Halo 3 Release Officialy Biggest Day In Entertainment History
Well, Halo 3 was being billed as the largest event in entertainment history since before it received its first pair of diapers. Now it has come to pass with $170 million dollars in sales in the first 24 hours. There was no doubt that the hype machine for this game was in high gear over 6 months ago and it only escalated up to the day of release. So far, numerous sites have given the game rave reviews and declared it as having lived up to the hype. Two friends that I am playing the co-op campaign with who don't really care for Halo or Halo 2 are having an absolute blast with the third installment. I will go on and say that my first impressions of the game are extremely positive. As I've said before, I'll withhold any further judgments and the review until the completion of this game.
Having said all that and offering you a glass of Kool-Aid, make the jump to read more.
Xbox 360 Exclusive “Halo 3” Registers Biggest Day in US Entertainment History with $170 Million in Sales
Microsoft today announced that the Xbox 360 exclusive game “Halo 3” has officially become the biggest entertainment launch in history, garnering an estimated $170 million in sales in the United States alone in the first 24 hours. The Xbox 360 title beat previous records set by blockbuster theatrical releases like “Spider-man 3” and novels such as “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.”
“Halo 3” is the conclusion to the epic trilogy and picks up where “Halo 2” left off, answering questions around the fates of the beloved protagonist Master Chief and his artificial intelligence sidekick Cortana as they struggle to save humankind from destruction at the hands of the alien coalition known as the Covenant. In addition to the rich storyline, “Halo 3” continues the franchise’s grand tradition of delivering innovative online multiplayer experiences via Xbox LIVE, the world’s largest social network on TV.
“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.”
Retailers have also expressed their excitement about the launch of “Halo 3.”
Bob McKenzie, Senior Vice President of Merchandising for GameStop Corp commented that, “With consumer demand for Halo 3 and related products, we expect it to be the biggest video game title generator in GameStop's history."
“The initial demand we’ve seen for ‘Halo 3’ has been astounding, and the game is on track to become the number one gaming title of all time. ‘Halo 3’ is a genuine entertainment phenomenon and our customers have responded very enthusiastically to the release,” said Jill Hamburger, vice president of movies and games at Best Buy.
Developed by Bungie Studios, the “Halo” franchise is exclusive to the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system and optimized for the Xbox LIVE® online entertainment network. The more than 7 million Xbox LIVE users will get a continually evolving gaming experience with “Halo 3.” Its online multiplayer and cooperative gameplay for Xbox LIVE Gold users, the much-talked-about Saved Films feature that enables players to capture and save their favorite moments on their hard drives, and Forge, an innovative map editor that enables infinite customization options are just some of the new features to experience.
More than 10,000 retailers hosted Midnight Madness events to celebrate the launch of this third installment in the billion-dollar franchise. In New York, Seattle, Miami and Los Angeles, Microsoft and retail partners hosted marquee launch events that featured contests and appearances by local celebrities and professional athletes who are fanatical about the “Halo” franchise, including Ludacris and Zac Efron and Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates.
More than 1.7 million copies of “Halo 3” were preordered in the United States before a single store opened its doors at midnight, Sept. 25, making this the fasting pre-selling game in history, surpassing the previous record-setting pre-sales of “Halo 2.” Well beyond just a U.S. phenomenon, the launch of “Halo 3” was a worldwide celebration that released in 37 countries and available in 17 languages.
Super Timsy
Posted to Video Games on 26 September 2007
· Comments (3)
Other stuff like this: Bungie, Entertainment Industry, Halo 3, Media, Microsoft, Xbox 360
this is, of course, easy to do when the base price for your product is 60 bucks, and you also have a 70 dollar version, and then (because you know you have those kind of fans) a preposterous gigantic 130 dollar version.
harry potter may have only made 166 million or so (an estimate on my part), but it also sold 8.3 million copies in the first day. if we take microsoft's numbers as true, then even if everyone who bought halo3 bought the cheapest version, that's still only 2.8 million copies or so.
what i mean to say is: good on 'em, but let's not let the spin get too far out of control.
Wow! A pro-Halo post! I think there's hope for GG yet... :)
I've always been pro-Halo and have very much enjoyed all 3 games! It's just that it looks like I'm the only one.