Check out the highlights from the World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King launch in Anaheim, a mere stone's throw away from the company headquarters in Irvine. More than 100 members of the development team were on hand to sign boxes, people were wearing costumes, schwag was given away ... and they were serving Hot Dog on a Stick. Check out the photos below and the highlights inside.
Mike from Fullerton was the first guy in line, having shown up at 9am ... on Tuesday morning, to secure his spot in line. If that doesn't show some serious dedication to gaming, then what does? He camped out, made friends with the people immediately behind him (which was everyone) and patiently waited. Just around the corner from the front of the line, we ran into some girls (and a guy) who got there at 6am Wednesday morning (nearly 24 hours after Mike), which wasn't too shabby considering the difference in their arrival times. By the time 9pm rolled around, the line stretched completely around the store, out to the street, and down around the corner to another street, where it spilled out to the freeway. That's where your crap ton comes into play, as evidenced by our highly shaky and not-so-nightvisiony footage below.
Remarkably, things went off pretty much as planned throughout the evening, the only annoying problem tending to be the extremely loud music belted out by SoCal's local rock station KROQ, which had set up shop right next to the Frozen Throne and Frostmourne Sword. Folks from Upper Deck were trying to demo their World of Warcraft Miniatures Game, but it can be a bit hard to to hear game instructions when there are enormous speakers blaring out Paramore nearby. Still, if the worst thing you can complain about at a game launch is the volume of the music, things are going pretty darn good.
Everyone we spoke to in line, and we mean everyone, was in a great mood no matter how long they'd been waiting in line, and despite the chilly (for California) temperatures, people were playing board games that ranged from Monopoly to Sequence, taking naps, telling stories, getting to know their linemates, and generally having a great time. One guy even mounted a projector on the hood of his truck and was showing Iron Man on DVD on the side of the building. Food choices ranged from chocolate zingers to fried chicken with a hookah chaser. Sadly, we didn't see anyone trying Murloc Fin Soup ... though one woman did use her balloon-twisting skills to make a huge Murloc!
As we neared zero hour, Fry's had the wise idea to let people in an hour early to start getting their signatures. They weren't being rung up yet, because everything was going by-the-book. Over 100 members of the Blizzard dev team were on hand to sign copies of the game with bright silver Sharpies, and we imagine there wouldn't be an ink-free square inch anywhere on your box once you'd gone through this gauntlet.
Funniest thing we overheard: "Basically, it looks like you have your head up this guy's butt."
Weirdest thing we saw: This guy. No idea what he's supposed to be dressed up as. Tauren cat form, Seuss Variant?
Niftiest gift someone gave us: A delicious, home-baked cupcake.
