The Switch is so close I can almost taste it – although it’s possible that’s the Chinese lead and BPAs of which this plastic water bottle is comprised. That’s right folks – tomorrow morning I truly believe we will be seeing the beginning of one of the biggest shifts to gaming since the release of the original Nintendo console.

But for this momentous occasion, I wanted to do something a little different. It’s a pretty cool thing that I happen to be running this blog which deals pretty heavily in Nintendo-stuffs, right through a brand new console release. I’ve spent plenty of time ranting and raving my thoughts about the Switch, and at this point, we’ve all made up our decision. Whether or not you’re buying one tomorrow, there’s no denying this is definitely shaking up the console landscape.

According to my WordPress Statistics panel, I get visitors every day from all over the globe. And strangely, the country that reads this blog the least is the United States. Not sure how that happened. But anyway, most of those countries outside my home country don’t have a Nintendo World Store. So reluctantly I took to the filthy streets of New York City and headed to Rockefeller Center to check out what they’ve done to the place two days prior to the Switch release, camera phone in hand, so I can get a few shots for you all showing you how cool this place is. Who knows, maybe it will spike your excitement even more than you can handle! For me, it’s two floors of pure childhood memory concentrate, to the point where it’s completely overwhelming every time I step into it.

The view from across the street. I felt strange taking pictures of the people outside, but there were at least 40 people camped out on the sidewalk, presumably undergoing the experience that is camping out to guarantee yourself a spot to purchase a thing you want. This area of NYC is no stranger to this concept, as the Apple Store is right nearby on Fifth Avenue, where every new iDevice release prompts the masses with spare PTO days and $700 the opportunity to sit in a chair for 36 hours.

This majestic Switch statue had a live timer to release! Super cool and I would throw my bed into the garbage if I had the opportunity to have this in my room. I can only assume once the timer hits launch time, it will change from “countdown till launch” to “time since Geddy exploded due to overexcitement.”

Couple shots of the huge statues that litter the whole place. I don’t know how I would get that Donkey Kong home, but if someone offered it to me for $1,000 right then and there, I would have had a hard time saying no.

This store is home to a downright absurd amount of clothing, as one might expect. I won’t even step foot in the door unless I’m will to part with at least $20 for a t-shirt, because I know myself and have some semblance of self-control sometimes…

 

Right at the entrance was a stand with two new Zelda shirts, one a limited edition. Well, you know me and limited edition anythings. I mentioned something about self-control above? Yeah, well it all went right out the window when I was still three blocks away. Grabbed myself a Limited shirt as well as a Breath of the Wild shirt, shown on the right. I like my shirts like I like video games – with Zelda stuff plastered all over them. I wasn’t about to let $50 stand between me and eternal happiness made of 25% cotton.

Off to the right from the entrance there were a few Switch consoles set up, but not for playing of course. What you see in the picture is actually as close as I chose to get – I didn’t even want to spoil the screen size by seeing it in person while turned on. It was playing demos of games and trailers and all that, but I have avoided pretty much all visuals of this thing in its On state so far and don’t plan on spoiling it now! There weren’t even JoyCons attached that I could see, so these things may as well have been iPad Minis. Still, I wanted nothing to do with them. I will see and feel them in my hands on Friday!

Once you head upstairs, they have revamped a large portion near the play area that’s got a huge collection of Zelda memorabilia that would clearly put any other collection to shame. I mean they really had everything in here. It looked so beautiful, and I could swear I heard the sound of angels singing when I walked by.

Last time I was here was about a month ago, and everything in the display case was Pokemon. I guess they figured this was a necessary change given the circumstances!

Right next to the Zelda display is a beautiful U-shaped case that shows the history of Nintendo consoles in chronological order, including (but not pictured above) the famous Gameboy that survived a bombing during the Gulf War. It’s always cool looking in this case and realizing just how many of them I still have and play to this very day!

Back on the merchandise side you can see the plethora of collectibles from all properties, be them Zelda, Pokemon, Kirby, Animal Crossing, you name it. And enough plushies to fill up a swimming pool!

I took a good look at the Switch inside it’s display case, and it sounds strange, but it really hit me that I would have this thing in my possession in a matter of two days. All that childlike wonder came rushing back, if only for a fleeting moment before I realized I was going to be late for a 4:00 meeting. But it was sure was sweet for that brief moment!

I grabbed my two ridiculously overpriced but-who-cares t-shirts and headed for the checkout counter. If you’ve ever been a Nintendo World Store, you know that the employees love to chat gaming, and it was cool reminiscing about Nintendo stuff with the roughly the same age as me cashier.

Hope you enjoyed taking a look at some shots from my Nintendo World Store trip! I highly recommend stopping by if you’re ever near one – they’re sure to bring you far, far back.

Thanks for reading!