Midnight Madness: Gears of War 2

Remember, remember the 7^th of November when countless people started lining up in front of their favorite video game retail store to be one of the first to buy their Gears of War 2 for the 360. Now this wasn't a Halo 2 or 3 kind of release but a midnight release is one of those things you should probably do if you really enjoy the game series or want to just have right at 12:00am.

My decision to pre-order the game didn't happen until that night actually as I was driving back from work. I drove past my house to towards the closest Gamespot store to just ask if it was to late to get a pre-ordered game. To my surprise, I was able to place my pre-order down at the store and come back at 10:00pm to get a number for the pick fiasco started at 12:00am. It was 6:30pm when I did this so I drove back home to wait.

Around 9:20pm, I decided to drive down to the Gamestop close to me and see if any line was forming. I got there and only two people were waiting. Actually, two kids that were under the age of 18 but I couldn't say anything because the parents were around and they seemed to understand what the game entailed (they were talking about how they play the game with their children. It's better then playing dumb and blaming everyone else for the violence children see). I went right behind the two children as the third in line. This was around 9:30pm. The line started to grow to around 20 or so by the time 10:00pm hit and others started to trickle in after 10:00pm.

I was number 3. I think it really says something about your character when you are willing to wait for a game and be in the top ten recipients to get it first. Or it just says you are such a big nerd you are willing to wait for this game. Either way, it tells you something about yourself.

I went back home and started to play more of James Bond: Quantum of Solace. Time flew as it became 11:40pm in a blink of an eye (at least it seemed that way playing as Bond; James Bond). Time again to drive over to Gamespot to get in my 3^rd place in line.

A bigger line was formed this time around then at around 10:00pm but I did take my place as third in line without any problems or rants from the spectators behind me. 12:00am hit and I got my nice, new Gears of War 2 game with some goodies I wasn't really expecting. The drive home was a sweet one, like taking a test and knowing you aced it as you walked out the room.

I got home and noticed all the nice things you got from this pre-order extravaganza which included:

• A free Gears of War Comic (nice but nothing crazy)

• 48 hour Gold membership to Xbox Live

• 7 additional maps

• A gold plated hammerburst rifle

• Exclusive dashboard theme optimized for the New Xbox Experience (I like this one)

Not bad for just paying full price for a game.

I popped in the game and it felt like riding a bike again with wide eyes and a glazed happy look on my face. The game is really good and I'm happy to be a part of this midnight madness.