Zelda fans can’t wait for the next game to come out

TESTIMONIALS – Pre-orders, night sales, under-the-counter purchases… Franchise lovers are getting organized to get Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, available this Friday, May 12, as quickly as possible.

This is one of the major releases of the year in the video game department. Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom from Nintendo will be released this Friday, May 12. A few hours before the event, fans of Adventures of Link and Princess Zelda are impatient and have made arrangements to pick up their copy as soon as possible. “Previewing Zelda is a bit like finding the Holy Grailsmiles Arsene. This Lorrain is at the head of a community of fans of the franchise on YouTube and Discord. “The majority of members have pre-ordered the game, sometimes for several months. Some have even taken time off to enjoy the game in the days to come.

This is the case of Matthieu, 26 years old. “For the past two weeks, I have been adjusting my schedule to be available for Zelda”, specifies the one who works in the audiovisual sector. The objective is clear: to have completed his various professional tasks on Thursday evening and to take advantage of his telework day on Friday to start this video game. Sylvain Charroy goes even further. He took a week off to explore Hyrule Kingdom. “Usually I only take a day or two. But Zelda is my favorite series and the game promises to be particularly dense”justifies the thirty-something.

Quentin Bourguignon has been a fan of the elf in a green tunic since the first hour. “Since I was six years old”proudly specifies this Parisian. “It was my father who introduced me to video games and Zelda”, he recalls. To mark the event, he will go Thursday evening to the Fnac in Paris Saint-Lazare, which will exceptionally open its doors at midnight. In the program ? Music, distribution of goodies, terminals to test the video game, and of course, sales of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom. “It’s almost an impulse, I need it as a preview“, he jokes.

According to our information, several hundred thousand copies of the game will go on sale this Friday in France. Charlotte Micault, marketing director at Fnac-Darty, hopes to sell 100,000 copies of the video game over the first weekend.

Night openings of shops

“This nocturnal opening is also an indelible memory. I don’t get to meet Zelda fans every day“, details for his part Fabien Soccio, 36 years old. The Lille resident will go at midnight sharp to one of ten Micromania stores which will open at night for an early sale of the game. But the player does not intend to drag on. Several hours of gameplay await him once the package is unpacked. “Zelda is going to take up a lot – if not all of my time – over the next few days”smiles the thirty-something.

But not everyone is lucky enough to live near one of these parties dedicated to Zelda. “I would have liked to camp in front of a Micromania, but no shop opens at midnight in Nancy”, jokes Julien Florémont. But this doctoral student in history will go at first light to pick up his Zelda package, pre-ordered several weeks ago.

“The collector’s version of the Nintendo Switch console, the limited edition video game, the official guide, the controller, the carrying case… I robbed the site”, lists Julien Florémont. The 30-something readily admits: “It’s a budget.In total, the fan will have spent 600 euros for his favorite franchise. “II don’t usually pre-order. But the release of Zelda is an event in the life of a player. So I made a small exception.

Under-the-counter sales are on the rise

Meanwhile, Matthieu Adechoudou does not sulk his pleasure. This video game fan posted on Twitter on Wednesday a photo of his new acquisition: a copy of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom in a blister pack, 36 hours before the worldwide launch of the game. Quickly, comments from Internet users burst out: “You will make people jealous.”

However, the operation was not a foregone conclusion, because this Ile-de-France resident broke his leg. “So I asked a friend to get the game back for me,” he explains. Like Matthieu, consumers have managed to obtain Zelda Tears of the Kingdom before its official release. Since Wednesday, under-the-counter sales have multiplied at certain independent retailers. Christophe, 37, rubs his hands. “My friends are going to be green! I’m going to pick it up Thursday afternoon at the shop.”

Others are less fortunate. Yannick discovered the franchise nearly 40 years ago. “I was already playing on NES-console», he recalls. The cultural market director bought all 19 games in the franchise, and Tears of the Kingdom is no exception. The opus has been ordered on Amazon for 15 days. But on Wednesday, everything collapses. The e-commerce site announces extended delivery times, and a game that will not be delivered until Monday at best, and the end of May at worst. “I will surely cancel my order to pick up a copy in store on D-Day”, says Yannick. The kingdom of Hyrule does not wait.

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