People queuing, yesterday. Three tools in the pub around the corner not pictured.
Never one to miss out on potentially free stuff we sent out a crack team of reporters to cover the official PS Vita launch. After a quick drink. Just one more and then we queue, promise. By Rodentia
21st February 2012 and GAME Oxford street is getting ready for the biggest console launch of at least that week. As early as a day previously the queue had started - mostly to do with the offer of a years worth of free Vita games for the first in line (Imagine if Nintendo did the same with one of their console launches. Wow, thanks for what, 6 games). With this eagerness in mind, the three fine roving reporters, Koworld, Chad_Sexington and Rockwaldo decided they needed to meet early, 4pm in fact, to make sure we got a good spot...in a pub a few miles away.
“Yeah, let's try this. It looks absolutely horrible. Through a straw? of course”
The plan was a sound one. No point being early in the queue, professor keen was claiming the one and only prize and what happened if we got thirsty while in the queue? A risk that none of us was willing to take. So, without further ado (and a tasty Okonomiyaki tea) we decided to pub crawl it to the queue - aiming to get there in a few hours, job done.
Didn't *quite* work out like that.
“Think I'll just wait for a bus here”
It's here in the story I bet you all expect us to say, "HA! oh how funny, we got silly drunk and missed it after all, what japes". How dare you question our professional integrity? Of course we made it. With at least 20 minutes to spare as well. In fact...
“Free PSVita Tea”
“Free PSVita Pizza!”
That's right. Free food and drinks. Things were looking up and we were getting sober just in time. Maintaining our professionalism we got cracking interviewing the people in the queue
.
As you can see, the excitement was almost palpable. Before we knew it, the queue started to move, and we were at the front.
“It's always a revolution isn't it?”
Not just us either. It wasn't a massive turnout (maybe a few hundred) but we sure filled up a shop.
All of these people and not a single one can find something they want to buy
The free stuff continued as well. Free goodie bags as a reward for being so patient in the queue (ha!) including these fetching Tshirts that we wrestled ourselved into.
“Back to front Chad ya tit”
It was a blur, but between us the world of free quickly disapeared as two of us spent best part of £1000 on PSVita nonsense. Two I hear you say? Were you not Three? Well, one of our number got a wee bit carried away with all of the free stuff and chose to "bulk up" his goodie bag from the Vita table right at the front of the store. Weirdly the security guards were less than impressed with such behaviour and they proceeded to kick the brave "training to be a lawyer" rodent out on his ear (Incidentally, while rodent love a good blag, we don't like stealing so much. Rest assured, the items in question are a few quid each, given away with pre-orders in fact or something, but still, not for us). His cries of "I have one being delivered tomorrow anyway so I don't even need a Vita" strangely not turning the situation around in his favour either.
All in all it was damn funny, and no animals were harmed in making this picture, so when we met back up outside, all was well. So well in fact that we all had complimentary tickets to the FREE after show party a few doors down in the "Blue rooms". Apparently some young singing chap was due to be there, Tiny Chipmonk or somesuch, so off we went hoping that perhaps he would take requests and knew at least a couple of Phil Collins classics to warm our hearts after a busy day.
It wasn't the busiest.
“I expected it to be bluer”
Shut up though, it was a free bar so it was just what the doctor ordered. We had missed the singing (or perhaps it was downstairs) and Chad, being the only one of us now Vita-less, was quick to try and grab a few games on one of the many demo pods dotted about. After about 5 minutes the rest of us joined him. Wonder if he's having fun?
Brilliant
Fantastically he was still waiting for an update before he could play. Welcome to the yadda yadda...etc.. The rest of us got busy.
“Such technique”
Soon it was 2am, and things were hotting up as this exclusive video shows:
...and that was that. The party was over, we were all happy and everybody wins. But what, what's this in Chad's hood?
“For my next trick”
Chad had managed to get an unofficial freebie after all, sneaking a pair of £20 headphones out in his hood. Well done you. (We took them back after the photo was taken incidentally, so put your batphones down people).
