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Gamers are reminded to get ready for the launch of the Xbox One in Times Square. Microsoft’s successor to the Xbox 360 is going head to head with Sony’s PlayStation 4 and Nintendo’s Wii U in the eighth generation of video game consoles.
The thrill is not gone.
Seven hours of waiting on line for the Xbox One, Microsoft’s first gaming console since 2005, was a small sacrifice for Andrew Santana of Sunset Park.
Sam Costanza/for New York Daily News
The first new Xbox One owner at the Best Buy Theater event shows off his new console.
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“The excitement is still here, I can’t wait to get home to play this” said Santana, 16, a high school student who waited outside the Best Buy in Bath Beach, Brooklyn, to get his mitts on the $ 499 console. “For a gamer, this is huge. I’m going to play this all night. I have school tomorrow, honestly, I don’t know if I’ll go.”
Jeff Moore/AP
British band Plan B performs at the Xbox One launch in central London Hundreds of fans enjoyed the gig as they waited to get their new consoles at midnight.
Santana was just one of thousands of gamers who sought out select locations across the five boroughs where they could be the first to get their hands on a newly minted Xbox One, which went on sale at midnight Thursday.
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MICROSOFT/AFP/Getty Images
Microsoft spread the word about the Xbox One launh with a water projection on Sydney Harbour.
The system boasts a souped-up voice command feature and an app that lets users to enjoy two functions simultaneously — allowing a portion of the screen to be devoted to a game while the rest plays TV or a movie.
The neat functions are piled on top of modern gaming console standards like an eight-core processor, eight gigabytes of RAM and entertainment center apps that make the console function feel more like computer than video game systems of yore.
Jason DeCrow/Invision for Microsoft
The Best Buy Theater in Times Square gets a taste of the zombie apocalypse as the undead celebrate Xbox One exclusive launch title ‘Dead Rising 3.’
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“I’m excited for the voice command,” said Julien Santana, 28, a power professional from East New York.
Diane Bondareff/Invision for Microsoft
Xbox One consoles are loaded onto armored trucks as they head to Times Square ahead of the midnight launch.
“I’m a gamer. Everybody has their thing. People who are into Air Jordans buy new sneakers every two weeks. I buy video game systems every seven years. This has been the biggest gap (between console releases) I can remember. It’s a lot of excitement building up for a long time for a lot of people.”
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Sam Costanza/for New York Daily News
While the zombies celebrate ‘Dead Rising 3,’ the Roman infantry are out in force to promote ‘Ryse: Son of Rome’ at the Best Buy Theatre on West 44th St.
Richard H., 35, of Fort Greene, said the new console may finally bring balance to the living room TV — and domestic harmony — allowing his lady friend to watch a show while he indulges in sweet video game bliss.
“That will definitely keep her happy,” said Richard, who went to the Atlantic Ave. Best Buy to snag the console. “She can watch TV and I can play games and we don’t have to be in separate rooms.”
Sam Costanza/for New York Daily News
Mackelmore entertains the crowd at the Best Buy Theatre launch event.
For others, like Abraham Arthur, 34, a city worker from Bedford Stuyvesant who trekked to Bath Beach to get the new console, it’s about continuing a gaming legacy.
“I got the Xbox 360 the first day it came out (in 2005). I’ll be out here the first day when the next console comes out,” Arthur said. “I’ll be playing video games when I’m an old man.”
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