Phantom Hourglass Launch Madness!
That's right, that's me and Link, ready to take on some Octoroks and rescue a princess or two. The Nintendo World Store in New York City held a special launch party for The Legend Of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass on Sunday, September 30, and the first thing you saw when you walked in the door was a life-sized Link you could have a souvenir photo taken with! Whee! You had to feel bad for the guy, though... the store itself was already stuffy with the crowds of geeks, so that helmet/mask had to be stifling! In fact, a helpful Nintendo employee took Link by the hand to take him upstairs where he could rest periodically between photo sessions. (Too bad, as I was dying to know what he looked like under there!) It did seem odd that it was Twilight Princess Link, even though Phantom Hourglass is a sequel to the cell-shaded Wind Waker. I'd much rather have posed with the big-headed cartoony Link. He's my favorite!
But there was a lot more going on at the launch of the hottest new DS title to come out in ages. For all the scoop, plus a bunch of photos of the collectibles, cosplayers and everything in between, make the jump!
After having your picture taken with Link, you could try your hand at Phantom Hourglass at any one of the many DS's set up around the store. Most were practicing the multiplayer battle mode for the tournament later, but I decided to check out the adventure mode to see what the controls were like. (Skipping through the cinemas, since I knew I was going to have to sit through them later anyway.) Not wanting to hog the game, I wandered off to check out the rest of the store and let another eager gamer leap onto the unoccupied handheld.
Upstairs, they had special Zelda memorabilia as part of their Nintendo Museum. They had Link's sword and shield on display, with photos of Miyamoto holding them at the press conference. There were old toys and cartridges (I absolutely coveted the tiny little Wind Waker figurines) as well as newer T-shirts and accessories. Surprisingly, there wasn't any new merchandise that caught my eye. Not that I got out of the store without spending any money, because at 2:00, they announced that for the next two hours, they would be selling copies of Phantom Hourglass, a full day before it was meant to go on sale!
Sitting over on the side of the first floor, I started playing the game to pass the time until the costume contest. Because I wasn't about to embarrass myself signing up for the multiplayer tournament, and the mad rush for trivia ballots wasn't a crush of people I really wanted to be a part of. (Plus, there's no way my casual appreciation of the Zelda series would even let me come close the scores of the rabid fanboys who ultimately won!) Plus, winning just netted you a copy of Phantom Hourglass, which I was already playing and loving.
Eventually, they wrapped things up with the costume contest. I enjoyed the cutie in the minimalist Deku leaf costume, as well as Original Flavor Link in his orange tights and simple shield. But my favorites were the two little boys who were utterly adorable, especially the one who looked terrified to even be in front of the crowd. Finalists were named, and then the audience applause chose the final winner, who snagged not only a copy of the game, but an autographed DS Lite.
Then I was eager to head home so I could play more Phantom Hourglass during the subway ride out to Brooklyn. Even though I know that despite a one-day head start on everybody else, you'll all still finish it before I do!
Wootini
Posted to Hot Stuff, Miscellany, Video Games on 1 October 2007
· Comments (7)
Other stuff like this: adventures of zelda, cosplay, ds, launch, link, nintendo, nintendo world, phantom hourglass
I was there, too... and I took one of those pictures, too... And by that time, the whole crowded-room situation had made me even sweatier and uglier than usual, and then some OTHER photographer had to have me pose for him, so... I'm afraid this will come back to haunt me in ways I couldn't imagine. Why am I always doing these geeky things that I'll regret in a few weeks? At least I have that day-early Phantom Hourglass to soothe my troubles.
That Link mask is some creepy shit.
OMG, you're friggin HOT!
I can't wait to get this game. I really liked Wind Waker, even though Ganon was an easy kill. Just like Twilight Princess.
Hey, you're really cute! Tiny and Fruit are always in pictures on the front page, we hardly ever see the rest of you guys! That's a shame, you're all so handsome!
Anyways, I can't wait for Phantom Hourglass, as a big fan of the series. I just wish Metroid got the kind of attention Zelda gets.
the boy in the upside down leaf mask was a total fucking hottie too. I was quite happy he wasn't wearing it down the whole time.
Hey! I have Wootini's shirt. In fact, I wore it to Folsom on Sunday :)
Those little Wind Waker figures are indeed adorable. I especially love the little sister. I'm a toy collector, so those are sooo cute to me. I love my little Pikmin and Animal Crossing figures.
I almost went to that.