{"id":131343,"date":"2023-01-21T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-21T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/#article-143888"},"modified":"2023-01-21T18:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-01-21T18:00:00","slug":"soapbox-fire-emblem-engages-nintendo-nyc-launch-felt-pretty-unengaging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2023\/01\/21\/soapbox-fire-emblem-engages-nintendo-nyc-launch-felt-pretty-unengaging\/","title":{"rendered":"Soapbox: Fire Emblem Engage’s Nintendo NYC Launch Felt Pretty Unengaging"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Fire<\/a>
Image: James Mielke \/ Nintendo Life<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was Fire Emblem Engage<\/a> launch day and Nintendo Life had boots on the ground in New York City to document the launch of Intelligent Systems\u2019 latest entry in the series, at Nintendo NYC in Rockefeller Center.<\/p>\n

Nintendo fans in New York City are spoiled. We have Nintendo\u2019s flagship retail shop, replete with Marios riding flagpoles between the first and second floors, Bowser glowing menacingly at selfie-takers on the ground floor, and vintage hardware displays of Nintendo consoles through the ages. Additionally, it\u2019s a hotbed of guest appearances ranging from the likes of Charles Martinet (the voice of Mario) to Monster Hunter<\/a>\u2019s Ryozo Tsujimoto.<\/p>\n

\"Fire<\/a>
Image: James Mielke \/ Nintendo Life<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

More recent launch events for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet<\/a>, Metroid Dread<\/a>, Splatoon 3<\/a>, and Mario Strikers: Battle League<\/a> saw Nintendo NYC \u2014formerly Nintendo World\u2014 pull out all the stops, not only making the game(s) available for sale early (at midnight launches), but typically making the special editions available where most online retailers are sold out.<\/p>\n

Nintendo NYC often augments the retail experience with large, themed backdrops for fans to pose for photos on, while offering customers some cool, exclusive swag, like magnets, stickers, or posters that can only be obtained at these launch events. So, color us surprised that Friday morning\u2019s launch \u2018event\u2019 featured virtually none of the usual trappings for a Nintendo first-party retail launch.<\/p>\n

I arrived on the scene at around 8:15am. Not too \u2018late\u2019 but certainly not as early as I\u2019ve arrived for past events, like a Zelda launch. Nintendo NYC doesn\u2019t allow people to camp out in freezing temperatures anymore (thank goodness) so the need to get in line at the crack of dawn or, worse, the night before, isn\u2019t as urgent as it used to be. That said, even with my casual arrival, I was only about 25 back from the front of the line. After a half hour, the line extended a fair distance down the block behind me, but it wasn\u2019t the usual swarm of people I\u2019m accustomed to seeing at a console launch.<\/p>\n

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