More than 10,000 retailers have planned events to open their doors at midnight to celebrate the third installment in the billion-dollar Halo franchise. The Best Buy in Bellevue, Washington (just a stone’s throw from the Microsoft campus) hosted one of the biggest parties, featuring contests, and appearances by various celebrities fanatical about the Halo franchise, and OCmodshop was there.
Most gamers started showing up around 6:00 or 7:00, but a few had camped out the night before to get the first place in line. By 9:00, the line had stretched way beyond the back of the store, with an estimated 400 people in line. It was rumored that Best Buy had secured over 800 copies of Halo 3, so there were sure to be plenty for everyone, including retail customers that will arrive the next day.
WizKids was there giving away Halo ActionClix figures
The Bellevue launch party was set to be one of the biggest in the country, and several well-known media outlets were there, in addition to OCmodshop. All of Seattle’s local news stations had set up aerials from their mobile news stations, and G4 even made an appearance. Also making the rounds was “Glen the Toolbox” from the B.J. Shea morning talkshow on KISW FM in Seattle.
G4 showed up to cover the event
The place was crawling with Microsoft representatives, who were covering the event for xbox.com, and several other Microsoft-run sites. Among them was Laura Foy, who used to be a journalist on ZDTV before G4 took over. Also doing promotions for Microsoft was Xbox.com’s Trixie, who was giving away autographed Xbox 360 consoles to those in line.
Local celebrities came out to par-tay!
Master Chief met with the crowd, emerging from the store every hour or so to take pictures with the fanboys (and girls). Master Chief was silent throughout each ordeal, no matter how many questions people asked him.
Best Buy staff started lining up barrier chains in front of the main entrance of the store. Apparently there were going to be some celebrity guests. Shortly after 10:30, Warren Moon (the voice talent behind Sargeant Johnson) came out of the front doors to meet the crowd and sign autographs. He was very grateful to the fans, and answered as many questions as he could before moving on down the line. Several Bungie superstars also had their Sharpies ready (such as Bungie’s Josh Bell), and signed posters, boxes, and copies of Halo 3 for those in line.
Warren Moon signs autographs for the crows
We all knew something big was coming up next, because the Best Buy staff came out like armed guards, and started clearing the pathway. Around 20 minutes before midnight, Bill Gates himself was led out the front doors to do a quick meet and greet with the loyal Halo fans. The media went into an absolute frenzy, and the multitude of camera flashes almost turned the night into day. Bill went down the line at a good pace, shaking hands and signing autographs. Bill stayed in the brightly lit front of the building and didn’t turn the corner, so most of the line didn’t get a chance to see him. It was an exciting gesture for the head of Microsoft to show up, but it seemed to be over as quickly as it started.
Bill Gates emerges to greet the hordes of Halo fans
Minutes later, three large buses pulled into the Best Buy parking lot, and the entire crew from Bungie greeted the crowd. Everyone applauded, cheered, and started chanting “Bungie! Bungie!”, as the developers threw various Halo 3 stickers and hacky-sacks into the crowd. The crew piled up near the entrance and were positioned so that they could see everyone coming out of the store. The crew at Bungie seemed very proud of their baby they had worked on for over three years.
