Midnight Release - Red Dead Redemption

So, Monday night, after Steve's pre-Birthday outing to watch the Phoenix Suns get owned by the Lakers, I decided to surprise Clane by picking up the new game Red Dead Redemption at the Midnight release at Gamestop. I must say it was quite the experience.

I arrived at 11:49, and parked. There was already a line out the door waiting, and there were people in their cars playing music. You could tell the "cool" gamers because they were blasting Disturbed and Jay-Z while the guys who had earned their true Nerd titles were playing techno remixes of their favorite video game themes. I approached the line cautiously, and I felt I was definitely invading in on some secret Gentleman's Club. I stood behind some kids, one wearing a "Seniors 2010" shirt, and decided I would not feel old and ridiculous. Instead, I would attempt to feel like a nice aged wine or cheese. I would be a gamer with experience and refinement.

I looked ahead in line, eavesdropping on conversations. I found a girl with her boyfriend, looking clearly uninterested in the happenings of the night. There was a girl behind me, and I still haven't decided if she was there for herself. A guy had dropped her off at the end of the line, and then pulled away. He didn't wait for her, but I assume he did come back to retrieve her. So I am left to wonder if she is the gamer or if he had something more important to do and left his girlfriend to pick up his game. Regardless, THREE women standing in line at the game store surrounded by approximately 50 men and boys of all ages. It was a sad day for girl gamers across the world in my opinion. We had zero representation.

I also was able to find a group of guys that ONLY know each other from Midnight releases of various games. They met during the Halo 2 release, and see each other at every major title that followed it. It was strange, but somewhat adorable. I heard a few other guys who had only been up since 6p.m. because they had stayed up until 8a.m. playing Call of Duty. Eventually the kids in front of me asked me what game I was there for; I think I did win some points by saying it was Red Dead Redemption instead of the latest Harry Potter Lego game. Allin all, it was a cute and interesting situation. I feel like I got an inside view of the life of obsessive and younger gamers.