Release of new Game Boy draws crowds
Sarah Baker
Star Tribune
Thursday, June 14, 2001
For 14-year-old Stephen Longley, Wednesday was a doubly sweet day.
Not only was it his birthday, it was the day that Nintendo's new Game Boy Advance first went on sale in the Twin Cities area.
Stephen and his mother, Peggy Longley, both of Brooklyn Park, headed to Target near their home at 8a.m. Wednesday to get the toy. Peggy said they chose Target for one
reason: It opened the earliest.
By about 10 a.m., they'd made their way to Best Buy in Brooklyn Center, where they loaded up on new games and accessories, including a travel package that keeps the
Game Boy charged during car rides.
"Five years ago, I got my kids their first Nintendo at a garage sale for five bucks," Peggy Longley said.
On Wednesday, Longley spent $89.99 for the Game Boy itself, about $30 for each game and another $15 for the travel package. Stephen saved some of his own money to
pay for the gift.
He said he planned to pick up at least one more game: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2.
Game Boy Advance is being heralded as an improvement over the original hand-held game and the Game Boy Color. It has a larger screen, better graphics, higher
screen resolution and the ability to show more colors.
It's the precursor to Nintendo's forthcoming Gamecube, which is expected to go on sale this year as an upgrade over the company's N64 system. Game Boy Advance can
be used as a controller for the Gamecube.
Not like PlayStation 2
Retail employees around the Twin Cities area saw small lines of eager buyers waiting at the door when they arrived at work. At Target Greatland in Brooklyn Park,
electronics team leader D.J. Schuette said about 10 people greeted him first thing Wednesday.
Schuette said the crowd was nothing compared with last October's release of Sony's PlayStation 2, when some people waited in lines for hours and went away
empty-handed.
Chad Schmidt, a salesman at Circuit City in Brooklyn Center, said PlayStation 2 probably has taken some excitement out of the Game Boy Advance's debut.
After being in short supply around Christmas, when people were willing to pay inflated prices for the Sony game system, the PlayStation 2 can now be bought without
difficulty at area stores.
"If this game would have come out before PlayStation 2, it might have been more popular," Schmidt said.
Most of the early shoppers were parents buying Game Boy Advance for their children, Schuette said, and most didn't seem to be concerned about encouraging their kids
to play video games.
"It's the wave of the future," Schuette said. "As long as a parent makes sure their kids are doing their homework before they play games, I don't think they cause problems.
Some of the games don't have much impact on the real world -- no one really shoots fireballs at monsters."
Ben Deweerdt, 17, of Brooklyn Park, was at Target Greatland about 8:30 a.m., testing the display model before he bought one. He said the graphics and the games are
better.
About a mile up the road, about 50 people were on hand at the Brooklyn Park Wal-Mart, which stays open all night and put them on display at midnight, said Jerry
Sinon, the electronics manager.
Sinon said he arrived at work about 5 a.m. Wednesday and by 8 a.m., he'd already sold about 10 units.
"People aren't afraid to spend money for it," Sinon said. "It's something new, and they'll keep coming in for it."
At Best Buy in Brooklyn Center, media supervisor Aaron Labar said he expected the store to sell most of its systems Wednesday. He said he thought the toy also appeals to
adults and said one of his customers was a 30-year-old man buying it for himself.
For Longley, the birthday teen, most of the excitement seemed to be in the hunt for games and in getting the newest gadget.
"Stephen claims that he's going to be a better driver when he gets his license because he's so good on the racing games," his mother said, laughing. "That's yet to be proven.
But we'll see."
-- Sarah Baker is at sbaker@startribune.com .
© Copyright 2001 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.
NOTE: My daughter acquired one yesterday...jimS |
