Halo 3 registers Biggest Day in US Entertainment history, tour announced

[Phoenix Dark]

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.

http://majornelson.com/archive/2007/09/26/it-s-official-quot-halo-3-quot-registers-biggest-day-in-us-entertainment-history.aspx

The Xbox 360's hardware numbers should be very interesting this month. I wonder how many people bought a 360 within the last few weeks solely for this title. The transition from GBA to DS was pretty evident when Pokemon Diamond/Pearl came out, and I wonder who's gonna do the transitioning here.

THOUGHTS

[The Fake Shemp]

Not a lot of folks are buying new hardware, but you can't find a used or refurb Xbox 360 in the ENTIRE San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose area to save your life.

[Phoenix Dark]

Interesting. The August NPD showed a big 360 jump, but then again that was more likely due to the pricecut than Halo 3's upcoming release.

Now the challenge will be to keep this momentum through the holidays and into 2008; the Wii will most likely dominate but I could see the 360 coming within reach, especially since it'll be stocked very well

[MrAngryFace]

Refurb units are actually a better buy cause someone REALLY looked at em. I think Halo 3 probably sold a few systems, but I am sure most people who got Halo 3 bought their 360s at launch or a little later because of Halo 3.

What will the Wii dominate with, other than being the Wii? Smash Brothers? Srsly.

[The Sceneman]

ummm cool, I guess. Hopefully we'll see the same kind of hysteria when No More Heroes comes out

[MrAngryFace]

A lot of sales can be attributed to good marketing. Sure, it wasnt as clever as most of the marketing for Halo 2, but I was chugging what was practically Halo Brand Soda at one point lol

[The Sceneman]

Man Im so keen to try Game Fuel, might make grinding in DDS easier

[Phoenix Dark]

Why? It's disgusting and shows the consumer whore nature of many, in this case gamers who feel the need to drink "gamer fuel" just because

[MrAngryFace]

im a consumer whore

[Phoenix Dark]

im a consumer whore

lemme sell you some BONES orange juice - with mystery epithials in every gallon

[bud]

if halo 3 doesn't sell a shitload of 360's then nothing will.

[MrAngryFace]

Holy shit i'd SO drink BONES orange juice

[Oblivion]

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.

lol what?

[MrAngryFace]

That's PR Speak for 'We're AWESOME WOOO WHERE'S THE KEG?!?!?"

[border]

Not a lot of folks are buying new hardware, but you can't find a used or refurb Xbox 360 in the ENTIRE San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose area to save your life.

That's just because they all die before making it to the aftermarket.  *rimshot*

Refurb units are actually a better buy cause someone REALLY looked at em.

Really?  Should I buy a Gamer's EDGE card too?

[Bloodwake]

Fuck you PD

Game Fuel tastes awesome.

[Mupepe]

Jill Hamburger

There is actually someone named Jill Hamburger???  Is she like the upgraded version of "You were almost a Jill Sandwich"?

[T234]

Fuck you PD

Game Fuel tastes awesome.

What does it taste like, fellow angsty Kentuckian?

[Bloodwake]

Fuck you PD

Game Fuel tastes awesome.

What does it taste like, fellow angsty Kentuckian?

It tastes like Code Red except more cherryish and less strawberryish.

You can also taste the caffeine, due to how they overloaded the beverage with it. Good stuff. I've been through 10 or 11 12 packs of the stuff since it came out.

[T234]

To tell the truth I have never had a Code Red. I hate cherry pop, but GARANFUCKINTEED I'll like it better than Dr. Pepper

[CajoleJuice]

I'm just going to reiterate my sentiment that Game Fuel blows.

[Gay Boy]

Interesting. The August NPD showed a big 360 jump, but then again that was more likely due to the pricecut than Halo 3's upcoming release.

Now the challenge will be to keep this momentum through the holidays and into 2008; the Wii will most likely dominate but I could see the 360 coming within reach, especially since it'll be stocked very well

Wii will consistently be at least 100k if not more ahead of 360 in all the months this holiday season lets not delude ourselves here.

[Saint Cornelius]

What will the Wii dominate with, other than being the Wii?

It hasn't needed more than that the entire time it's been kicking all the other consoles' asses, has it?

[MrAngryFace]

Which says something pretty sad about the state of gaming. You cant spin a console without more than a few games, its just..kinda sad

[Saint Cornelius]

roll-fucking-eyes

look, until the games you want to play - THE RTSes, the japafaggy princess simulators, all that shit - until they're not being released anymore, all the bitching you do about the Wii is just some real asshurt nerdlinger catching feelings shit.

[MrAngryFace]

So do you like the cooking simulators? Is that your bag?

[demi]

Uh don't knock the Wii dude, there has been a nice lineup in the past few days





Tell me that doesn't scream holiday blockbuster

[Saint Cornelius]

So do you like the cooking simulators? Is that your bag?

As much as you like the princess sims and spending every night alone, Mister Angry Pants.