Scenes from the NYC Halo: Reach launch
Microsoft and Best Buy team up to launch Halo: Reach at a theater in New York's Times Square.
Dan Ackerman
Dan Ackerman leads CNET's coverage of computers and gaming hardware. A New York native and former radio DJ, he's also a regular TV talking head and the author of "The Tetris Effect" (Hachette/PublicAffairs), a non-fiction gaming and business history book that has earned rave reviews from the New York Times, Fortune, LA Review of Books, and many other publications.
"Upends the standard Silicon Valley, Steve Jobs/Mark Zuckerberg technology-creation myth... the story shines." -- The New York Times
The line outside spanned three sides of a city block.
The event took place at the former Nokia theater in Times Square, now known as the Best Buy Theater.
A militaristic truck housed game demo stations.
The first people in line said they had been there since around 5 p.m.
More Halo fans.
Artist Phil Noto signed copies of his Halo comic book.
Didn't anyone tell these kids Halo: Reach is rated M?
A portable game demo station, housed in a truck.
The crowds at the theater entrance.
Fans hoping to snag a T-shirt being tossed into the crowd.
A cardboard Halo standee.
Dozens of standalone demo stations were set up inside.
A life-size statue of a game character.
Inflatable energy swords were a popular freebie.
More game demo stations.
The main room in the theater.
Still more Halo demo stations.
Another life-size statue.
It's not Master Chief, but the resemblance is uncanny.
I suspect these guys really like Halo.
A mini Best Buy store inside the theater was set up to assist all your Halo purchasing needs.
Fans waiting for a turn in the ongoing multiplayer tournament.
Another Halo character.
The Best Buy theater stage being prepped for rapper Kid Cudi.
If it's a gaming event, neon-colored beverages can't be far behind.
More gameplay from inside the theater.
Any of these kids could easily take me apart in Halo: Reach.
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