal, and the cashiers began to ring everyone up. This was the single-longest part of the night, as well as the overall wait for the game. The two years of anticipation, a day of planning, and several hours of waiting in a confined outlet store could not compare to the agony of inching towards the register, all the while wondering how long it takes to ring up the people in front of you. And from what I could tell by the looks on everyone else's faces, I was not alone in this strife.
But the line did move, and eventually it was my turn. I handed my pre-order receipt and money to the cashier (Who in no way seemed excited to be working so late), grabbed my copy of the game and walked outside. I was finally released from the burden of my impatience. Now was my chance to play, and it was about dang time.
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