By Agence France-Presse
SAN FRANCISCO–Sales of exclusive Xbox 360 video game Halo 3 rocketed to $170 million on opening day, marking a historic debut that outdid the final Harry Potter novel and the film “Spiderman 3.”
Microsoft confirmed on Thursday that the third installment in the Halo game trilogy had the highest grossing launch day in entertainment history after going on sale in the United States at midnight on Monday.
“Halo 3 has become a pop culture phenomenon,” said Microsoft Game Studios vice president Shane Kim.
Gartner analyst Van Baker expects blockbuster Halo 3 sales to give Microsoft an edge in the video game console battle with Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo’s Wii.
Baker predicted that thanks to Halo 3, Microsoft will sell 500,000 to a million more Xbox 360 consoles than it normally would have in the coming year.
“Everybody that plays it says it is just a kick-ass game,” Baker told AFP.
“And 170 million bucks in the first 24 hours is pretty impressive. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Xbox 360 spank (Nintendo’s) Wii in unit volume in October and November.”
Halo 3 is the conclusion of a video game trilogy in which futuristic warrior Master Chief and an artificial intelligence sidekick defend humanity from annihilation by an alien coalition called the Covenant.
Halo 3 fans can play together online via an Xbox Live feature which was used by more than a million people playing the game on its first day.
“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,” said Best Buy vice president of movies and games Jill Hamburger.
Opening day Halo 3 sales were tarnished by reports of shoddy packaging that scratched new game discs. Microsoft announced it would replace the damaged discs free.
