Me: "Have you ever done one of these before?"
Eric: "Nah. I had the Playstation (5) delivered, and then picked up (my son's) at Best Buy, but they just brought it out to the car."
Me: "Look at us."
Eric: "Old Men in line with the kids."
It's not a secret that I've been gaming for a long time, and though I got my Playstation 5 out the back of Patrick Monroe's car almost a whole year after it came out, I got hosed by one of Gamestop's "bundles" 2 months after the Switch 1's release. I decided to do my first day one console release for the Nintendo Switch 2, and due to that decision, my first "Midnight Release". I thought this time that I would get ahead of it. I did the midnight pre-order online thing. I made sure the payment information was correct. This should be easy. Simple. I was wrong.
I drove by my closest Best Buy location around 8:30 to survey the situation. They had two lines coming out both sides of the store. One of those lines was the pre-order line, which I assumed was the smooth sailing line. The convenience line. I worked retail for 20 years, so I have sort of an idea how these operations work. I even went earlier last week to see what the lowdown was, and there was talks of a DJ, and a small manageable party. To avoid this, I went back around 11:30pm. I just wanted my Switch, not to create content. I was wrong again.
There were two guys that came out and told us that our ID had to match our pre-order name, or pick up person. Then they went back inside. The cop in the parking lot played a Super Mario jingle as the doors opened at midnight. And then...nothing.
No fanfare. No music. No party. Just a bunch of disgruntled people waiting in line as they came out one by one and asked what the last name on the order was, and let people trickle in from the pre-order line. The other line was quizzed on what they were coming to get as far as accessories went, and was limited to one per customer. This line did not move for an hour. The dad with his kid behind me said it wasn't worth it, and elected to pick up his in the morning. At 1:00 am, I finally ended up by the CLOSED designated pre-order or online pick up window. There was a girl flirting with a cop. There were dudes with over-compensating loud cars driving by. This was a disaster.
At 1:45am, I was asked what my last name was. These people were grabbing each Switch 2 from the back for each person, and bringing it up to the front, one by one. Once your Switch 2 was ready, you were allowed in. The new guy behind me bought 2, and the employee told him he didn't know if he could honor it. (He did). Once I got in, they asked me what else I needed, and I got a Pro Controller and the official camera. I treated myself to victory Taco Bell, and went home.
What the hell, Best Buy? I pre-ordered the Switch 2, and came to get it during a midnight opening, only to spend my time outside. Was there no allocation for more employees and loss prevention? Did the district and regional managers not prepare for this? Eric says his Gamestop ordeal was bad, but mine seemed much much worse. Mine had way more stretching and keeping my body from locking up, and zero DJ music and fanfare. By the time people had got their system, they were too exhausted to even celebrate. Rightfully so.
So much so that I sent two of my friends, Loot Lovas Lounge, and Crafternoon, to get a Switch the DAY of, and they were home and set up way before me. I live five minutes from my Best Buy. And it wasn't even close. They were fast asleep, while I chowed on my Taco Bell. Shout out to Crafternoon, LX3, and even Kelly Gray sent some victory texts.
At about 2:30am, I streamed the unboxing, transfer process, the Gamecube NSO app, and Mario Kart World. I did all this until 5:00 AM. I gawked at Tears of the Kingdom, and even bought the tutorial so you didn't have to. I'm impressed, but in the sense that I think they finally stopped doing what they wanted, and did what was needed. The Switch 2 is pretty cool, but I may just be tired.
Oddly, I've heard war stories of packed stores, canceled orders (Sorry Walmart customers) and absolute nonsense. If this was a way to get back at the scalpers, then you did it. But man...I just feel like this could've been better. It was smooth once it was done, but it took forever to get there. Like climbing a small mountain to take a selfie, which I didn't do.
I made it. Experience rating: "8/10."
