On Friday morning, I happened to be driving up Riverdale Road when I saw a small line of people waiting outside the Best Buy consumer electronics store.

I just assumed it was the latest “Harry Potter” or “Star Wars” thing going on sale — those two fan bases seem to be willing to wait overnight for virtually anything associated with their franchises. But curiosity got the better of me, so I simply pulled over to the side of the road and — and this is what I love about life in 2017 — asked my phone, “OK, Google. Why the line-up at Best Buy?”

Google didn’t disappoint. I learned that it was Nintendo fans lining up for the Sept. 29, 2017, release of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System Classic, a brand new, smaller version of the second-generation Nintendo gaming system originally released in 1991. Some say SNES — or “Super Nintendo” as it was usually called — was the best of all the early video game systems, featuring games like “Super Mario World,” “The Legend of Zelda,” “Street Fighter II Turbo” and “Super Mario Kart.”

Anticipating Best Buy’s 10 a.m. opening were about two dozen hardcore Nintendo fans. Or, at least, those who love those fans.

“The other stores are already sold out,” one person called out when asked why the line at Best Buy. “Target opened at 8 this morning, and they’re already sold out.”

Toward the back of the line was Becky Holland, of Riverdale. She was there not for herself, but for her husband, Melvin.

“My husband is in New York on a work trip, and he called me at 7:15 this morning,” she said. “He told me, ‘The Super NES is going on sale at 7, will you go down there and see if there any are left?”

And she agreed because … ?

“Because my husband asked me, and because I’m an awesome wife,” Holland laughed. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t love my husband.”

Speaking of love, at the front of the Best Buy line was Britney Burton, of Ogden. Her husband, Sean O’Connor, works nights, so Burton was first in line at 6 p.m. Thursday.

“He wanted it for his birthday,” which Burton said was just a couple of days ago.

Besides, Burton said with a shrug, “I just got laid off, so I’ve got nothing but time.”

O’Connor, who joined his wife in line Friday morning, figures waiting in line like this was the only way to secure an SNES Classic.

“Pre-orders online sold out in six minutes,” he said.

Sitting beside Burton in the Best Buy line was Brian Naylor, of Clinton. So, do he and Burton know each other?

“We do now,” Naylor quipped. “We spent the night together.”

Naylor arrived in line the night before, an hour after Burton.

“I drove by, saw that no one was here, so I went home and ate dinner, then I came back,” he said. “I was second in line, which is good enough for me.”

Like many of the other early birds, Naylor sat in a camp chair backed up against the brick wall to the right of the of the store’s entrance. Next to him were three empty child-sized camp chairs.

Naylor has 10 children, and three of them — sons who are 12, 9 and 8 years old — spent the night with him. The four Naylor men slept in sleeping bags there on the sidewalk beside their place in line.

So, where are the boys now?

“They’re at school,” Naylor said, rightly emphasizing the ethic of education above video games. “Besides, they got to spend the night here. That’s all they cared about anyway.”

Jason Thompson, of Roy, arrived about 8 p.m. Thursday. He collects video games and video game systems.

“It’s nostalgic for me,” he said. “I want my 5-year-old daughter to grow up enjoying some of the games I did.”

Of course, Thompson also acknowledges that with a little better planning, he and the others could have avoided their overnight adventure.

“Had we done our research, we would have known that Walmart handed out vouchers at 7:30 last night, and then released the system at midnight.”

So basically, instead of standing in a line at 9 a.m. on a Friday, they could have all been playing their SNES Classics for the last nine hours.

Was it worth it for Burton, staying up most of the night for an $80 video game that she probably won’t even play? Burton turned and looked at O’Connor for a long while before answering.

“Yeah,” she finally said. “It was worth it. Because it’s like Christmas on his face, seeing this.”

For his part, O’Connor admited he’s pretty excited about being one of the lucky few to secure his very own Super Nintendo Entertainment System Classic.

“But my wife is going to be mad,” he said, shooting a glance back at Burton, “because I’ll be postponing all those honey-dos she’s got for me so I can play my new game system.”

Contact Mark Saal at 801-625-4272, or msaal@standard.net. Follow him on Twitter at @Saalman. Friend him on Facebook at facebook.com/MarkSaal.