I am standing outside the game stop in Union Square in New York City on a beautiful Wednesday afternoon, with a large number of cars operating and people are walking around the sun at the end of the spring. On the corner of the E -14th Street and the University Place, a line has been created around the block.
Tonight is the official start of the Nintendo Switch 2, with a console waiting for years. Some posts and influential people welcomed them one day, but for the rest of the world, it is the first time to play it tonight. And that many people in this line mean, that means they are willing to wait a little more.
By 7pm I have talked to a lot of people, and the great feelings are that everyone is passionate Mario Cart World.
Kyle and Andrea told me, “It has been forever.” “Now just understands it. Maybe even.”
The last version, Mario Cart 8Launched in 2014 for the first time Wii U, finally became Mario Cart 8 Delux When he launched on the Nintendo switch. Mario Cart World The first is the first new console edition in a decade, and fans want to start playing.
Chris has been waiting in line for about four hours and brought his chair. He tells me that his friends have been working all day, so he is trying to keep them in place.
“It’s difficult to get. I don’t need to do much today, so I will see if I can save them a place for them.”
Finally, I got a fan who tells me that he is excited for switch 2 because of his strength. Anthony told me, “I had a switch and then the switch was OLED, and I honestly took a great deal to run this item at 4K 60fps. This is a huge jump.”
Inside the store, the staff has been working from 11am, which pre -process users to run the start of tonight easily. They take four people from the outside line at a time, check them with consoles and accessories, and give them a ticket with a number to return and later claim. There are still a few hours left, so most people are walking on the road to capture dinner or drinks.
Gam Stop has set up various stations for sticking patients’ users. Is a body painter that gives people Nintendo therapy paint jobs, a Super Break Bruce Ultimate Setup, and, of course,, Mario Cart. The children felt the stations while examining their parents, and the store even set up a DJ to provide entertainment to people.
Game stop has fully developed the store MariaThamed jewelry. Here are cardboard cutouts of all -sized characters, and this map Mario Cart World It is clear to the floor that the retailer knew that it would be a large launch, and it decorated the store to help celebrate the fans.
Around 9pm, the CEO of Doug Baisar, Nintendo of America, appeared amazingly. Baasar talks to consumers and recites pre -conversation with the camera game stop staff that will probably appear in the LinkedIn post, then leads to the wall of the image with employees.
I asked Baiser what he was most excited for, and was blown up with an instant speech about it Mario Cart. It is expected at this location – a topic at night.
People start integrating back in line at 11pm, now spread the block and around the corner. Earlier in the night, the game stop employees gave the rafel tickets for free sports, and they start calling the number for the winners. If you win, you were mixed with a copy of you Splatoon 3A game is currently not updated to take advantage of the switch 2, high hardware.
11:55 am I waiting for the first few users waiting for the midnight release. Dawn is first receiving his switch 2 after waiting outside the game stop at 4:17 am.
“I can’t really believe that I’m waiting for it, but it was worth it.” Everyone is happy and the line starts to flow faster. The crowds of people who did not pay for the console continue to show and are in line. They will probably be here until morning.
I left the store for about 30 30 minutes after release, wondering how many incidents would be needed to make the console successful. But if this store is anything, the Nintendo Switch 2 is already hit.
David Ismail’s photography.
