So... my wife. I love her to death. Yesterday was my birthday and she told me she preordered a Nintendo Switch for me! Totally out of left field! Unfortunately, she was somewhat mislead to believe that her signing up for a "notification when back in stock" was the same and preordering. Regardless, the gift basically gave me the green light to get the system!

So right now I'm in line at my local Wal-Mart! I'm sixth in line and it's almost 9:00 pm. There's only a couple people behind me. I was told earlier today that there would be 35 systems available tonight.

This is the first time I've been in line for a hardware launch and will be the first time I've had any hardware at launch! I'm really excited and can't thank my wife enough!

Anyone else waiting in line?? Anyone else have any good stores with the Switch or other launch hardware?

I would have if it was 30 degrees warmer, like it was last week.

So for now I'm just refreshing Amazon foolishly.

@csl316: I forgot to mention it's all indoor! 24 hr Walmart!

@tyn0mite: That's a really sweet story: your wife sounds lovely.

My Switch is set to arrive tomorrow. While it's 3am and I could go to sleep in preperation, I'm instead washing clothes and dishes so I won't have as much to do when it's finally here. On some level, it's a lot more tiring than waiting in line at a store, but it's also a lot more productive.

This is a shitty time to be between jobs. Definitely have the money for it but it's just a bit to expensive to spend on an unnecessary item :/

@dixavd: I'm definitely a lucky guy!!

Someone in line just said "I heard some reviewer licked a cartridge and said it tasted bad."

Going to check the local target tomorrow. They said they have a fair amount so I'll probably get there 30-40 minutes before they open. Standing outside in 20 degree weather isn't going to be fun though.

@tyn0mite: i heard same talk but it was "streamer" lol. giant bomb is getting all sorts of internet famous!

so does "wait in line for an hour for a voucher, leave and do fuck all for five or so hours, then come back and buy it at midnight" count? :D

i also brought up the desync issue to some in line who sadly weren't aware. told them you gotta be ten meters away or something for it to really affect it, which is a scenario i don't see myself in.

@xanadu: sorry duder. hopefully you have a wii u so you can at least experience zelda, if you think you can manage it.

i honestly probably shouldnt be getting it but i love nintendo and make rash decisions. i also don't see it going for more than $500 on ebay so i don't think ill be selling it. seems they finally sorta got their supply chain under control.

Our local Gamestop is sold out already. Called Walmart and they said they had received 150 calls and only have 15 systems. This isn't fun.

Walked into my local retailer at time of opening, no lines. Purchased Switch, no pre-order. Life is pretty easy down under.

Same here. Called up my local JB and asked if they had any Neons in stock, turns out they do. Not sure how many they have non-preorder stocks they have though.

My GameStop is letting us stand inside thank goodness. 30 degrees and snowing here in Ohio.

There's some youtuber in NYC who has been waiting for in line for the Switch for a month

If you're in a major city, check your Amazon Prime Now...

@slag: i would not want to smell the breath of his wind.

I preordered at a local Walmart and had planned on being there for the midnight release, but then I got bronchitis, sooooo...I had thought about trying to do it anyway, but nah. I'll see what the story is in the morning, but I'm not even super worried about it, anyway? Don't really want to spend the money right now, lol.

Good luck to you Central Standard Time folks out there, less than 40 minutes away now.

My wife decided to tell me she wanted one for her birthday about 2 days after announcement so pre-orders were already long gone. So tonight I went around to like 7 or 8 stores in my area about 4 hours ahead of launch. Lines had already exceeded the units they had in stock at all of them except for best buy where the manager wanted to cop an attitude with me for asking whether it was worth my time to stand in their long ass line in the cold. So after a few choice words to one another I wasn't going to stick around to give him more business. I could try target in the morning but I'm not even sure she cares that much for me to wait out there before the crack of dawn to make that happen as they are only going to have about 10. I just wanted that sweet new Zelda.

I just bought a Wii U and a bunch of games....seemed like the right time to avoid getting a switch for one game.

Meanwhile in Australia, i walked into a jbhifi at lunch time and got one of the 10 they had out the back. I even had a choice of colour. Woooo low populated country for the win!

@dark: Go ahead, rub it in.

Thought about getting a wiiU to play zelda, can't believe that shit is still 200$ though. Welp, no zelda for me then! :-)

@bedouin: I can't, my hands are too busy fooling with mah switch :D

@dark:

i know it's an investment, but there are no other games on the system that appeal to you? i personally think there's at least 10 other games that are great to must haves.

but yeah, i probably wouldn't buy one just for the one game. *checks watch and whistles while waiting for midnight for his switch*

Went to my local Meijer at 2am. They got in 20 and had 4 left. No lines no fuss and one Switch!

The line at my gamestop was barely long so I got it within 5 min after the first guy got his

Didn't plan on buying, but left with one when I went to Meijer to grab diner stuff. There was probably about 20 of us.

in line again, voucher in hand. thankfully dont have to work until later tomorrow.

e: i keep thinking meijer is british or something.

