I Went to The Last Midnight Release
Midnight video game releases are special. It’s like a mini-convention of fans gathering together for that one specific thing that they wanted so badly, and part of the point is to have a celebration of that fandom with other like-minded people.
Midnight releases were already well established with movies–I had been going to see movies at midnight for as long as I can remember. And while you can still buy a ticket for a “midnight” release, it’s rare to see such a thing for video games anymore.
That’s why when Best Buy was doing the midnight launch of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, I braved the cold and stood in line. And with the decline of physical media, this might be the last midnight release I ever go to.
Standing in line in the cold felt a bit silly– I had a preordered copy ready to be picked up – but I wanted to soak in the vibe. Get a feeling of the crowd. See some cosplay, and hear the excitement. There was no cosplay to speak of, except for one eager fan dressed up only a few feet in front of my place in line.
And the line was long–much longer than I expected. Full of young and old people–some nostalgic, like me. Others doing this for the first (and maybe last) time. And all of us eager to get our hands on a game that was foundational for so many.
Midnight video game releases were an uncommon thing in the ‘90s, though some stores did have special midnight releases for hardware, like the latest consoles. But large, organized midnight release events didn’t happen. The iconic 9/9/99 Sega Dreamcast release was the earliest, large-scale coordinated midnight release event I can remember. Then came the PlayStation 2 and its midnight release in 2000, and the OG Xbox in 2001. It wasn’t until Halo 2 that software started getting the same treatment.
In fact, midnight software releases became a mainstream cultural phenomenon on November 9, 2004, with the launch of Halo 2. Microsoft and Bungie coordinated an unprecedented retail event where over 7,000 stores globally opened at 12:01 AM. This launch established the blueprint for midnight releases to follow: block-long lines, and the promise of promotional swag. The success of Halo 2 proved to retailers like GameStop and Best Buy that staying open late for a video game release inspired hype, and generated more profits.
So of course I wanted to relive some of that with the new Ocarina of Time release.
Back at Best Buy, an employee finally came out and let everyone know that they were sold out of the consoles. Surprisingly, about half of those waiting left the line. These were people who must have been there since the store closed at 9 pm, and had been waiting these two hours for a chance at the special edition console. Sadly, they’d have to try their luck elsewhere and/or hope for the promised restocks.
With a thinner line, and colder legs, we remained out in the cold. I wore shorts and a warm hoodie, which wasn’t enough and I blame on my Midwest sensibilities. When the line did start moving, they let people in in small groups.
Some people were excited. But there were no cheers as those first groups came out with their consoles and/or games. No one raising their prize over their head with the Legend of Zelda “you got this item” music playing.
But it kind of makes sense. Most of us have been there.
There were so many big, coordinated midnight releases, especially for millennials. The Halo 3 midnight release in 2007 was a huge deal–bigger than its predecessor. Even World of Warcraft had some notable midnight releases for their expansions. Skyrim and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 had almost competing midnight release events, with stores being crowded with fans eager for those titles.Eventually, people started to expect to be able to show up at the store and buy something at midnight.
In the pre-COVID days, 24 hour stores were everywhere. I have many fond memories of waiting in lines at midnight at Walmart. No coordinated event, just fans all eager to get a copy of whatever the latest release is. Just a natural gathering of fans.
I bought Dark Souls during such a gathering–which turned out to be a bunch of people waiting for the latest Twilight movie.
I was the only one there for Dark Souls.
Midnight releases pretty much died down after digital storefronts took over during the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One era. Grand Theft Auto V was probably the last, big midnight release. Players started to be able to preload games–why leave your house when it’s all there, already waiting for you? It didn’t help that massive day one patches had fans with physical copies needing to download large files before they could play.
At the Ocarina of Time launch event, there was an old salt Best Buy employee, telling the young’ns about his 10 years working at that location–and the “shit I’ve seen.” It was orderly, and by the numbers. I was in and out before I knew it. I just made sure to snag a copy of the promotional “poster” that was being handed out along with the game.
With digital looking like the imminent future, this may have been my last midnight release. AI is quickly changing how people use computers, so who knows if video games will have traditional release schedules at all in the coming future.
“At some point in your childhood, you and your friends went outside to play together for the last time and nobody knew it.”
Will this have been the last midnight release I’ll ever be at?
The future looks like it’ll have fewer coordinated releases like this.
It feels like the end of an era.
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