The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time midnight launch, Digi Mart USA News (London, United Kingdom): Our writer joined roughly 500 fans queuing outside an Argos on Oxford Street late on a Thursday night, hoping to buy early copies of the lavish 4K Switch 2 remake of the Nintendo 64 classic The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Similar launch events were reported across the world, from Melbourne to Mexico City, with senior Nintendo executives reportedly waiting at tills at key locations.
Most video games are now bought as digital downloads, which makes midnight launches less common. In earlier years, however, releases such as Call of Duty, Halo and Grand Theft Auto drew fans to shops like Game and Electronics Boutique, many of them dressed as favourite characters.
The writer described the event as a shared celebration of fandom rather than simply a display of consumer spending.
Attendees were promised a copy of the game along with a limited ocarina-shaped keyring and an exclusive replica of the original 1998 N64 box. Arriving at 22:45, the writer soon realized the queue was long, and staff said everyone would receive the exclusive box by post even if stock ran out.
Fans waited in the cold, and the crowd grew as the clock approached midnight.
At around 2am, progress stopped, and staff announced the store would close. Remaining queuers were asked to leave their details to receive the box by mail.
The writer had been waiting for four hours by the time he submitted his name and address.
The article also notes that a fan’s partner had attended the Paris midnight launch, where queues were similarly large, but Nintendo France reportedly did not take details or promise postal delivery to people who missed out. The writer concluded that the nostalgic appeal of the midnight launch had largely faded by the end of the night.
