It was 10:00pm. The anxiety at the Teelow house was rising. The bags were packed, the digital cameras were (supposedly) ready, the Electronics Boutique documents were ready, and the tape recorder was ready. The plan was ready; pick of Matt Donges, and head to EB. Everything was set. As Michael Hodge and myself (Jim) headed out to the Corolla on a rather cold May night, there was a phone call. Who else would it be but Sven Eliasson. After a short discussion, it was arranged that we would meet Sven at EB. The four of us were very excited about what was about to happen, I was getting my GameCube, Matt and Hodge were about to cash in on my expense, and Sven, well ok, Sven was just coming for the ride.

The ball was set in motion, Hodge and I headed to the Corolla once more. The key was turned and, success, the thing started for once. So it was off to Matt's. Upon arrival, Matt could hardly contain his excitement. After a quick drink, it was back into the car, and off to Indooroopilly EB.

After a car trip of little words, we reached our destination and sure enough, Sven was there to meet us. We made our way from the car park, and headed to the store. The tape recorder was started in the hope of a few interviews; unfortunately these didn't go as well as planned. Once we got to the store, we were met by a man (we're not willing to give his details, in fear of being sued) who worked at the store. So out came the recorder. He seemed a little perplexed to say the least, as to why we were going around interviewing him. But non-the less, he answered the questions we had for him. Success, this night was going to go well, or so we thought. 5 minutes later, back comes the man saying that we can't use anything of what he said for legal reasons. Oh well we thought. We can still tape ourselves inside just being a pack of fools cant we? Sure he said. Wrong, 5 minutes later, back he comes again. Sorry guys, we can't allow you to use the recorder inside the store at all. -_- D'oh, fine then, we'll just take a few photos! Would have been great, if the digital camera had have been charged.

After all this though, things started to look up. We got our ticket, number 6 in the line, 45 minutes to go. On the search of some time wasting material, we headed outside of the store, and decided to try our luck at a few more interviews. Some early attempts with the security guys, and a Ronald McDonald dummy, didn't go as well as hoped. This is when we met Dave and Nick - two console enthusiasts. They were at the event together, Dave to get his GameCube (after a 6 month pre-order!) and Nick to get his copy of FFX for the PS2. After a successful interview (of which you can see the full transcript below), we found that they were number 7 in line. We rubbed it in for a while that we were number 6, and went and sat down for the remainder of the 20 minute wait.

Finally it was 12 o'clock. The store was crammed full of Nintendo enthusiasts. A quick head count revealed that there were roughly 50 people in the store. Estimates were quickly drawn up: the amount of people actually getting a Cube � 30; average age of attendees � 19; number of Cubes on sale � 50; number of mean staff � 4.

But before we new it, number 6 was called out. Me. So up I went with my documents, and received my bag fulls of gaming goodness. A purple console, additional black controller, memory card 59, Luigi's Mansion, Wave Race, Super Monkey Ball, Rogue Leader, a GameCube carry bag, and a $50 voucher.

After a quick thankyou, it was off to the car. Goodbyes were said to Sven, as Matt, Hodge and myself raced back to my place to play the Cube. After a good couple hours of solid Monkey Balling, it was time to hit the sack. And that's my Launch Story. End.