bah.. that's no fun. hanging out in line gives you a good chance to meet a bunch of people you know will be playing the game and live around the same area as you. Hopefully you Xbox guys won't be too proud to bring your DSes for some Pacman Vs. or Tetris multiplayer.
For me, not being a fan of Halo, the big pull is the online co-op, so i'll be able to play the game with my pal in the military.. i have fond memories of playing Goldeneye with him back in the day before he joined the military, and now that he's gotten into 360, it'll be great to play along-side him despite across the states.