Wednesday, September 21, 2011

My triumphant return...

Looking back it's been quite awhile since my last post. I guess it's been an odd combination of laziness and... busy-ness(?). In retrospect that doesn't make a lick of sense. Oh well.

Last night was the midnight release of Gears of War 3. I try not to make a habit of attending these affairs, as they tend to draw out the "cream of the crop" of gamers. Now I've played my share of online deathmatches against the gaming community, and I've since made it policy mute all voice chat to avoid listening to the ridiculous comments uttered by some of the dumbest people on the planet. And for some reason, on this night, heading to a public place where these exact people are gathered at once seemed like a good idea.

As the hour approached midnight, I anxiously awaited the reopening of Best Buy's doors. I had been watching men do battle inside the great behemoth earlier, but within minutes of the official release all were asked to step outside until the last minute. By this point I had managed to drown out the sounds of ignorance. Listening to self-professed gamers wax intellectual about games like Modern Warfare 2 and Madden is insufferable. This must be what it's like for musicians to overhear a debate about who the better singer is, Lady Gaga or Katy Perry.

With two minutes left I was about to lose my last ounce of patience. I tried my hardest to completely isolate myself from the environment around me, yet the smell was inescapable. It was a mix of Axe Body Spray, Monster Energy Drink, and cigarettes. I swore to my nose I would avoid this combination of odors after college at all costs, but now I had broken that promise.

Just two more minutes.


Finally the mighty gates broke open, and the hope of leaving this god forsaken place was closer than ever. Oh, yeah and picking up the game and free stuff. 


To my surprise the reward for waiting a collective 30 minutes was respectable. Going beyond the usual XXL t-shirt I was offered a choice (!) of a size, along with several other goodies. The full list:

  • Gears of War 3 Logo beanie hat
  • "I Prefer Beast Mode" t-shirt
  • "Brothers to the End" Lanyard 
  • Mini-Xbox 360 controller keychain, Gears of War 3 Edition
  • Gears of War Prelude comic



In addition, but thanks to a separate trip, I was able to secure an exclusive 2-pack of action figures featuring Marcus Fenix and a Locust Grunt from Toys R Us. I think the exclusive part is the "Flaming" (read: orange) paint job on the weapons. Plus that Toys R Us sticker on the front seems like it's exclusive to Toys R Us. So collectible...right?

Well that's my successful haul for the day; a special thanks to my job for giving me a paid day off instead having to attend a company outing. Bonus! Thanks for reading, everyone!

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