Game Will Not Open At Midnight Tonight For Halo 3: How Far Will You Go to Get Yours?

Fans could face disappointment tonight in the countdown to the release of Halo 3 as a flagship London store has revealed it will not hold a midnight launch in fear of muggings.
Thousands of people had been expected to queue in order to be the first to buy the epic Microsoft video game which has been the most talked about release of the year.

Computer game retailers Game had announced they will not be opening their Oxford Street Branch until tomorrow, much to the disappointment of hard core gamers. Westminster Council had advised the store against holding a late-night launch in case customers are robbed of their money in the queue or have the game stolen on the bus home.

A spokesman for the council has said,

“Game came to us for advice on launching at midnight and our advice was that we would advise against it.”

The concerns were primarily focussed on ‘crowd safety and obviously customers carrying expensive consoles and games on public transport’ he explained.

Halo 3 is set to go on sale in around 1,000 stores in the UK tonight after a glamorous launch party attended by Pharrell Williams at London’s Imax cinema. Last night saw the United States launch of Halo 3 with 10,000 retailers opening at midnight to sell Halo 3 and the accompanying Xbox 360 consoles and accessories.

The first day sales of Halo 3 are expected to shattered all records and become one of the biggest entertainment launches of all time.

The first two games earned around 15 million and Microsoft are said to have received 1.25m pre-orders for Halo 3. By the end of the week, Halo 3 will be played by fans in 37 countries

Although Game will not be opening it’s flagship Oxford Street store at midnight tonight, there will still be 150 Game stores open around the country including those in Wimbledon, Harrow, Uxbridge and Kingston.

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