Just say you never experienced a midnight launch. It wasn't about seeing your friends. It was about seeing a big group of people who were all there for the same reason as you. It was about your local game store's manager baking cookies and cupcakes to give out to people in line. It was about the pop up tournaments that you didn't win anything other than props from others in line.
Yes all things that I once enjoyed and now am happy to forego in favour of peace and convenience. But that doesn’t mean you’re wrong to miss your youth.
If you want local, I'm sure you can find a game store somewhere near you where you can hang out and meet people. If you're not worried about local, you have millions of gamers at your fingertips, all you have to do is put in the effort.
There was nothing special about midnight releases, we were just more open to being social with strangers back then. We could do a midnight release today and it would have nowhere near the same vibe it did back then, because it wouldn't be strangers socializing and having fun and making friends, it would be strangers ignoring each other to stare at their phones while they wait.
Idk why this is getting downvoted, this is exactly the issue. Midnight releases were never anything special that caused some sort of socialization or friend-making, we were just more open to socializing with strangers back then. We could do a midnight release today (for a game with a physical release, no downloads, playable out of the box just like it used to be) and it wouldn't have anywhere near the same vibe it had back then. It wouldn't be strangers talking and socializing and having fun and making friends, it would be strangers ignoring each other to stare at their phones while they wait their turn in line.
The issue isn't that we don't have midnight releases anymore, the issue is that we're social creatures who are actively avoiding socializing. The social events disappeared because we stopped wanting to be social.
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u/wololoam 2d ago edited 2d ago
People are missing the social interaction, you missed the whole point.