A line of about 150 people waited eagerly outside of GameStop last night in Burlington Centre at midnight. And what would keep so many people from their sleep?
The long-awaited release of Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Nintendo’s much-anticipated follow up to the Switch console’s massive hit Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
The official release date is today, May 12, pushed back from its original release date of March 2022. Breath of the Wild was released in 2017 to critical acclaim, with its open-world concept, gorgeous graphics, and puzzles that require players to use their brainpower to move through, and Nintendo announced development of the sequel back in 2019. The excitement was sufficient that GameStop hosted a midnight release of Tears of the Kingdom.
In Burlington Centre, some fans were setting up to wait before GameStop’s regular closing time of 9 p.m. Arriving at five minutes to midnight meant waiting outside the mall’s one open entrance, nearest to GameStop. Fans of all ages waited patiently, tweens and parents, teens, and adults alike.
GameStop began letting people in exactly at midnight; the first fans with game in hand exited the mall whooping in excitement.
An hour in, a few people dropped out to go home to sleep or work. Others wandered up the line to see how GameStop was managing the sales, reporting back afterwards that the store was averaging one customer per minute.
Finally, just past 2 a.m., the last few in line made their way into the store. Much of the Tears of the Kingdom merchandise was gone, but preordered games were still available, alongside some themed Switch cases and other items. Staff were still patient and cheerful, but ready to go home.
And was it worth it?
Graphics are just as beautiful as Breath of the Wild, storyline just as intriguing, gameplay even more open and allowing for creativity: preliminary reviews (including the author’s own junior video game critic) say yes.
