Gameplanet held the world premiere Halo 3 event in conjunction with Microsoft last night in Auckland, hosting a hundred-and-something gamers and associates to provide an apt closing act for both Halo 2 and Carlton Gore Road's Game Cave, venue for the night's event.

Signups for the Halo 2 LAN proved there was plenty of life in the old game during its final hour. Depending on whom you talked to, Halo 3 buyers were to spend the morning in private LANs, online getting ready to ambush the rest of the world in the multiplayer maps, or chugging through the single-player mode, preferably logged on for vicarious gloat value on Live.

Fans at the event included Dave Fane, Dai Henwood, PNC, Frontline, Savage and Ben Boyce. Master Chief also made an appearance, a.k.a. Geekpulp's Brianemone in full kit, while Legendary Edition buyers could don their own helmets and look equally intimidating from the neck up. There was Mountain Dew but no Game Fuel, something that Black Box Session organisers are hoping to change for the overnight LAN at Labour Weekend's Armageddon Expo. Hardly a major sporting event, Red Bull inevitably made its way into the eager hands of controllerless attendees while pizza kept stomachs going when the chips were down.

Across town, a ton of ice was slowly melting at Queen Elizabeth Square, its guardians hoping like hell it would hold is frozen contents long enough for the planned prize attack at runrise. More pics from that coming soon. Microsoft says Halo 3 is the most anticipated video game in history - first-day sales are expected to beat box-office sales for the highest first-day-sales movie of all time (Spider-Man 3). Tauranga gamers Nicole Sinclair and Ryan Marsden, 19 (pictured), were the first members of the public to receive a copy of the game at the worldwide premiere. The real thrill was discovering they'd also won a Samsung 40" LCD TV, with more of those to be won at QE Square along with Xbox 360 consoles and more copies of Halo 3.