Shipment Get?! A New York City Adventure!
Yesterday started out like any other day for us here at the store. In a word, slow. But that wasn't a problem, because yesterday was the release date for the highly anticipated BioShock. The game has been getting near perfect reviews and we've had some customers express interest in it, so we felt good about how the day would turn out. Just to make sure we'd know when our shipment would be here we called our distributor and asked for the tracking number.
"I can't find it right now, I'll give you a call back," our contact says.
"Uh-oh," I said.
Turns out that uh-oh was appropriate. They forgot to ship it. Oops? A set back, to say the least, but I wasn't about to let the day pass without having this game in the store, so we set out to fix the problem. Both of our distributors are located in New York, so after a quick order by phone, a Google maps search, and a cup of coffee, I was off. Keep in mind that I've never driven anywhere near NYC, let alone through Manhattan and Long Island, but I love you guys that much.
The drive up was, interesting, thanks to the never ending rain. It created a white-out condition, or rather, a gray-out. The sky and road became the same color, with vehicles only slightly darker. It felt like Turok: Kart Wars (no, thankfully, that doesn't exist). I stopped at a rest stop for a finely aged whopper and the first of many pit stops (damn coffee) and made it up and through Manhattan with very few problems. So far so good. But here's where things get tricky.
Google had advised me to take an exit from the Midtown Tunnel that doesn't actually exist, at least, it wasn't named with any kind of readable sign. I soon found myself in Queens, certain that I had gone way too far. I doubled back, I think, and found myself hideously lost amongst the labyrinthine roads of Long Island. "Hey!" I said, "that's 21st St, that's where I need to be!" No sooner had I swung onto what I thought would be my ticket to my destination that I find myself on a bridge, going back into Manhattan. Buh?! Keep in mind that I have no real sense of direction. Things were not looking good and time, as they say, kept on slipping. It was roughly 3 p.m. at this point. Much like Homer Simpson, I wanted to leave before dark at any costs, and prior to rush hour if possible. This was not to be.
Skip ahead an hour, I've found the place, somehow. I get the goods, ask for the fastest way back to NJ and get what seems like some excellent directions. Very few turns and a quick shot south... through the Holland Tunnel. For those of you keeping track, it's now after 4 p.m.. That's right, I'm about to try to get to the Holland Tunnel during rush hour. This is when I experienced what can only be described as a recreation of the scene from Independence Day wherein Jeff Goldblum is trying to escape the island on bike. I was playing the part of the guy not going anywhere in his car.
It took me an hour to go 2 very short city blocks. Or is it streets? Either way, for what amounted to maybe 8 car lengths, it took me an hour to go that far.
The rules of the road no longer applied. I'm pretty sure the laws of Man no longer applied. Up was down, left was right, red was green, the sidewalk was now an entirely viable pathway for vehicles. Other motorists must have figured that they could phase through solid objects, because they certainly tried.
Skip ahead again and somehow I'm out, I'm back in sweet, stinky, safe, New Jersey. I think I blacked out for a while, but in time I was cruising along as a respectable speed and well on my way back to the store. Showed up around 7 p.m. and promptly went on to sell exactly zero copies of BioShock.
Crap.
The game is beyond fantastic, fyi. My reward for the journey was an evening with this beautiful and terrifying game, and first hand knowledge of NYC driving insanity. We've now got plenty of copies, so come and get em while the gettin's good. This is going to be a major contender for game of the year, and the first shot fired in what is sure to be one of the best gaming holiday seasons since the Halo 2/MGS3/GTA: SA bonanza of '04.
"I can't find it right now, I'll give you a call back," our contact says.
"Uh-oh," I said.
Turns out that uh-oh was appropriate. They forgot to ship it. Oops? A set back, to say the least, but I wasn't about to let the day pass without having this game in the store, so we set out to fix the problem. Both of our distributors are located in New York, so after a quick order by phone, a Google maps search, and a cup of coffee, I was off. Keep in mind that I've never driven anywhere near NYC, let alone through Manhattan and Long Island, but I love you guys that much.
The drive up was, interesting, thanks to the never ending rain. It created a white-out condition, or rather, a gray-out. The sky and road became the same color, with vehicles only slightly darker. It felt like Turok: Kart Wars (no, thankfully, that doesn't exist). I stopped at a rest stop for a finely aged whopper and the first of many pit stops (damn coffee) and made it up and through Manhattan with very few problems. So far so good. But here's where things get tricky.
Google had advised me to take an exit from the Midtown Tunnel that doesn't actually exist, at least, it wasn't named with any kind of readable sign. I soon found myself in Queens, certain that I had gone way too far. I doubled back, I think, and found myself hideously lost amongst the labyrinthine roads of Long Island. "Hey!" I said, "that's 21st St, that's where I need to be!" No sooner had I swung onto what I thought would be my ticket to my destination that I find myself on a bridge, going back into Manhattan. Buh?! Keep in mind that I have no real sense of direction. Things were not looking good and time, as they say, kept on slipping. It was roughly 3 p.m. at this point. Much like Homer Simpson, I wanted to leave before dark at any costs, and prior to rush hour if possible. This was not to be.
Skip ahead an hour, I've found the place, somehow. I get the goods, ask for the fastest way back to NJ and get what seems like some excellent directions. Very few turns and a quick shot south... through the Holland Tunnel. For those of you keeping track, it's now after 4 p.m.. That's right, I'm about to try to get to the Holland Tunnel during rush hour. This is when I experienced what can only be described as a recreation of the scene from Independence Day wherein Jeff Goldblum is trying to escape the island on bike. I was playing the part of the guy not going anywhere in his car.
It took me an hour to go 2 very short city blocks. Or is it streets? Either way, for what amounted to maybe 8 car lengths, it took me an hour to go that far.
The rules of the road no longer applied. I'm pretty sure the laws of Man no longer applied. Up was down, left was right, red was green, the sidewalk was now an entirely viable pathway for vehicles. Other motorists must have figured that they could phase through solid objects, because they certainly tried.
Skip ahead again and somehow I'm out, I'm back in sweet, stinky, safe, New Jersey. I think I blacked out for a while, but in time I was cruising along as a respectable speed and well on my way back to the store. Showed up around 7 p.m. and promptly went on to sell exactly zero copies of BioShock.
Crap.
The game is beyond fantastic, fyi. My reward for the journey was an evening with this beautiful and terrifying game, and first hand knowledge of NYC driving insanity. We've now got plenty of copies, so come and get em while the gettin's good. This is going to be a major contender for game of the year, and the first shot fired in what is sure to be one of the best gaming holiday seasons since the Halo 2/MGS3/GTA: SA bonanza of '04.