Decisions: Help me decide whether to go to the Mass Effect 2 Launch Party
Josh
Sunday
10:33 pm
My wife, in an awesome moment of geekiness, went down to the local Gamestop and preordered Mass Effect 2 for me over Christmas.
Yesterday, she got a voice mail from Gamestop explaining that the local store would be part of a nationwide release party starting at 10 p.m. and culminating in midnight sales.
According to the press release, the event will feature “tank building, grenade launching contests, a commando dress up contest and more.”
This set in motion a bevy of feelings.
At this point, I should tell you that I’m really weird and overly analytical about these types of geek gatherings. I’ve only been to one midnight screening in my life (”Serenity,” of course), and I’m notoriously shy about meet-ups, fan clubs, and insider get-togethers.
Why? I’m not exactly sure. Like you know, I spent most of my life as a deeply closeted geek. I didn’t even know things like this existed, much less were even remotely acceptable. Any geeky leanings were generally frowned upon by my loving, yet misunderstanding parents.
I also have a weird chip on my shoulder about geek cred. Maybe its my ability to pass as a non-geek in many circles, or maybe its just my regular practicing of personal hygiene, but I find that, whenever I’m in a gathering of other geeks, they steer clear of me, inherently believing that I’m only there because my nerdier brother dragged me, or worse, that I’m someone’s dad.
And, if there’s one thing that brings back my inner teenage awkwardness, it’s feeling like I don’t belong. It’s odd that I can fit in better by faking my way through a Superbowl Sunday than I can sincerely discussing the merits of increased biotic training for a soldier class hero in Mass Effect.
But, back to the matter at hand.
My wife narrated the voice mail to me. I grinned wryly. “I can wait,” I said. “I’m not one of those guys that HAS to have it at midnight and call in sick the next day.”
But then I started thinking. Sure, I’d be tired the next day. And it WOULD be an awesome post. … What if I went? … Just to fulfill my Geek6 blogging duties, of course…
So, I leave it up to you, my friends and decision-makers. This shall be my binding contract:
Should Josh go to the Mass Effect 2 Launch Party?
- Hell, yeah! Kick the tires, light the fires! Commander Shepard needs you! (79.0)
- No way, buddy. Steer clear — you don’t have to stoop to that level (21.0)
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Reader Comments
Go for it. You will have a great time and it will add to your geek cred. lol
I’ve been to a couple of midnight game releases in my younger days and I will never do it again. It wouldn’t matter if they were giving the game away for free to attendees.
Hanging around in a tightly packed store in the middle of the night with a herd of obnoxious, unwashed teens and twenty-somethings whose vocabulary seems to be made up entirely of the words “dude” and “fag” is not my idea of a good time.
If you end up going I wish you a better experience than I have had.
heck yah. this is something you need to do at least once, right? I look forward to reading your post on it!
Steam is the king of midnight launch parties. The game pre-loads onto your pc about a week or so in advance and at the stroke of midnight… unlocks! I love steam.
The only midnight launch party I attempted to go to was the Grand Theft Auto 4 one… we drove to the Gamestop, saw the line and continued driving to Walmart where we walked in, picked up the game, and left. I would imagine that for Mass Effect 2, the crowd won’t be AS huge. They have been marketing the hell out of the game though, so who knows.
Well, technically, I already have the game pre-ordered, so I’m not going to wait in a line. I’ll merely go to … throw grenades, or whatever, should you all vote me in.
OK. You win. I’m going to liveblog the event tonight. Check back here for updates: http://geek6.com/u/46