So by now PS3 owners are rejoicing as they crack open their Metal Gear Solid 4 cases (Smells good, doesn't it). The PS3 exclusive has been eagerly awaited by fans for more than a year, and at 12:01 am today Gamestops and Best Buys all over Miami (and the rest of the country) opened their doors and handed out copies of the game to the screams and grunts of the mostly male crowds.
I'm sure forum servers are lighting on fire as hundreds of people post their first screenshots, or comments, that's if those who preordered the game aren't glued to their TV screens. I sense that many will call in sick tomorrow.
If you wandered the streets of Hialeah on any other night you'd see restaurants with a couple of night owls sipping Cuban coffee, but tonight the same night owls were joined by gamers trying to take the edge off while they waited for the magic hour. Not even the 80 percent humidity kept them at bay.
Now, people didn't line up across the block, but the throngs of gamers around the shops' entrance was at least decently sized.
One customer provided a theory for the unexpected low turnout.
"It's because no one owns a PS3," said "Ozzy."
However, Sony, ever the one to capitalize on the hype of a popular game, has provided the solution by offering an MGS4 bundle for $500 (which is actually not a bad deal if you were considering buying a PS3 anyway or if you just want to play MGS4 that badly).
Most of the Snake fans came prepared for a long stay carrying lawn chairs, PSPs (their wasn't a single DS in sight, I think the one kid who did have one got his neck snapped), and lots of Taco Bell.
As an interesting aside, as most gamers gathered talking about everything but MGS4, as spoiler protection I assume, a cadre of street racers gathered at the other end of the shopping mall. Nine Hialeah patrol cars stopped one of the racers, which only left me and the others wandering did those officers really have nothing better to do than to stop the one guy. My own theory is that some of those cops were waiting for the game nearby when the APB went out.
Nothing special happened at the Gamestop at 1001 West 49th Street, Grand Theft Auto IV t-shirts were handed out in an effort to appease the crowd who clamored for something, anything to ease the wait. Of course, the Gamestop employees couldn't pass up the opportunity to taunt the waiting folk, one of the employees picked up the game and put it up to the windows as the crowd let out a unified groan. I think I saw a couple people salivating as well.
A cacophony of MGS's trademark incoming Codec call sound rose from cellphones throughout the line as people called each other and screamed in excitement.
To those who got the game I only say, "I hear it's amazing when the famous purple stuffed worm in flap-jaw space with the tuning fork does a raw blink on Hari Kiri Rock. I need scissors! 61!" -- Elvis Ramirez
