I attended the Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance launch event in New York City today. If you attended, you’d have been able to pick up the 3DS title three days before its July 31 launch. And while I didn’t pick up the game, myself, I did cover the event via Twitter. But why keep it on Twitter, where many of our readers won’t see it? Find my full “report” below.
8:52 a.m.: “The line for the Kingdom Hearts 3D launch event is huge! Thank God I’m not buying it today!”
8:55 a.m.: “And here’s another shot of the massive KH3D launch event line.”
8:57 a.m.: “Hanging out on the side of the building.”
8:58 a.m.: “Fans should start rushing in about 2 minutes from now.”
9:00 a.m.: “Once I’m in I’ll take some more photos. Kind of sad I don’t have a 3DS right now. But I’m way behind in the Kingdom Hearts storyline anyway.”
9:00 a.m.: “I wonder how early the front of the line got here. Had to have been hours.”
9:01 to 9:10 a.m.: At this point, I was invited inside, and was talking to Square Enix assistant PR manager Emily Shoji on the sidelines. Fans began making their way inside, and I was introduced to Robert Peeler, the company’s community manager.
9:11 a.m.: “People [are] lining up to buy KH3D.”
9:12 a.m.: “More people in line. There are hundreds more people outside waiting to get in.”
9:14 a.m.: “The Keyblade photo station. Not exactly sure what’s going on here.” (To clarify, these guys were doing odd poses and laughing the entire time – before they eventually got to the one you see in the photo.)
9:15 a.m.: “The guy taking all the shots.” (This is Square Enix’s associate manager of product marketing, Raio Mitsuno. I spoke with him shortly after. He’s a cool dude. Partially because he’s heard of us. The rest is all him.)
9:16 a.m.: “Someone purchasing KH3D.”
9:18 a.m.: “The Kingdom Hearts glory area. Notable lack of KH1 and 2, but I’d still steal it if no one was looking.” (The first two games, as well as the PSP game Birth by Sleep, are missing, obviously, because it’s a Nintendo store.)
9:18 a.m.: “Close up of the first shelf.”
9:19 a.m.: “Close up of the second shelf.”
9:19 a.m.: “Close up of the third shelf.”
9:20 a.m.: “Close up of the fourth shelf.”
9:21 a.m.: “The KH3D poster board, which I’d also like to take.” (If only there weren’t so many people watching me.)
9:22 a.m.: “Demo kiosks, which no one is playing because they’re all buying the game!”
9:23 a.m.: “More demo kiosks! At the end of which is miss [Emily Shoji].”
9:26 a.m.: “Going to give the game a shot!”
9:34 a.m.: “Playing and really enjoying the demo. I haven’t played KH in so long so it’s kind of nostalgic.”
9:34 a.m.: “But princesses need to stop getting kidnapped.” (Or, you know, don’t complain when you do, because you’re a princess. You knew the risks.)
9:46 a.m.: “As nostalgic as it is, it’s weird fighting colorful creatures over black heartless.”
9:56 a.m.: “Finished Sora’s bit. Think I’m almost finished Riku’s.” (This was a lie, I just happened to “Drop,” which is when the game switches between Sora and Riku, the moment I nearly defeated a boss. I didn’t realize at the time.)
10:05 to 10:20 a.m.: I spoke to Raio Mitsuno for a bit, before bumping into and meeting for the first time NeoGAF member ShinoguTakeruKoeru.
10:23 a.m.: “Exiting launch event. The line is still massive.”
10:25 a.m.: (This is a bonus tweet.) “Holy crap there’s a feast on 6th ave.”
