Halo 3, the much-anticipated Xbox 360 game that launched Tuesday, set the all-time record for most revenue earned in a single day by any entertainment property, Microsoft said Wednesday.
The company said that Halo 3, the third and final episode in the hugely popular franchise, netted $170 million in sales in the U.S. in its first day. If true, that would top previous records set by the motion pictures Spider Man 3 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
There’s little doubt Microsoft has been pinning a great deal of hope on Halo 3 and was expecting it to be the must-have game for the Xbox 360, much as the original Halo was for the original Xbox when it came out in 2001. The theory is that many consumers will buy Xbox 360s to play the new game, though only time will tell if that is true. Microsoft did not release any new figures on immediate Xbox sales.
Judging by initial reviews, the game is being very well received critically, in addition to racking up the big bucks.
According to Microsoft, more than a million players have logged on to Xbox Live to play the multiplayer version of the new game, since it came out and all told, it has garnered more than 1.7 million preorders.
In recognition of the release of Halo 3, a highly anticipated video game by Microsoft and Bungie, MIT hackers adorned the John P. Harvard statue, in Harvard Yard, with a Spartan helmet. The back of the helmet, which is worn by the protagonist of the game, Master Chief, was labeled with “Master Chief in Training.” The statue was decorated with an assault rifle (bullet count of 2E), as well as a Beaver emblem on the right shoulder. –The Tech
According to gameIndustry.biz: “The NPD Group has released the US hardware and software sales figures for August 2007, with EA’s Madden NFL ‘08 dominating the charts.The Xbox 360 version of the game was number one, with 896,600 units sold, followed by the PlayStation 2 version, with 643,600 units sold. The PlayStation 3 version of the game sold 336,200 units, which was good enough for fourth place overall.
The Wii, Xbox, and PSP versions of Madden NFL ‘08 were in eleventh, twelfth, and eighteenth place, respectively.
Bioshock, which is atop the charts in other countries, came in third with 490,900 units sold.
Three Wii games–Wii Play, Metroid Prime 3, and Mario Strikers: Charged–took the fifth, sixth, and seventh positions on the charts. Mario Party 8, also for the Wii, was in the ninth spot. (more…)
According to 1UP.com, the Nintendo Wii just overtook Microsoft’s XBOX360 in global console sales. The sales figures are as follows…
Wii: 9,000,000
XBOX360: 8,900,000
PS3: 3,700,000
Will Halo 3 be the savior that Bungie hopes it will be or will the Wii continue to dominate the console market? It will be interesting to see if Nintendo can increase its lead with the impending releases of Wii Fit, Super Mario Galaxy, and the end of its ever so frustrating production shortages…
