Halo 3 casts a spell with record-breaking debut

Halo 3, the hugely anticipated third chapter in the highly successful and critically acclaimed Halo franchise, has broken the U.S. sales record for a new video game by generating sales of more than US$170 million within 24 hours of its release, the company said late Wednesday.

Halo 3, which hit shelves on Tuesday (Sept. 25), rocketed to 170 million dollars on opening day, marking an historic debut that outdid the most popular Hollywood films like "Spiderman 3," and the final Harry Potter novel, as well.

The record-breaking sales of Halo 3, which runs on Microsoft's Xbox 360 console, easily surpassed the previous record setter, predecessor Halo 2, which brought in $125 million within 24-hours after its debut.

Overwhelmed with the surging first-day sales of Halo 3 Microsoft Game Studios vice president Shane Kim said, "Halo 3 has become a pop-culture phenomenon."

Besides shattering the first day sales of any entertainment product, the third installment in the "Halo" game trilogy has also broken industry records for pre-sales. US retailers received more than 1.7 million pre-orders for the game, Microsoft said.

In addition, more than one million gaming enthusiasts played the game online over Microsoft's Xbox Live system since its release on Tuesday, giving the software maker one more reason to celebrate the Halo 3 success.

Microsoft hopes the impressive debut of the first-person shooter video game Halo 3 would help the company boost sales of its Xbox 360 video game console, and strengthen its position in the surging gaming console market. Sales of Microsoft’s future-generation game and entertainment system fell 60% year-over-year in the fiscal fourth quarter.

Launched on November 22, 2005 in US, Xbox 360 represents a dramatic leap forward in high-definition gaming and entertainment experiences. Xbox 360 has ignited a new era of digital entertainment that is always connected, always personalized and always in high definition.

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 gaming console is facing tough competition from Nintendo’s Wii and Sony’s PlayStation 3 in the gaming consoles markets. The three biggies in gaming arena are locked in a fierce battle for dominance in the $13 billion U.S. video game market, and for the moment, Kyoto, western Japan-based Nintendo is leading all the way with its Wii video games console, the least expensive of the so-called next-generation consoles that costs US$250.

The Xbox 360 game, "Halo 3" stars Master Chief, who save mankind from the grip of Covenant rule. It comes in three versions – standard, costing $59.99; limited, costing $69.99; and legendary, costing $129.99.

Halo, the award-winning and critically acclaimed science fiction epic adventure packed with action, contains all the thrilling game-play and rich story that has made it a smash hit with gamers all over the world. Halo 1 & 2, both for the original Xbox console, brought in $700m for Microsoft by selling 14.2 million copies worldwide.