Just a scant hour ago I made the trek down to the Powell Street GameStop to take in the midnight launch of Metal Gear Solid 4. Upon arrival, I was greeted with a line that went halfway down the block and around the corner. Roughly seventy five to a hundred and people waited patiently for the doors to open so they could once again get their hands on their beloved Solid Snake. First in line was lucky Kiattikhun Ratanatharathorn, known as "Bank" to his friends (pictured after the jump) who had been waiting for his prize since 6pm. He was accompanied by his friend James Demonico who wasn't actually there for the game but he owed "Bank" money so he came along for the ride (now I guess we know why they call him "Bank").
This particular store sold all of its MGS PS3 bundles at 10pm to people who were waiting in line although the GameStop employee I spoke with refused to divulge how many systems they received. I asked him if they had received lots of pre-orders and he informed me once again that he was not allowed to talk about it. Given that the line was quite long and everyone there had to have a pre-order, I would guess that their list was rather extensive. A nearby Best Buy that was also doing a midnight launch sold out of their twenty five PS3 bundles within a a few minutes after announcing them around 11:30pm. Apparently their employees have no such non-disclosure rule when it comes to numbers.
There were three local outlets doing midnight launches, but one store was conspicuously dark. The Sony store in the Metreon Center didn't hold a midnight launch. This is due to the fact that it's in a mall and the cost of keeping it open past hours would make it not quite worth the while. So if you live in the SF area and are keen to get your hands on a bundle, all your hopes lie on the Sony Store's door. A door that will open at 10am PST Thursday morning. Good Luck!