Rockefeller Plaza Poke-Invasion

Saturday, March 21 was quite a day for Rockefeller Center's Nintendo World Store.

Patrons were lined up around the block, most all with DSes in hand, many dressed up as or carrying Pokemon characters, in anticipation of the prerelease of the latest game in the Pokemon series, Pokemon Platinum.

The store opened an hour early, 11 A.M., to a massive crowd. Employees tried to bottle-neck traffic to the store by allowing only ten people at a time to enter to reduce congestion throughout the store, though, to be honest, moving around was a difficult task.

The first floor was decked out, as it always is, with mountains of Pokemon merchandise. The merchandise was then surrounded with Pokemon Platinum related paraphernalia, such as standees of the male and female game protagonists, lots of posters and cut-outs (and masks!) of Giratina, the focal Pokemon of the game and promotional back packs, masks and other items related the game's release.

In addition to the giveaways of promotional items, customers purchasing the game were randomly selected to win copies of the game autographed by Game Producer Junichi Masuda and Game Director Takeshi Kawachimaru to enthusiastic shouts and ringing cowbells.

If the crowd and employees weren't enough excitement, the outdoor set-up was just more icing on the cake.

A play area, including ball pit, carnival games, demo stations of the new game, a live stage where young Pokefans could play games, dance and answer trivia questions and a bean-bag chair area with a screening of the new Pokemon movie "Giratina and the Sky Warrior" for patrons. Mascots of DPP starter Pokemon Piplup and Chimchar were walking around to greet fans and take pictures, while various inflatable Pokemon were spotted throughout the fenced-off courtyard.

Oh, and the game's official release date was only one day later.

The massive fan support is just a very slight sign of Pokemon's still massive popularity for all ages, parents, children and those teens who happened to grow up with the gaming phenomenon.