Feature: "I Will Have Been Here For 30 Hours" - London's Midnight Zelda Launch Was Wild

"When it gets to midnight, I will have been here for 30 hours."

That's what Sinaa, one of the people right at the very front of the queue for Zelda: Ocarina of Time's London midnight launch, told me last night.

They had camped out from 6pm the night before, sleeping underneath two chairs outside the Tottenham Court Road Argos, all to ensure they got their hands on the game (and its special N64-inspired casing) as soon as possible.

To my shame, I had underestimated the event a little. With just 48 hours' notice, I assumed that it might not be quite so grand an affair, perhaps pulling in 100 or so die-hard fans and little more. This is a Nintendo pop-up in an Argos we're talking about, not a flagship Nintendo Store.

Reader, I was very wrong.

I arrived just before 9pm and the queue was already around the block. Literally. Extending from the camping chairs at the very front of the line, those of us eager to get our hands on the game lined up around the entire circumference of the central London store. At one point, the line was so long that its end stood right next to its beginning, like a cruel game of Snake.

The people waiting were anything but cruel, though. Walking its length, I spoke to fans who had travelled in from other cities for this event alone.

Some were dressed up. One kept everyone entertained with tunes on an Ocarina. One person's mum held down the fort at the front of the line, pretending to be an Argos employee to deter anyone from cutting in at the eleventh hour. There were full Switch Sports Resort tournaments going on at one point.

Everyone was very welcoming, very friendly, and very excited to get their hands on Ocarina of Time again. I asked which moment people were the most hyped to revisit and heard everything from "the title screen" to "the bottom of the well", "Kokiri Village" to "bopping Ganondorf".

For most of us, this was a long-awaited homecoming. A few of the people I spoke to were about to experience the game for the first time, but the vast majority already had multiple N64 playthroughs under their belts. (A particular shoutout to the one person whose formative memories of the game came from playing the demo in Smash Bros. Brawl.) If anything was going to encourage people to double- or triple-dip, it was Ocarina.

There was a fair amount of confusion from those who weren't in the know, naturally. As the doors opened and the queue began to crawl to the entrance, people shouted their "What are you all queuing for?" confusion across the street. Multiple cars stopped and wound down windows to ask the same question.

It really became a test of spirit when the clock slipped past 2am, and those of us who had arrived that evening were yet to make it to the front of the store. A little early-morning argy-bargy ensued among a few people behind us when one accused the other of pushing in. A short-lived altercation, to be sure, and likely a product of 5+ hours on our feet without the end of the line in sight.

But still. Drama.

After edging towards the front of the line, we were finally in. Let me say right now, the Argos staff were wonderful. Even at 2am, the person serving me was still happy enough to talk about the night, the game, and even very kindly laugh along with me when I jokingly said I had "just popped into the store to pick up something else, actually" (it was very late, and I am very sorry).

The copy itself? Sublime. Sure, the cardboard on the N64-inspired box doesn't boast quite the same flimsiness as we had back in the '90s, but it's a real looker, nonetheless.

The foil cover is a treat for the eyes, too — I wasn't expecting to get that one, so it was a nice surprise — and hey, why not add another Zelda keyring to the collection?

I'm sure that some people will have left the event empty-handed. Argos informed me that they only had 500 copies of the game, and the queue far exceeded that number. Nintendo UK says that over 600 people were there last night, but at one point, I would have easily stuck an extra hundred on top of that estimate.

I left very sleepy, with very sore feet. But I also left with a very full heart, and a new copy of one of my favourite games of all time. I hope all of those NL readers I met there had an equally wonderful time, and hopefully the sleep deprivation isn't enough to distract from some OoT-ing later on today.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to pour my fifth cup of coffee.

Did you attend the London midnight launch, or perhaps you stayed up and got in on the download as soon as you could? Let us know in the comments.