So I attended the launch event in NYC at Nintendo World and the line stretched a couple blocks! I got there early enough in the day with friends to get a good spot and be amongst those that got a launch event wristband to attend the event and purchase the games. I will upload pictures soon or link to my photos on image share or something. But I was pleasantly surprised. At the event, we got all of the pre-order bonuses including the GAME pokeball game case, the Gamestop timeline poster (For those that pre-ordered both games), the Target legendary pins and dogtag necklaces. This makes me wonder if come next month for the Legend of Zelda release for the 3DS, if we'd get some of the Europe exclusives a well (like that ultra cute treasure chest music box).
But the event was really nice, though it could've been better organized. As many people as there were, when it came time to line of outside of the store for one's turn to purchase (there were color-coded wristbands for certain timeslots, ie. blue/white stripes for midnight, black for 12:30 and so on), it was basically a flash mob to get to the doors and it was like being a sardine in a can. And after my friends and I made our purchases and left, the line for the post- launch event purchasers stretched all the way around the block. It was nice to see how many people turned out for the release.