SAN FRANCISCO – Orcs, high elves and a whole lot of freezing nerds lined up around the block in Union Square Wednesday night for the launch of Wrath of the Lich King, the latest expansion pack for the World of Warcraft online role-playing game.
While 3,500 GameStop stores around the country held small-scale midnight launches for Lich King, the San Francisco event was one of only two "Lunar Street Festivals" held by the gaming retail chain. A tent outside the store let waiting fans get their pictures taken while sitting on a throne made of ice, eat Sno-Cones and cotton candy, and stick their faces into a cardboard cut-out of an orc. And this is to say nothing of the dance contest.
It's all in celebration of the biggest thing to hit Warcraft since flying mounts. The Lich King expansion adds significant new features to the MMO, which Blizzard Entertainment hopes will keep the game's unprecedented 11 million subscribers enthralled – and their $15/month subscription fees pouring in.
More pics from Wednesday night's launch follow.
Matthew Egan was first in line to get the Lich King expansion pack. He arrived at San Francisco's GameStop at 6 a.m. Wednesday, and the second person in line didn't show up until three hours later. This made Egan very happy. "My iPod was already starting to die," he said.
IGN's Jessica Chobot sits on the custom-made ice throne to kick off her web show, drinking wine or possibly a melted Sno-Cone from her plastic Lunar Fest goblet.
Oscar Patzan, 14, of San Francisco gets his picture taken behind the World of Warcraft cut-out.
Sorry, Master Chief: This isn't your night.
Blue Sno-Cones, cotton candy and energy drinks chilled by being poured through a World of Warcraft-themed ice sculpture were the nutritional supplements available at the launch party.
Travis Freeman, 27, of San Francisco watches a Japanese horror film while waiting in line to purchase the Lich King expansion pack.
The prize everyone was waiting for. The servers went on at midnight, and gamers went home, never to return until the next Warcraft expansion.
The inside of the Wrath of the Lich King packaging.
Photos: Jim Merithew/Wired.com
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