Seattle WA over here waiting in line number 63

I went to Best Buy for midnight release. It took around 45 minutes to get my Switch without a pre order once the line started to move. I estimate around 80 people in line.

Relatively seamless experience at my local GAME store last night. Even managed to trade the Neon one for a Grey one (my preferred choice, out of stock when I ordered though). Plus I picked up the last copy of Bomberman in the store, and the final Guardian Amiibo. Pretty successful night. Just a shame no-one was on Bomberman online yet.

I ended up going to our local Wal-mart. Went a little after 9 and was 6th in line. They got 8 non-pre ordered systems, 3 pro controllers, and 3 Zelda Collectors Editions. 3 colored systems, 5 black. I ended up with a black system with a pro controller and the CE of Zelda.

That sounds pretty exciting, your wife is a saint. Last thing I stood in line for was the 'special' edition of MW2 at a midnight launch, ah halcyon days...

I was going to say that I've never stood in line for something game-related that I hadn't already pre-ordered beforehand, but I actually did stand in line in front of a retail store around 7am, just so I could get my hands on The Burning Crusade immediately. Pretty sure I skipped school for it...definitely the peak days of my WoW craze.

Otherwise I've always had a copy reserved for me, so there's never been any fear of not getting anything. I think it was maybe Diablo 3 CE that I last got at midnight launch.

I've only done 2 midnight launches. The first was for Halo 2 (no preorder). The second was for Wrath of the Lich King (preorder). The Halo 2 one was chill, pretty quiet. The Wrath one was insane. People dressed up, music, someone brought beers, etc. I got there at like 11:30, but apparently people had been hanging out in the parking lot all night.

I was up at midnight for the Switch but i wasn't about to go out. I'm stopping at exactly one GameStop on the way home from work. If they have one, I'll get it. I'm not going out of my way if they don't.

5am just hit both my local Walmarts.

No Switches, no games.

Kinda surprised actually.

Good luck everyone. Looks like you're gonna need it.

I guess I'm glad I got a preorder in early as it's looking like people are struggling to find them in stock. Still gonna end up sitting here all day waiting for the delivery.

The dog is also sat here at the bedroom door looking as forlorn as possible, a sign that she wants a walk. She'll be waiting until the parcel turns up!

@richied0: Tell me about it buddy! I got the parcel delivered to my mother-in-law's because I live in a flat and for some reason drivers don't know how to work an intercom. I'm sat here staring at the window!!!

The only system I found online was a bundle on Gamestop's website so I bought that. It's sold out now so I guess I made the right decision.

Edit: i went to target and bought one. i'll return the one i ordered online to gamestop when i get it.

So I live near a small town in rural Northern Arkansas, the Walmart there, despite being a supercenter location closes at midnight due to lack of business, I missed out on pre orders, but they open at 6 AM CST so I figured why not try? Man did I get lucky I managed to get a grey joy con bundle, a pro controller AND a copy of the Breath Of The Wild Special Edition. Talk about hitting the jackpot.

I ordered online so I wouldn't have to wait, but even though I paid an extra £5 for it to be delivered in the morning they haven't shown up at all. I don't think I'll get it until Monday now. Very annoyed. I should have waited in line!

@ripelivejam: on the switch? Honestly not at all, and on wiiu only other games are beyonetta,that persona clone that looked alright, and mario maker. None of which i would spend 200$ on a console for. Zelda is the first nintendo game that made me even consider buying one, though still not for that much.

Waited for about 90 minutes outside Target in 25-degree weather, but they had 50 so I got one no problemo. They had plenty of accessories as well. I was expecting a big line but there were only 10 or so of us when the store opened.

I just got Breath of the Wild in the mail.

Without a Switch.

Fuck.

I drove out to a store here and picked one up at lunch.

I got grey....I was really in two minds. I think I marginally prefer the neon but the neon version is sold out everywhere. Wish I'd asked the guy in the store if they had neon. But then again if I did that I reckon I'd be wishing I'd stuck with grey. I'm an idiot.

I know this isn't the same as walking into a store and getting it (although some parts of Canada do have same day shipping), but Amazon.ca still has the grey Switch in stock (and I could get it next day at the very least).

@takoyaki: well, you can at least lick the game?

Dang at least I was indoors. I ended up getting to Gamestop kind of early like at 3, and I ended up being 4th in line. But I was dehydrated and starving from dieting and weight cutting for a wrestling tournament this Sat( I lost 9 lbs this week). I was supposed to be in the gym cutting more weight but I was like nah. I stood in line for 7-8 hours, it was horrific, my phone died halfway through so i just sat there thinking about food and water staring at a wall the whole time. When I got home I only had enough energy to turn on the Switch and play Zelda for 5 minutes then I passed out. I don't regret it though.

I went to Target (in Cincinnati) about a half hour after they opened just to see and they had at least 4 of them. I wasn't 100% sure I wanted one, but I've never bought a console at launch, so I walked out with a blue and red one with Zelda. The guy jokingly tried to get me to buy the collectors edition of Zelda for "only $40 more" then said that no one else wanted it either.