Midnight Madness: The Modern Warfare 2 Launch

But being on the other side of the counter is a whole new sensation of stress and anticipation. This writer has been slaving away behind the counter of an EB Games for almost four years now and no game has even come close to the monstrous success of the newest Call of Duty. Shattering just about every conceivable pre-sale record for the company my store alone was half a dozen units shy of 400 pre-orders on the game. When one considers the average major game release rarely gets more than 20-40 pre-orders, it becomes obvious how monumental Modern Warfare 2 is.

While gamers everywhere could only wait patiently for November 10^th to come along, retailers were already preparing for what could only be described as a deluge of gamers to flood in once the clock hits 12:01 on that Tuesday morning.

Taking orders for the months leading up to a massive game launch is a very passive thing. People come and put some money down on a pre-order; they go and nobody really thinks about it. However once the date draws near, the store employees make the horrifying realization that each of those 390+ orders need to be verbally informed that their order has arrived and when they can come pick it up. This is no small feat for a staff of five people.

What this amounts to is some poor soul spending a solid week on the phone repeating the same phrase to literally hundreds of people. This is just the start of a job that ultimately starts to feel like factory work by the time the deed is done.

By 11:00 p.m. on November 9^th the horde has started to swell in front of the store while the staff inside prepare for hours of selling the same item to dozens of people. The number of people who come to the actual midnight launch of a major game release is comparatively small when you consider the total number of pre-orders.  That said, in the hours between 12:01 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. the tiny game shop moved more than 100 units (just over a quarter of total pre-orders).

How these midnight launch parties usually work is about a dozen people are allowed into the store to pick up their copy of the game, quickly ushered out and the next set come in. This is repeated for a couple of hours or until the crowd dissipates, whichever comes first.

Repetition is the name of the game during a massive launch like Modern Warfare 2. Hours of repeating the same phrase, handing out games, pre-order codes and hoping your energy drink does not wear off.  It is tedious, yet strangely rewarding to see the piles of boxed games slowly shrink as the day crawls by. By the time the door is locked, and the closed sign is put up again there is a feeling of comradery with your staff members knowing you made it through the day. And knowing you can do it all over again tomorrow. After all, not everyone picks up their game on day-one.