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Software Halo 3 Rakes in $170 Million on Day One
Marcus Yam (Blog) - September 26, 2007 6:33 PM
Print E-mail del.icio.us 92 comment(s) - last by Icelight.. on Oct 1 at 4:05 PM
Microsoft calls Halo 3 launch "Biggest Day in US Entertainment History"

Microsoft boasted long before the release of Halo 3 that September 25 would play host to the biggest videogame launch in history, and now it has the numbers to back up that claim.

A press release from Microsoft states that Halo 3 has generated $170 million within the first 24 hours of Halo 3’s availability in the U.S. alone. The impressive day one sales make Halo 3 a bigger launch day than the Spider-Man 3 film and the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows novel – though that may be attributed to Halo 3’s higher average selling price compared to a box office ticket or book.

Microsoft also included a free 48-hour trial with every copy of Halo 3, which is likely a driving factor behind September 25 being the busiest day in Xbox Live history. One million Halo 3 players logged onto Xbox Live to play either cooperatively or competitively.

"Halo 3 has become a pop-culture phenomenon," said Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios. "Not only is Halo 3 setting sales records, it's also redefining entertainment... Within the first 20 hours alone, we've seen more than a million Xbox Live members come online to play Halo 3 - that makes September 25 the most active Xbox Live gaming day in history."

Halo 3’s out-of-the-gate success could be attributed to the wide availability of the title immediately at launch. More than 10,000 retailers hosted midnight events to celebrate the launch of this third installment in the billion-dollar franchise. Non-conventional retail locations such as the 7-11 convenience store chain also sold Halo 3, along with appropriately themed Slurpee cups.

Some of the $170 million were assured even before the game launched. More than 1.7 million copies of Halo 3 were pre-ordered in the U.S. before a single store opened its doors at midnight, helping to make it the fasting pre-selling game in history.

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Jeez
By Shortass on 9/26/2007 6:40:57 PM , Rating: 2
I hope for their sake it's better than Halo 2...




RE: Jeez
By Brandon Hill (blog) on 9/26/2007 6:42:37 PM , Rating: 2
From all the reviews that I've read, it appears to be. Almost makes me wish that I hadn't sold my Xbox 360...

Maybe I'll jump back into the fray once Falcon hits store shelves


RE: Jeez
By Marcus Yam on 9/26/2007 6:58:35 PM , Rating: 3
So... did you play BioShock on PC? Because really, Halo 3 isn't the only reason to own a 360 right now.


RE: Jeez
By daftrok on 9/26/07, Rating: 0
RE: Jeez
By daftrok on 9/26/2007 7:40:34 PM , Rating: 1
..and rumble.


RE: Jeez
By afkrotch on 9/26/2007 7:59:22 PM , Rating: 2
xbox 360 controllers work on pc.


RE: Jeez
By Hemipower on 9/27/2007 4:59:41 PM , Rating: 2
I would agree that pc's are superior to any other gaming device out there, but I believe you are missing out on a lot of fun just to save 300 dollars. The 360 is a steal at the price for what you get, not like the wii which is a gamecube ($50) with a motion controller.

The only reason to buy a wii is the games not the hardware, and I think that is a cheap move by nintendo to not upgrade the system further. Hell I think the ds has better graphics.

Anyways I know that if I had to chose between waiting 2 years and saving 300 dollars to play a game or just spending the 300 dollars and getting the game, I am going to spend the 300 dollars. Besides that, to get better graphics than the 360 you would have to spend a lot more money on the pc. Notice that I said a BETTER picture not a comparable picture. Oh and you can take the 360 with you to work or wherever your going. Try that with the tower, monitor, mouse, keyboard etc.

Oh and your going to have to buy a 600 dollar monitor that is only going to be used to play games. Where for a console you could get a nice 42" 1080p for like 1000 and use it to play games and watch movies and HD sports games, it doesn't get better than that!

This is coming from someone with a WII, Ps3, Silver Ps2, DS, 360 (6th one so far, but only spent the original 400) and a 1500 dollar pc (including 20" 1680x1050 monitor). Oh yea and a 61" 1080p tv. So basically everything has its reason to be bought. I don't agree with anyone that says, "why did you buy that you could get this and have more games" or "don't play that on a console wait to get it on the pc" or "why did you spend so much money on a pc, you could have bought a 360 and ps3 with that"


RE: Jeez
By clovell on 9/27/2007 5:20:11 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
wii which is a gamecube ($50) with a motion controller.

The Wii has double the clockspeed of the Gamecube. It shares an architecture, but it's hardly the same. And, the only reason to buy any console is the games.


RE: Jeez
By Icelight on 10/1/2007 4:05:31 PM , Rating: 2
That it may, but tell the developers that. It's still fairly rare to see a Wii game that looks as good as Rogue Squadron 2...a Gamecube launch title


RE: Jeez
By SavagePotato on 9/26/2007 7:44:58 PM , Rating: 1
How about not writing so much? Asstard! Learn to paragraph....


RE: Jeez
By SiliconAddict on 9/27/2007 1:47:37 AM , Rating: 1
What? Reading taxing your brain beyond its capabilities? I guess he should have used text speak. God forbid you actually read.


RE: Jeez
By Legionosh on 9/27/2007 9:42:26 AM , Rating: 4
I disagree with you SiliconAddict.

