A full moon obscured by clouds dimly lights the rain-slicked city streets. The familiar sounds of car alarms and police sirens rise above the steady bass of a car stereo. Two cop cars and an armoured truck roll up slowly, unsuspecting. Triangle triangle triangle! You got jacked, bitch!

Oh, sorry, I’m not talking about the game, I’m talking about waiting outside of Future Shop at 11:30, in line for the midnight opening. Well, except for the car jacking part. That didn’t really happen. There were cop cars and armoured trucks and car alarms, though. It was like the city was prepping us mentally for what was to come.

We got to the store at about 11:15, and there were two kids outside, and maybe 3 cars in the parking lot (cops not included). So we parked and decided we’d go and line up either at 11:45 or when other people started to, whichever came first. Five minutes later there were 6 people in line, so we decided it was time. The most amusing thing that happened while we were in line was looking across the street at the EB Games, and seeing 60 people in line there when they could clearly see the Future Shop had no line. They must have had pre-orders. Or be stupid. They do shop at EB Games, so you have to make certain assumptions about them. Also, while standing there we noticed that we were identically dressed. Chucks, jeans, matching grey sweatshirts with the hoods up, and baseball hats. So we looked like dorks.

A Future Shop employee came out shortly after we got in line and told us that the PS3 copies were on their way from Toronto as of 8 o’clock, so he said they would be there by midnight, or shortly after. About 10 minutes later another FS employee came out to tell us that no store in Canada had received the PS3 non-special edition copies. Too bad, so sad, but we’ll give you a $10 gift certificate. There was quite a bit of grumbling along the line (which had grown to over 50 by that point). I’m not sure what happened to this truck that supposedly left Toronto at 8, but as everyone in line is quite aware, driving can be a dangerous business.

They let us inside early, and carded every single person before letting them into the store, which I personally find admirable. The line degenerated at this point, as everyone made a mad grab for the table full of games, so a guy who had been behind us outside actually ended up in front of us at the line for the cash.

I like to think that I am hardcore. It is something I’m more than a little proud of. However, in this case, I am not as hardcore as the guy in front of us in line who had a pre-order at an EB Games downtown, but abandoned his deposit because they weren’t opening until 8am. He thinks they’ll “learn their lesson”. I’m sure he’s right if the lesson he’s referring to is that you can take people’s money for nothing if they’re crazy enough to let you have it so they can play a game 8 hours earlier.

The saddest part of this story is that we took the game home, and went straight to bed like losers. (Unfortunately, nobody will pay us to blog, so we have to have real jobs.) We won’t get to play until Wednesday night. I checked store stocks online this morning, and it doesn’t appear that the game has sold out anywhere. So, technically, there is really no reason for how tired I was at work today. There’s just something enjoyable about standing around with a crowd of people who you know are as excited about something as you are. A feeling of gamer camaraderie that you take home with you, knowing that somewhere, the people you met are doing exactly what you’re doing, and loving it. Except in this case, because we were sleeping. But hey, we got a free hat. That has to count for something.

I’ll use my two cents for a few caretaking items before this article gets posted. First, I know that completionist.com seems like it should be gtaiv-completionist.com lately. This will be the last post on the subject until I write some kind of six month overdue review.

Now, a few extra details to help you visualize Julie’s story. The cop cars were parked in the parking lot the way that cops do (driver’s window to driver’s window) to talk to each other; they had just pulled someone over on the main road nearby minutes beforehand. The armoured car was servicing a nearby bank. The EB Games was about 500 metres away from the Futureshop; enough that you could see the lineup but hardly across the steet. The guy in front of us in the lineup had a maritime accent and had put $5 down at the EB Games which he subsequently forfeited. When my co-workers heard that I was out until 12:30 am to buy a game and I seemed a little tired, they remarked that I am “like a teenager”.

Finally, if you are keeping track at home, I tried valiantly to finish San Andreas before GTA IV came out…and I almost did it…almost. I am 99.39% through the game and I was on the 8th of 8 trucking missions to finish off the remaining .61% when I was run off the road by an over-zealous cop, due to my four wanted stars which is part of the mission. It was 11:15 pm at that point and time to go and out and pick up the new game. Ack. I will definitely finish it off before starting a new life in Liberty City.