On March 25, 2008 Square Enix released the PSP game prequel to the Final Fantasy 7 chapter in the Final Fantasy series. Causing the largest simultaneous global incident of flooded panties in the whole of fandom history (creaming more shorts than the fail boat that was Dirge of Cerebus). I spent my entire Tuesday standing in line with Taylor the grump-tastic terrier holding a place in line for the overly ecstatic boyfriend who had to spend his day at the office makin' monies.
I knew that the day was going to be a long and difficult one of waiting on the cold, windy, congested streets of San Francisco at Mission and 4th St. So armed with my purse and a small, cantankerous dog (no real planning was made really, I didn't even bring a chair) I watched the world go by between the hours of 12:30 PM to 6 PM.
This is our view for the rest of the day.
By the time I showed up around lunch time, the sidewalks were packed with convention goers from the Moscone Center looking for eats and coffee hits. There was about 40 people ahead of me who admitted to waiting outside the Metreon since 6 AM that morning (someone must have misread the Playstation announcement). A lot of tourists stared at the line making scrunched up faces as if they were walking past a group of lepers begging for change (some do not see the difference in regards to fandom).
This place is smelly and weird.
Taylor was well behaved for the most part. I am quite sure he was far more pleased to be sitting with me outside all day instead of at home in his smelly crate. He only freaked out a couple of times when he saw other dogs crossing the intersection 20 yards away. He's stupid that way.
Mmm, chinese food and hand held pot pies...
Besides my line neighbors I was subjected to the sign above (note: "The Cravery") that made me believe that hand held pot pies would lead to my salvation. Not only to fill my sour stomach that prevented me from eating a proper lunch but also to line my jacket for warmth against the cold winds that day. I was also developing a curiousity as to what exactly was an "IceBee".
This was what I was waiting for all day
A Sony employee came out to chat with the line as he helped the staff inside make sure these promo posters go up in the windows. He teased us about what to expect at the event and what happened at past Square Enix events at the Metreon. He was friendly and courteous and even said "Hi" to Taylor before telling us to "stay strong" and "hold on" for the home stretch to the event that evening."
About 30 minutes before the event
Around 5 PM, the boyfriend finally arrived to relieve me of my line duty so that I could "relieve" another matter that had been a"pressing issue" for the pass few hours. He was even so kind enough to bring along a can of Halo dog food picked up at the Whole Foods for the now VERY grumpy and hungry Taylor who had refused to eat breakfast that morning. I too was feeling pretty shitty at that point and needed something to boost my blood sugar levels. Thankfully there was a ice cream counter inside the Metreon :D.
We are Kotaku, we want to make a scene
So you may be asking yourself, with all that you had to put up with (smoke, traffic, fandom, sour stomach, a dog that doesn't share your enthusiasm) what did you get out of it ultimately? Since FF7 was the most loved (some may argue this) of all the Final Fantasy games; Square Enix tries to hold fan events to remind you, the fan why you still love this shit and also encourage sales. I was aware that I didn't have to wait all day for the game as there were quite a few people in line that had picked up a copy at Gamestop that morning. Sony enticed both the boyfriend and I to this event with the promise of a Shinra Power Company t-shirts and our own Shinra employee photo I.D. badge for only the first 100 people in line. And the possibility of winning even more shit in a raffle (the boyfriend did very well for himself and won a limited edition lithograph print).
You may also be asking were the fuck are the pictures of this kick ass shindig? Well, I'm sorry say that every time I pulled out the cybershot I was reminded that there was no picture taking with the animated arm flailing of Sony employees in my line of shot. Too bad I wasn't equipped with a tiny spy camera in my décolletage as there were very beautiful statues and concept art from the game development on display.
I didn't win anything at the raffle event but I was happy to end my day with my very own "gourmet hand held pot pie" eaten at home with a knife and fork.
Su
