Images: Halo 3 - Ice day for a game launch

Click to enlarge
Halo 3 ice at midnight.

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Hundreds of gamers put down their Xbox controllers for a few hours this morning to descend on Auckland's Queen Elizabeth Square to take part in the Halo 3 Ice Block Buster, to celebrate the release at 12.01am this morning of Halo 3 in New Zealand.

Frozen inside the 1-tonne ice block were 50 numbered tokens, corresponding to prizes including Samsung LCD TVs, Xbox 360 consoles and Halo 3 games. Gamers freed the tokens by melting the ice using water pistols (and the odd bit of help from an Xbox staffer brandishing a sledgehammer). The action kicked off at 6am, where more than 30 gamers were already queuing for their turn to blast the ice. The last prize was won at 11am, when the massive ice block finally melted enough to give up its last treasure. Lo-res photos are attached.

Day-one sales for the Xbox 360-exclusive game have been sensational in New Zealand (the first place in the world to get the game), with many stores reporting they have already sold out of initial stocks. As the rest of the world wakes up to Halo 3, global sales are expected to break sales records.

ENDS

© Scoop Media