'Halo 3' Sells Record $170M in First Day

Explosive debut stands to boost Microsoft's Xbox 360 console

By Will McCahill, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 26, 2007 6:36 PM CDT

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'Halo 3' Sells Record $170M in First Day — In this photo provided by Microsoft Xbox, after waiting in line for more than 24 hours, Darnell Jefferson, right, and Uchendu Nwachukwu, second from right, react to receiving the first copies of the video game Halo 3 from the game's hero, Master Chief, at Best Buy in Manhattan, at midnight, Tuesday,... (Associated Press)

Microsoft's "Halo 3" lived up the hype, the Wall Street Journal reported today, bringing in an estimated $170 million on its first day of release to shatter the record set by its predecessor, "Halo 2." Analysts say the first-person shooter game should be a boon for sales of the Microsoft's Xbox 360, the only console compatible with the game. (Assuming those scratched disk problems remain limited.)

The Xbox 360, in competition with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii, could see a jump in sales from 277,000 in August to as many as 500,000 this month, one analyst said. The game—whose debut the analyst called "overwhelmingly impressive"—was also expected to pump up Microsoft's online service, Xbox Live, which allows players to compete over the internet. (More Halo 3 stories.)

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