Ocarina Of Time Midnight Launches See Thousands Queuing

Ocarina Of Time Just Proved Physical Gaming Isn't Dead Published Nov 5, 2026, 3:17 AM EST Sam Woods is TheGamer’s Senior Reporter. He’s been in games journalism since 2020 and has undertaken a variety of roles in that time. These have included roles such as SEO Editor, Managing Editor at DualShockers, and Global Head of Gaming, and he's also been seen on the BBC. He was promoted to the Senior Reporter position in 2025 following a series of high-quality reports and exclusives for TheGamer. Since 2020, Sam has written over 3,000 articles and specializes in telling the stories of the people behind the games. He’s interviewed the biggest game directors, some of the industry’s top talents, told the stories of how indie games came to be, and spoken to players about what really makes them tick. He’s also interviewed some of the world’s biggest musical artists to find out how the medium has inspired their work, and TV and Film actors about their roles in video game adaptations. He even hosted a PAX panel in 2021 and made a documentary in 2024 surrounding the creation of a Disney game. Alongside this, Sam focuses on breaking news. He got the scoop on Perfect Dark’s cancellation, provided context on some AI drama, and revealed that Lady Dimitrescu’s actress would love to step back into the character’s giant shoes. These articles have been picked up by the biggest gaming sites, including IGN, GameSpot, and PC Gamer. He also loves to dive into the numbers behind the games. Sam’s journey in games journalism has taken him all over the world. He’s covered Gamescom in Germany, Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles, and Tokyo Game Show in Japan, each on three occasions. He’s been learning Japanese since 2024 with the intention of identifying and translating Japanese-language news and bringing it to English-language audiences first, something he’s done countless times. Sam’s first review was 2020’s Battletoads reboot, and he’s since reviewed games in The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario, and Pokemon franchises. Physical games have been the hottest topic in gaming in 2026. As Sony made the decision to stop producing them for its next console, gamers rallied, making it clear they were extremely unhappy with the choice. The debate saw huge petitions, new bill proposals, and class-action lawsuits, and former PlayStation executives and the hacking group Anonymous opposed the move. Nothing changed, Sony stood firm, and PlayStation won a "Hall of Shame" Award for the move. But while Sony claims that people don't buy enough physical media, last night, Nintendo took us back to 1998, holding mightily impressive midnight launches for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time's remake across the globe. The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time Midnight Launches Were Absolutely Huge Midnight launches have become less prominent over recent years. There was a time when they were all the rage, and heading down to your local game store at midnight was the thing to do. These events always had an overwhelming sense of excitement and community, but the rise of digital gaming saw them peter out. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time might have just brought them back. The game was released today, and stores worldwide held midnight launches. Thousands attended, proving that if the game is good, the demand is there. Social media has been awash with video footage and photos of these events, and it's been a sight to behold. In the UK, videos emerged of a midnight launch at Argos in London. The queues for this event were said to be 500 people strong. Of course, this was helped by the amazing launch bonus this store offered, but it's still an amazing turnout. Similar scenes were spotted around the US. IGN's Mitchell Saltzman attended one at a GameStop, which had a whopping queue, and images and videos show identical scenes at other GameStops and Best Buys. There are many big reasons for these queues. The Nintendo 64 version of Ocarina of Time is Metacritic's highest-rated game of all time, with a score of 99 (although this is disputed). It's a game that millions around the world have major nostalgia for, and it's one that is comfortably considered to be one of the best ever created. Reviews for the Nintendo Switch 2 remake only cemented this. It's now comfortably the highest-rated game of 2026, helped by our 5/5 score here at TheGamer. Reviewer Collin MacGregor said, "This is the definitive way to experience Ocarina of Time, and know that I envy you if this will be your first time ever playing it. Enjoy it. Few games have ever reached, or will ever reach, the heights it has." Systems Released November 5, 2026 ESRB Everyone 10+ / Animated Blood, Fantasy Violence Developer(s) Nintendo Publisher(s) Nintendo Genre(s) RPG, Action, Adventure