When I was sixteen I got my first job, it was at a Best Buy in St. Louis,  my hometown. So I got to experience first hand what a launch day event was like for the dawning of the Dreamcasting and the PS2. Not to mention, I survived “Black Friday” as well, which is makes a gaming launch day feel tame. I still remember the lines of anxious gamers that would stand for hours in the rain or in the snow or in the humid summer nights for a chance to be among the first to play the game everyone else wanted.

Nearly a decade later I find myself amongst these anxious people once more outside the Best Buy in San Carlos, CA.. This time for the launch of Call of Duty:Modern Warfare 2, arguably the biggest gaming launch this year.

It’s funny that things have come full circle. This also happens to my first gig with The Kartel, and it comes at the right time for this 25 year old, college-educated, penniless gamer.  The assignment was this: cover the midnight launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. In the process, we hope to generate some enthusiasm for ‘The Kartel’ as the site just launched.

But we didn’t just want to pimp our site. Having been through several launch events, I know how waiting in line can be draining, so we decided to bring some goodies with us as well to help spice things up. We brought along cases of soda, and cookies (read; sugar and caffeine), and also offered up chances for prizes such as Best Buy and GameStop gift-cards.

Ironically, when we first got there, we were met with some opposition by an off-the-clock employee who was already in line. I won’t get into the specifics but this did lead to a lively debate pertaining to the definition of words such as “soliciting” and “private property”. Soon enough we talked to a very helpful manager, Guillermo, who was festooned in full marine fatigues (this release comes on Veterans Day and the Best Buy associates did not overlook this military tie-in) and he was able to clear the whole matter up for us. After all, The Kartel was giving away stuff, giving away who could be mad about that?

So we got to the task of handing out cookies and sodas and getting names of the gamers who stood diligently in line waiting for midnight, for a chance to win some goodies. Things got much more lively as the night wore on. Except for the two guys at the beginning of the line were students, and were taking the time to study. I get the feeling they won’t be studying for the next 48 hours once they get their hands on the game.

Once we hit the end of the line, we crossed the parking lot to GameStop to do more of the same.

Since we got the OK earlier from Alex, a helpful GameStop employee, we were able to entertain the crowd with no problem. And the people in line at GameStop seemed in general to be more enthused about us being there.  Probably because many of them had been waiting for over 5 hours.  While most people in line were the typical gamer, male aged 18-25, there were some interesting standouts, including gals who were gamers, and middle aged men, who spent the time working on their laptop. As the clock counted down closer to midnight, all the ninja gamers, who were camping out in their car suddenly crammed into the lines, and then the crowd got quite mixed.

And then something happened; I went from working with John and Ray to being one of the kids in line. Holding a handful of money waiting to pay what it cost to be one of the lucky ones to own the game exactly at midnight, knowing full well that I would rush home only to rip off the plastic covering and place in my Playstation 3 and get at it.  And just like that – almost seamlessly – the job became something else. It became play. Not too bad for a cold night in November almost a decade removed from your first job at best buy.

We got a bunch more pics posted up on the midnight launch. 

Click here to view More pics from the event!