Game fans pack into Brighton shops for new launch (From The Argus)

Game fans pack into Brighton shops for new launch

6:30pm Friday 28th September 2012 in News

By Chris Cox

Gamers queued from 9.30pm for the midnight launch of the latest edition of the FIFA franchise yesterday (September 28).

With a turnout of more than 100 people, staff at the two Game stores, on Western Road and in Churchill Square Shopping Centre, saw loors packed with football fans eager to buy FIFA 13.

The Western Road store was the busier of the two, with the queue stretching almost out of the door by midnight.

Van driver Darren James, 31, explained why he could not wait to play: “Well it’s FIFA isn’t it? You want to get a bit practise in, you need get a head-start on everyone.”

The game launched in America on September 25, selling 353,000 copies on day one.

There have been more than one million pre-orders worldwide, with hundreds of those being taken at the two Brighton Game stores.

Queuing outside a shop on a cold Thursday evening might be a world away from the glamour of the Premier League but for Donna Rose it did not need a second thought: “I’ve got two little boys at home who are going to be over the moon when they wake up. It’ll be worth it to see the look on their faces.

"They’re going to get up early to play it before school.”

With the stores not expecting to close their doors until around 1.30am, the staff might be forgiven for not being as pleased as the customers they were serving.

But Dan Marshall, senior sales assistant at the Churchill Square store, was more than happy to be working into the early morning.

He said: “It’s always fun when stuff comes out and we do this, especially in the run up to Christmas.

"It’s a good laugh and people really do seem to enjoy it.”