I OFTEN write lengthy posts here (and on various other sites as well), but I use paragraphs to make it easier on everyone who is interested in reading what I have to say. What he wrote, while it may or may not have been punctuated correctly, looks basically like a jumbled mess with punctuation scattered throughout.

If a book was written like that, or even a web page, I wouldn't be interested in reading it. Not many people would. Paragraphs are usually used to show a change in an idea or train of thought...or at the VERY least to not have a 5,000 word long paragraph that looks like the one above.

Reading is one thing. We do it all the time, and I read (and write) lengthy posts quite often, but it is harder to comprehend something written like that than something written the way it should be, sectioned and paragraphed.

The only thing worse are the guys who write just as much but don't use punctuation of ANY kind. It was invented for a reason..

..but you'll probably say it's my fault if I can't comprehend what the person was trying to say. I would say that person is either A) too lazy to use punctuation or B) doesn't KNOW how to use to use it so they don't bother.

(There is always option C) it's just cool NOT to use punctuation. Using it makes you look like a dork or whatever..so if using punctuation and paragraphs makes me looks intelligent, I'll ALWAYS opt for that thank you very much.)

Personally, I'd rather someone UNDERSTAND what I am trying to say easily without question, rather than someone thinking I am cool because I can use 377t speak.

Now, WHAT was your point again?

Kevin

legionosh@msn.com


RE: Jeez
By Misty Dingos on 9/27/2007 2:58:27 PM , Rating: 2
The burden of communication is on the person writing the missive. Not on the person reading the document.

Poor communication skills are a sign of ineptitude or laziness.

Name calling and overtly emotional outbursts are simply childish.

I myself skipped over the post in question because it bore many of the hallmarks of poor communication skills. No paragraph structure. No opening statement. No closing argument.

If we think before we write or speak more people will listen to us with an open mind. Also if we think before we communicate the chance that we will make an ass of ourselves is greatly reduced.

I looked up your rating. Perhaps you could benefit from engaging your brain before your emotions. daftrock seems to be similarly handicapped. If you provoke emotion and not thought you relegate yourself to the background noise.

You will note that my message here seems to be arrogant and condescending. It was meant to be that way. I knew what emotion I wanted to provoke in you. And by communicating in the way that I did I am hopefully successful in that endeavor.


RE: Jeez
By Legionosh on 9/27/2007 4:17:49 PM , Rating: 2
Misty Dingos..

...who exactly was your comment towards..me?

If not, it would've been nice had you clarified to who you were speaking.

If it was meant towards me I am at a loss, since my posts are usually (for the most part anyway) generally well written and convey the message I am try to get across VERY well. I very rarely have "emotional" posts as you put it, unless someone is getting on my bad side for no reason (like the recent negative because it was a long post. Not poorly written, not fanboyish, nothing that should get a post lowered. It was simply too long, and I got ragged on for it AND got my rating lowered.)

You said you checked my ratings..did you actually READ any of what I'd written? Do I write award winning posts? No, but I think my low ratings were from people who couldn't counter my argument(s) and so they decided to lower my rating. I don't write "garbage", I don't blindly hate or flame anyone, and I at least make the attempt to use proper grammar, punctuation and sentence/paragraph structure...for the most part anyway.

(while my grammar definitely ISN'T 100% perfect, no one EVER complains that they can't understand my post(s), regardless of forum)

My posts tend to have more logic behind them than half the ones I read, here or anywhere, so your statement about me engaging my brain is definitely ill placed.

Again, if it wasn't meant to be towards me then please ignore this post.

I can't tell if your posts was meant to be demeaning or was used as an example of some sort..but since you say you were trying to "provoke" me I can only assume it is the former.

I would however like to know WHY you wanted to "provoke" me. Was it to show that you're smarter than I am? Was it to try and "make an example of me" for whatever reason?

Maybe you'll be kind enough to answer those questions..

..and lastly, if it wasn't meant towards me, maybe you should have been a little more clear in your post my friend.

Kevin

legionosh@msn.com


RE: Jeez
By damncrackmonkey on 9/27/2007 5:48:04 PM , Rating: 2
There's an easy way to tell who she was replying to. Just click the link that says "parent" or infer it from indentation or following the dashed lines leading from the post back to its parent.

You'll note that she was obviously replying to the same person you replied to. In fact, it's rather obvious that she wholeheartedly agreed with your post.


RE: Jeez
By Legionosh on 9/28/2007 9:31:40 AM , Rating: 2
..oops...my apologies.

(I wasn't aware you could do the whole parent thing. Reading her post most of it seemed she did agree with me. My fault 100% for not knowing about the whole parent thing)

Again, my apologies to Misty Dingo. :-)

Kevin

legionosh@msn.com


RE: Jeez
By fk49 on 9/26/2007 7:47:42 PM , Rating: 1
and geez, learn to use the Enter key


RE: Jeez
By augiem on 9/26/2007 8:38:18 PM , Rating: 2
Xbox always was basically a PC in a box. But I wish I had a 360 to play some of these more arcadey games rather than on my PC. The 360 just handles a lot of things better, including the fact that YOU DON"T HAVE TO INSTALL ANYTHING!!! Woot! That's a REAL hassle of PC gaming, IMO.

Plus, many times now that the 360 has become so big, the games are developed for 360 first and PC second -- and it shows. Look at Marvel Ultimate Alliance. 360 easily trounces PC version with all effects on. (The effects like real-time shadows are better on 360 and at a much faster framerate than a C2D oc/d 3.0GHz + 7950 OC). That's pretty impressive.