Looking back at everything, it's hard to imagine that Microsoft bought Bungie for only $50 million.
One can only imagine whats the next big game will be now that the trilogy is over. Whatever it will be, it's going to have to have a really good multiplayer aspect. How good? Good enough to have nearly five million matches, 1.2 million playing the co-op and about 403 million enemies killed all within the first 24 hours of the games release. It's going to be interesting to see the spike in Gold accounts sales over the next week or so (after the Best Buy promotion is over and the free 48 hours of live that came with the standard edition of the game are used up of course).
Also, if you're interested in seeing constantly updated stats of say, how many Grunts have been killed, Scarabs destroyed, Flood creatures killed and pretty much every single kill stat there is, then head on over to Bungie. They also have a real time world map showing where the Halos are being played. It looks like only one person in Africa is playing at this moment.
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.
Contest:
9:38 PM on 09.26.2007
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See?
Hearts,
Tron Knotts
Our daily average? $1-2k.
Well it IS better than Bioshock... WHAT?
damn j00 blue dragon, skate, and eternal sonata
Bullllllshit
I mean check it, even those submarine motherfuckers are playing this on live. 8) http://www.bungie.net/online/default.aspx
Shit.
So you'd say Halo 3 would be better than Super Mario 64, all the Final Fantasy any Zelda etc etc.
Even if everyone is playing the game, it does not mean in any way that it is the best game of all time. Look at World of Warcraft, it has 9 million users! Is it the best game of all time? Of course not.
DO YOU GET IT???! HAHA!
Besides, the only good FF was FF6 and Twilight Princess was lame. And you know... none of those games anything in common with Halo 3's strong multiplayer approach. Atleast compare it to a shooter of some sort. It's rather hard to compare the merits of an RPG to a shooter, no?
He could've just said instead "...game is on track to become the number one BEST SELLING gaming title of all time.", but he did not because he knows nothing about videogames. He only sees sales and wow that must mean it's TAH BEST EVAR!!111
I'll fight for Halo 3 being the best multiplayer FPS though. Fuckin' awesome online setup Bungie have got going there.
I'm say the generalised this even more for, there for it sucks that much more ass then Halo 2.
Definitely great news for Bungie as it'll help draw more interest in something they've worked so hard on.
(I'm also have a blast with the game)
Yeah. A decent ending? WTF?!
Final Fantasy sucks and you have an anime avatar, shut the fuck up!
No, I jest. Sort of. I say Final Fantasy is boring loner gaming, but that's just me. Turn based RPGs are gay. It's all about action RPGs, baby.
Master Chief's take-home pay isn't expected to be as lucrative. The game may sell as many as 10 million copies at an average retail price of $70 for a total of $700 million in sales, said Colin Sebastian, an analyst with Lazard Capital Markets. Of that, Microsoft will get about 80%, or $560 million."
Source
Look... I'm all for a rise in video game sales and market penetration, but you can't brag because you beat movie sales... Not to mention it's a much bigger deal to get a game on release day than to see a movie.
Compare $60-120 a pop for Halo 3 to ~$10 a pop for a Spider Man 3 ticket, or $20-30 for the DVD... Apples and oranges much?
Yeah...so when the thank you message popped up, I didn't realize the credits were about to roll.
...I went back and finished that last sequence again, and waited...the ending was very tasteful, and a good way to wrap up this chapter.
The game has it's wow moments. The dual Scarab fight was my favorite by far.
The toy market for video games is still lame at best, with Todd McFarlane controlling the market with nothing but collectors items that are merely show pieces.
We can start getting nuts when we have replica laser swords next to my power ranger toys at TRU.
Terrible games don't make this much money. Stop thinking your opinion is the only one out there.
Love and kisses,
MechaMonkey