- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
I work at GameStop in Clifton, NJ and we have about 400 reservations for Halo 2. A GameStop in PA has about 600 reservations for it. I heard that the entire company alone will need about 6,000,000+ copies of Halo 2 on Nov. 9th, just to cover reservations! There are over 6 million pre-odered copies of Halo 2 online!
Madden NFL 2005 was just released and it was crazy. We had about 200+ reservations for it and we had a VIP service that allowed customers to pre-pay Madden NFL 2005 before it was released, therefore, they wouldnt have to wait in line to pay for their copy. That idea went to hell. People in the VIP lines were waiting just as long as the people in the regular lines so now we need to figure out a better method for big releases such as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, and Halo 2. If Madden was out of control with 1/2 as many reserves than Halo 2, I dont want to see that light of day.
We had people having tailgating parties, music, bar b q's, people playing football in the parking lot, and loiters just standing around waiting for the release of Madden NFL 2005. When we told them the plane was late and that the game would be arriving after 8:00, people were furious since we had told them to be there around 5:30-6:00...I truly fear the day Halo 2 releases because we could have robberies, shootings, hostage situations, etc. Well, maybe not that extreme but the it will be a lot more hectic if we dont come up with a better way of handling customers. I believe that a midnight opening will have people just camping out in front of the store for hours until we open the doors at 12:00 AM, however, this will eliminate a lot of confusion and over crowding the following day. Hardcore fans will pick it up at our midnight opening ( a couple hundred ) and others will pick it up the following day or a couple days later ( another couple hundred ). Reguardless, its going to be a day every game store employee will never forget and I sure as hell cant wait to witness the phenominon that Halo 2 will bring come November 9th. History in the making is only 90 days away. Let us bow down to our new gaming God. ;)