Believe it or not, the police car in that photo actually belongs to an off-duty Anne Arundel County police officer looking to pick up a copy of the anticipated crime simulator for himself. But that doesn't mean there wasn't active law enforcement involved with the Grand Theft Auto 4 launch festivities at this Laurel, MD Gamestop. Keep reading for more pictures and a full account of the line-waiting experience as GTA4-eve finally bled into GTA4-day.
By 11:45, there were 50 people waiting in the 55 degree weather of the strip mall parking lot to get their copy of the game as soon as possible. By midnight, the crowd had swelled to about 70, and late stragglers brought the total pick up count closer to 100. Store management opened the doors at around 11:30 to start processing payments and get receipts cleared so the handouts would go smoothly at the stroke of midnight. Still, the line wasn't fully cleared until about 12:30.
Federal officer Kevin McMurtry was on hand to make sure the line behaved in an orderly fashion. Store management called him in at around 9 p.m., he said, to keep an eye on things and prevent confusion over the the two-line system the store had set up (one to get your receipt marked, one to wait to pick up the game). McMurtry said that the crowd was nothing compared to the Halo 3 launch, which reached around the block, and that everyone was on their best behavior. "Everybody knows if you make trouble, you're not getting the game," he said.
Ryan Wilhite, Charley Kingsley and Jon Gomez (right to left) were the first ones to line up for the game at 4 p.m. Monday. Simon Rojas (far left) and Julian Richardson (not pictured) joined the line around 8 p.m. Asked why they got there so early, Kingsley gestured towards the line and said they "thought it would be like this, then." The group agreed that the multiplayer mode was the main draw for No. 4, but granted that they'd be blasting through the single-player mode all night tonight. "We might not be going to school tomorrow," Gomez offered. Might? "Maybe it's definite," Wilhite added.
(Page 1) Reader Comments
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Of course, all bets are off when it comes to the metro Wal-Marts.
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At least my kids will be their bosses one day.
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There's a reason the US is falling behind in education and science.
Even as a huge gamer...and an advocate of the benefits of playing videogames for kids.
I couldn't allow my teenage kid to be out at midnight to pickup a game so that he could skip school the next day. THe game will still be there in the afternoon.
Heck...their summer vacation begins in less than a month. Then they can devote as many hours as possible to completeing the daunting 100s of hours of gameplay that GTA IV will offer.
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I got my copy last night at the inner harbor best buy.
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I almost went to the Best Buy in the Harbor, but it was raining like a beast yesterday... annd... well, I'm lazy.
Was there a decent turnout there??
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We should all figure out how to get together and play Smash Bros or something sometime!
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i Live in Anne Arundel Country (go to college in indiana tho)
i havn't been to that gamestop tho, i go to the EB in crofton.
ill be making my trek home from college wednesday, cant wait to pick up a copy of Mario kart for Wii
this is completely off topic, nothing to do with GTAIV...but go Baltimore!
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Nope, didn't get in line. I still need to play through Eternal Sonata and Metroid Prime 3. By the time I finish those, GTA4 will be half its price on eBay :)
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baltimore isnt laurel and i do live say... i dont know 20-30 minutes away from it. from montgomery county
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