Blizzard Entertainment developers came down to the Big Apple: New York City to celebrate the Midnight Opening launch of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King. Nearly 800 fans lined up outside Best Buy (529 5th Avenue and 44th Street). I arrived at 8pm to the premises and got my press badge. The treatment given by the Best Buy staff was excellent from the moment I arrived to the media booth. Shortly after, I walked downstairs to purchase a Collector’s Edition and a Standard Edition. However, the game wouldn’t be physically given to customers until midnight, as expected. Great to be able to purchase it in advance. Less hassle.
The Best Buy staff excelled with live broadcast on all huge monitors (seen from outdoors) and sound system all around the store within and outside. The live Best Buy broadcast host and his cameraman would walk along the line up of fans interviewing them and asking why they consider themselves the best Blizzard fan. He was giving away $25 Gift Cards to anyone who answered the Blizzard Trivia. Someone couldn’t answer correctly what the draenei Unbroken in Black Temple was named as? Duh, Akama! Epic fail. But there were so many fans who answered correctly and won many of these gift cards. For tough questions, they would double the stakes and giveaway $50 gift cards.
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Mike Morhaime and Frank Pearce were interviewed by the Best Buy host and fans would sit next to them to ask questions. It was a fun way to spend all those hours prior to the midnight opening, since 8:00pm.
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More after the break ...
The Dance Contest was shy with about three people volunteering to participate. The first two guys danced the naugthy Gnome dance and the gal danced the Blood Elf female dance (Britney Spears). It was unanimous ... the gal was the winner of the dance contest.
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There were four gals disguised with the same Blood Elf outfit, probably hired by Best Buy or Blizzard. They were awesome. However, I wonder how they managed to be outdoors for so long half-naked with a weather of 46 degrees. (shudders) They really evoked a need to warm them up. Sadly, they were hot and gorgeous already.
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Only two fans came with psychodelic disguises and captured the attention of various media guys. Come on people, where did the New Yorker Warcraft disguises go? Surely everyone who go to Best Buy was Alliance. Horde would have dared to come to the event disguised with pride! Booh! (docks below table from infuriated Alliance crowds, divine shields and hearths)
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Best Buy gave away a Plantronic Head Set to the first 200 customers at the outdoor line up.
Around 10:50pm, it was my turn to interview Mike Morhaime (Blizzard CEO, Co-Founder and President). I have met him and hand-shaken him in Paris, at the 2008 Blizzard Worldwide Invitationals and at Blizzcon 2008; but sitting next to him and asking him a few questions about Wrath of the Lich King was a great experience. The only setback is that I am very shy in person, than I am online. But that’s a secret between you and me ... well now it’s thousands of people and me, I guess.
By 11pm, I had the opportunity to interview Frank Pearce briefly, too. It is a great feeling to be able to talk to the developers. Being in front of them, you can feel their passion and hard work they have put into Blizzard games, World of Warcraft in general and the latest baby in the block: Wrath of the Lich King. The interview stopped suddenly. The midnight opening was about to start in 55 minutes and Frank Pearce’s presence was requested to the front cashier area. I followed him to see the media press, cameras on hand. Frank Pearce joined Mike Morhaime for a photo with the first customer in the outside line up.
To be able to take the press photo with the first customer, Peter Manse was allowed to enter the store in advance to take the first Wrath of the Lich King Collector’s Edition from Mike Morhaime.
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Ten minutes prior to midnight, the Best Buy staff placed a big block of ice (made of foam and nicely colored with airbrush) in front of the store entrance. Lamps within the block of ice served as special effects, with some light coming out of the cracks, and F/X steam could be seen coming out of the block of ice. In the center was a big World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King logo with the numbers representing the release date: 11.13.08.
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It was now nigh midnight, and the Best Buy doors (which by the way were covered by a huge Wrath of the Lich King poster) opened. Mike Morhaime stepped out of the store and stood proudly behind the block of ice. From the left came the four georgeous Blood Elf gals with their hands lifted up. Wait, what’s that shiny object on their hands? Oh ... coolness! They were lifting above their heads the epic runeblade (by Epic Weapons): Frostmourne.
Mike Morhaime grabbed Frostmourne from them, and invited the first customer in the line up: Peter Manse, to step forward and to join him. Peter Manse had the opportunity to wield Frostmourne and to nail it into the block of ice as the countdown to 12:00am hit the clock. Immediately, a piece of the ice block was removed to reveal the first Collector’s Edition given to the first customer assisting to this Best Buy’s Wrath of the Lich King Midnight Opening.
Immediately, the doors were slammed wide open and the crowd started pouring in into the Best Buy store in an orderly-fashion way, thanks to the Best Buy staff appointed to direct the customers through the hallways. Everyone would show their receipt ticket to pick up their Wrath of the Lich King Collector’s Edition and/or Standard Edition. It was quiet a fast process since the games were already paid for. So, I recommend fans to attend these midnight openings in future expansion release dates. It was so meticulously organized, detailed and pleasant. Big kudos to the Best Buy crew (Especially Marina Renneke, Erica Dermer and Shon.)
Once people had checked out and acquired their expansion game, they were given the option to leave the store, or to join a new line up that would go around the store hallways toward the large table full of Blizzard Developers. I did never imagine so many Blizzard developers would be attending this New York Midnight Opening. I took out my Art of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King from the Collector’s Edition box. Mike Morhaime and Frank Pearce signed it first, and the other developers too.
Among the 10 Blizzard-World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King developers who came to New York for this opening event were:
Mike Morhaime (CEO, Co-Founder, President)
Frank Pearce (EVP, Product Development)
Klye Radue (Software Engineer)
Wendy Vetter (Lead Dungeon Artist)
Rob Sevilla (3D Artist)
Pat Nagle (Senior Game Designer)
Joeyray Hall (Manager, Video Production)
Johnatan Throop (Software Engineer)
John Straats (Senior 3D Artist)
Bejan Fozdar (Assistant Production manager, Cinematics)
Watch all our 128 photos of the New York Wrath of the Lich King Midnight Opening!
