Nintendo 3DS Launches In United States, Midnight Launch At Union Square Best Buy Draws Crowd

Tweet

Has of today, the Nintendo 3DS is on sale in the United States. Nintendo held a special US midnight launch event in New York City, at the Times Square’ Best Buy. And while there were some people there, it looks to have been a cold frigid night in the Big Apple that saw lots of people stay home. But, that doesn’t stop the fact that the Nintendo 3DS is now officially released in the US. It had previously been released in Japan weeks ago, and Europe a few days ago.

According to gaming blog Joystiq, who was on the scene, it was disgustingly cold in New York City, and the lines were considerably smaller than you might expect for such a high profile opening. It’s being reported that the area set-up outside for people waiting was a bit empty in some spots. Like all of these high-profile launch events, Nintendo and Best Buy had set up demo stations, and were giving away free hot dogs, tacos and pretzels to the people waiting. It’s just unfortunately it was held this time of year or else there would have been models in bikinis walking around.

First in line was Isaiah Triforce Johnson – the Nintendo fanatic who legally changed his middle name to “Triforce” (he showed his passport to Wired magazine, proving it). He was first in line for the Wii in 2006, and once again took the the honor of being the first consumer to get his hands on the 3DS, not counting the ones that “fell off the back of the truck”. Johnson has been camping outside the Union Square Best Buy since Wednesday. He makes his living as a professional gamer, giving him time to take off and camp outside.

When Johnson was sold the first 3DS by Nintendo executives, including Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime, he reportedly held up the 3DS to the other Nintendo fans and media types and yelled, ”Now I’m playing with power … the power of 3D!” It’s worthing noting that Johnson was wearing a NES power glove, along with an NES jacket and other Nintendo gear.

All in all, sounds like the cold might have kept some people away from the big Nintendo 3DS event in New York, but I’m sure they’ll be hard to get a hold of in the days to come.

(Image Credit: Joystiq.com)