So, for those not in the know, Nintendo decided to host the same demo for Smash Bros that is being played at E3 at select Best Buy locations across the U.S. A brilliant and very generous idea on Nintendo's part. One such Best Buy location was only about 30 minutes from my house, so I decided to check it out.
The event was from 4pm to 9pm yesterday. Since I had to work, I couldn't get there until 4pm. At that point, there was already a decently long line. Most people in the line were just standing in the line because everyone else was and they assumed they had to as well. For the most part, they were right, but why didn't the event have anyone working the line to answer questions and set expectations? It was discovered that the line was for people who wanted to play the game (the main reason people showed up, of course), so we were good. However, there was only one Wii U system hooked up to one TV to play it on. To make matters worse, the TV was facing the wall, so only the people playing and the next 30 or so people in line could actually see the game. Everyone else was out of luck. Considering half of the store is covered in TV screens, this seemed like extremely poor planning.
I made nice with some fun-loving gents in line and, before I knew it, two hours had passed. We were now about halfway between where we started and the TV (the line, by this point, was out the door). While none of us were pleased with how slow the line was going, we knew that we would be getting our turn to play in about another two hours, so we continued to chat as we waited.
By 8pm, after four hours in line, we were close enough to hear the sounds of gameplay. We weren't as far into the line as we predicted, but there was still an hour left in the event and, with how close we were, we knew we would get our chance before they shut the event down. Thirty minutes later, we could make out portions of the TV screen. At this point, we were approached by a Nintendo rep (the first one we've seen in 4 1/2 hours, mind you) who said that we might not get a chance to play. Since we were close enough to taste it, we decided to hang around and try to get a spot. At this point, we learned that there were also four 3DS systems with the game on them being played near the front as well. What? Why have the portable systems at the front? Why not station them at certain points through the line? Whatever, we were near the front now, so what did it matter?
With 15 minutes left to go, we were finally close enough to see the game in action. At this point, we finally learn something else that has been slowing the line down; they are letting each group play two matches. While that is great for the people playing, that is horrible planning! After my first two hours in line, the line was at least twice as long as it was when I first entered it. At some point, don't you think you might want to limit people to one match? I mean, you won't get as much time with the game, but at least everyone who showed up would get to play.
So, by the time Best Buy started turning off the lights and vacuuming the floors, we were still about twenty people from getting to play. Translation; we weren't playing. Five hours in line with nothing to show for it but about 15 minutes of watching other people play. This was, hands down, the worst event I have ever been to. And that counts a Dragon Quest IX event I went to where the person running the event never showed up! I know I have no one but myself to blame and that I could have just left at any point, but I don't care!
I've hosted around 20 Smash Bros tournaments as well as countless other live events over the years, and there were so many ways to improve this event, even on the fly, and the event hosts just clearly had no cares to give. The public has known about this even for six weeks, so Best Buy had to know about for even longer and this was the "best" you could do? Ugh...
What an epic waste of time.
#FirstWorldProblems #FML