Dubai: Specialists rappelled down from the Oasis Centre ceiling. Camo-clad security personnel drove into the shopping mall in Jeep wranglers and unloaded burlap wrapped crates. Sales personnel took shelter behind a sand-bag bunker.
No – it's not an invasion, just the launch of the latest video game, Call of Duty: Black Ops, which took place at the mall at midnight on Monday.
Hundreds of gamers swarmed the Oasis Centre to get a copy of the seventh instalment of the multi-million selling first person shooter (FPS). More than 700 people had pre-registered online to purchase the game and hundreds more came to register at the venue.
The franchise has set a standard in representing World War II, following acclaimed movies and award winning mini-series like Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers and The Pacific.
This is the first instalment set during the Cold War era. Hollywood stars such as Ed Harris, Gary Oldman, Ice Cube and Topher Grace have voiced some of the characters in the game.
The collector's edition of the game know as the "Prestige" edition also gives players a collector's medal in a case, an avatar for the their console, and a remote-control vehicle modelled after the in-game killstreak reward, which has built-in video and audio feedback to its controller.
The previous instalment in the billion-dollar game series, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, sold approximately 4.7 million units in both the USA and the UK in the first 24 hours.
The total revenue from first-day sales in the USA and the UK was $310 million, making Modern Warfare 2 the biggest entertainment launch in history. As of January 2010, Modern Warfare 2, has taken over $1 billion in sales.
