The weather over Sydney's Darling Harbour that day was not the best it could be, but the even the overcast morning did nothing to stop the anxious gamers from attending the event, which would feature the cutting edge in technology and some previews of things to come, which any enthusiast would ignore and decide to sleep in instead.

The view from the balcony of the Star City Casino; Darling Harbour, CBD, Sydney Harbour Bridge and North Sydney.

The view from the balcony of the Star City Casino; Darling Harbour, CBD, Sydney Harbour Bridge and North Sydney.

Word about the event quickly within the virtual communities and a healthy turnout eventuated. Because of the number of attendees places for the mini Cyberslam HALO multi player tournament were snapped up quickly and the event started later than scheduled. Attendees received an AMD/Cyberslam show bag consisting of marketing and technical information about Athlon 64 family and Cyberslam LAN, post-it notes, stickers, a smiley MSI stress ball, AMD64/Cyberslam T-Shirt, stylish AMD pen and other paraphernalia.

No, this is not the entire compliment of Australian AMD fans! These are those who arrived early and made up the front of the queue of eager attendees going through registration and waiting for entry.

Entry to the ballroom was greeted with green lighting, indicating the start of the event. One hall was dedicated for the launch event itself and the adjacent hall held vendor and partner displays, the HALO multi player tournament and as well as prize giving. This event was a combined public/press event, apart from seating arrangements and a Q and A session no additional content was presented to the press.

Views of the hall. Press are seated first few rows and the public behind them. The attendees are looking at evaluation forms prior to the start of the presentation.

The AMD Athlon-64 system housed in the Cooler Master wave case with neon and case window signifies AMD's recognition and support of the enthusiast segment, addressed by the Athlon 64-FX part.

Views of the hall. Press are seated first few rows and the public behind them. The attendees are looking at evaluation forms prior to the start of the presentation.