It's official: 'Halo 3' Registers Biggest Day in US Entertainment Hist Options

[Xbox-Scene]

It's official: 'Halo 3' Registers Biggest Day in US Entertainment History Posted by XanTium | September 26 18:55 EST | News Category: Xbox360

From the press release: [QUOTE] 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." 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." 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. 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. [/QUOTE] Read the whole press release here.

[0794]

those numbers are absolutely incredible - especially for a video game to beat out every single US entertainment release in history!

even if you hate Halo and all it stands for, everyone can still stand in awe and respect of this monumental achievement!


...it was crazy to see that the Master Chief even was invited to close NASDAQ yesterday...

[mlmadmax]

Holy crap, although I did see this happening

This post has been edited by mlmadmax: Sep 26 2007, 11:53 PM

[prplehz]

Way to go! That is a very impresive achievment I must say. Now that ms made all that money they should just give us our damn homebrew access!!!! LMAO. Ya Right I know..

[TheIrishLad]

I propose a national holiday. It can be called "Halo Day".

[Tiuk]

Very impressive, indeed.

As a side note, does anyone find it interesting that the Eastern half of the US seems to have a way higher concentration of Halo 3 players than the Western half, according to the map that the game shows when you go to play MP?

On launch night I thought this was just because Eastern timezones got the game earlier, but even today it still seems to be the case.

This post has been edited by Tiuk: Sep 27 2007, 12:19 AM

[Chance_P]

think of the ppsm on the east coast and opposed to the west coast (people per square mile)

[cyberg4]

Very impressive, indeed.

As a side note, does anyone find it interesting that the Eastern half of the US seems to have a way higher concentration of Halo 3 players than the Western half, according to the map that the game shows when you go to play MP?

On launch night I thought this was just because Eastern timezones got the game earlier, but even today it still seems to be the case.

I wasn't too sure if that was a live map that would change according to who is playing. however the eastern portion of North America is much more densely populated than the west an mage taken from space will show you that as well.

just out of curiosity does anyone know internationally how Halo ranks as a media release? mainly if anyone knew how much Harry Potter 7 raked in in it's first 24 hours (I am assuming that would be the largest internationally)

[dvsone]

just out of curiosity does anyone know internationally how Halo ranks as a media release? mainly if anyone knew how much Harry Potter 7 raked in in it's first 24 hours (I am assuming that would be the largest internationally)

I definitely don't think it ranks as highly, it still does pretty well.

Here's the break down of the Halo 2 install base:



Source: http://vgchartz.com/games/game.php?id=940

[Kharoof]

am i the only one that just doesn't find it as impressive as they make it sound?

I mean come on, each copy is 60/70/100$ or whatever the prices, you can't compare them to launches of movies or books, where the price of a ticket is 5$ or 15$ for a book, of course the numbers are gonna look incredible at the price it's selling.

I dunno but i just don't find it that much more impressive when you look at it that way, and comparing it to other media is just a cheap shot especially compared to movies or books.

don't get me wrong the game is great and loved every minute of the sinlge player so far, just sales wise, i think it's over hyped.

sure it sold a lot, no doubt.

[yourM0M]

I propose a national holiday. It can be called "Halo Day".

thats the exact reason i wrote on the calendar in the office at my work yesterday when i requested the day off months ago....lol

9/25 Halo Day

am i the only one that just doesn't find it as impressive as they make it sound?

its just the fact of "sales", doesnt matter how much the items were worth.....less amount of ppl parted with alot larger amount of cash

[dvsone]

am i the only one that just doesn't find it as impressive as they make it sound?

I mean come on, each copy is 60/70/100$ or whatever the prices, you can't compare them to launches of movies or books, where the price of a ticket is 5$ or 15$ for a book, of course the numbers are gonna look incredible at the price it's selling.

I dunno but i just don't find it that much more impressive when you look at it that way, and comparing it to other media is just a cheap shot especially compared to movies or books.

don't get me wrong the game is great and loved every minute of the sinlge player so far, just sales wise, i think it's over hyped.

sure it sold a lot, no doubt.

Yeah I've heard a few people say this and it's a valid point. But all movies and book launches judge there success on gross volume, why should a game launch be any different?

Also consider that overall Halo 3 only cost 60 million to make and promote and movie titles can cost 200 million+ to make and promote it makes a big difference when you look at profits. So it's the highest grossing, maybe the highest profiting entertainment launch, just not the biggest in terms of units sold.

This post has been edited by dvsone: Sep 27 2007, 02:36 AM

[Kharoof]

not exactly what i meant, i meant that if you put the movie prices and the book prices at the same price as the games are, it would be like putting H3 next to the eiffel tower, not even close to being a comparison.

i'm just commenting on their touting of the 174M$ it made in the first day , that's what i'm saying. if i'm not mistaking Spiderman3 made over 300M$ in it's first week-end, if you count the units sold and shift the price to the price to that of a game (or vice versa, the game at the price of a movie ticket per unit), where would H3 stand then?

but that's what marketting is all about, playing with numbers.

This post has been edited by Kharoof: Sep 27 2007, 02:37 AM

[BasicAir]

Um, you do have a point since the game costs more than a movie ticket, but here's where that idea is flawed:

Let's say, for the sake of argument, that a movie ticket cost $50. Do you think Harry Potter movies would still get as much money in sales then? I doubt it.

If you look at it like that, then you'll see that it's incredibly stunning that Halo 3 can generate that much money.

The bottom line is that consumers parted with more money for the entertainment product called "Halo 3" than any other entertainment product in history --- Within the first 24 hours.

Let's say for the sake of argument that movie tickets are $20 and video games are only $20. Halo 3 would still have generated more money in the first 24 hours and I guarantee it. So the fact that video games are more expensive than a book, cd, dvd, etc. is a moot point and intelligent people like myself will realize that.

[BasicAir]

BTW you can view the live map of Halo 3 players here:

http://www.bungie.net/Stats/Halo3/Nightmap.ashx

This post has been edited by BasicAir: Sep 27 2007, 03:44 AM