News Blog

Halo 3, the much-anticipated Xbox 360 game that launched Tuesday, set the all-time record for most revenue earned in a single day by any entertainment property, Microsoft said Wednesday.

The company said that Halo 3, the third and final episode in the hugely popular franchise, netted $170 million in sales in the U.S. in its first day. If true, that would top previous records set by the motion pictures Spider Man 3 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

There's little doubt Microsoft has been pinning a great deal of hope on Halo 3 and was expecting it to be the must-have game for the Xbox 360, much as the original Halo was for the original Xbox when it came out in 2001. The theory is that many consumers will buy Xbox 360s to play the new game, though only time will tell if that is true. Microsoft did not release any new figures on immediate Xbox sales.

Judging by initial reviews, the game is being very well received critically, in addition to racking up the big bucks.

According to Microsoft, more than a million players have logged on to Xbox Live to play the multiplayer version of the new game, since it came out and all told, it has garnered more than 1.7 million preorders.

The game sells for $59.99.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--For the marketing folks at Microsoft and at its Bungie video game studio, the next 19 minutes will be some of the most meaningful of their careers.

That's because, at 9 p.m. Pacific, midnight eastern, it officially becomes Halo 3's world.

It wasn't just kids playing Halo 3 at the pre-launch event at Microsoft's Silicon Valley campus Monday night.

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET Networks)

Since the launch of the Xbox 360 in November 2005, everyone has been waiting for this: the one great game that will define the next-generation console era.

And even though I'm here, at Microsoft's Silicon Valley campus, where the software giant is hosting a pre-launch event for developers, investors and other "tech influencers," I can almost feel the palpable tension in Microsoft Nation.

But for the players who are crowded around the many big-screen TVs here, pounding away at their Xbox controllers while they compete in the Halo 3 tournament that's going on, as well as for others in attendance here, the question of whether this much-anticipated game will be all it can be is not quite as important. To them, it's just another game.

For example, famous blogger Robert Scoble was overheard responding to the question of whether he was a Halo player by responding, "I'm not that much of a gamer...My son plays."

Not far away a little while later, however, some real gamers were engaging in a bit of trash talk.

"I'm very proud of killing their whole team before they pick up their controllers," one player said with a huge grin. "That's strategy."

And while nearly everyone here for the pre-launch event was an adult, there was a small collection of kids on hand, clearly just as excited to be part of this as anyone.

"Can we play?" one kid yelled out as he and a friend discovered a TV and Xbox set up with no one playing. "Can we play?"

But perhaps my favorite overheard comment of the evening came downstairs, in the cafeteria, where a DJ is spinning tunes and gamers and others are munching on free food and downing free beer and Halo 3-branded cans of soda.

Suddenly, over the loudspeaker, the disembodied voice of the DJ came on, ostensibly to announce the next round of the tournament. And then, in a low voice, almost a whisper, the male voice said, "Microsoft is good. Google is bad...Microsoft good. Microsoft good."

Welcome to the Halo 3 era.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--The sounds of machine-gun fire is everywhere, coming in waves from all around me.

But this is Silicon Valley, not Iraq, and this war is just in the Halo 3 universe.

In a big conference room at Microsoft's Silicon Valley campus, 21 large flat-screen TVs are set up in pods of three, allowing up to 84 people at a time to play 'Halo 3.'

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET Networks)

I'm at the Halo 3 launch event that Microsoft is hosting here at its Silicon Valley campus, and I'm in a room that to some hard-core gamers might be heaven.

That's because there are 21 large Insignia flat-screen TVs spread around the room in seven three-TV pods. And each screen is divided among four Halo 3 boxes. That means that in this one room, there are 84 people eagerly playing this hot new video game.

As the minutes wind down until 7:30 p.m., when tournament play officially begins, the 84 or so players are just firing away, having a great time, trying to get in a last few minutes of practice before they put their newfound skills to the test.

And do the players really understand this game? Well, despite the fact that it's brand-new, it is the third iteration in one of the most popular franchises in video game history. Still, it is a new game, and there are clearly some here who don't quite get how it all works.

"Are we winning?" one player yelled as he fired away. "Oh, yeah, we're owning."

I really want to type that he said, "Oh, yeah, we're Pwning," but, well, he didn't.

Finally, 7:30 came, and someone from Microsoft stepped up to a microphone to announce the beginning of tournament play.

"OK, everyone," the man belted out, "Stop the death and wanton destruction, and step away from the consoles."

Microsoft hosted a Halo 3 pre-launch party for an invite-only group of gamers, investors and other 'tech influencers.'

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET Networks)

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--With thousands of Halo fans lined up for midnight madness events in cities around the country, you might wonder why Microsoft is hosting a pre-launch event at its Silicon Valley campus here just hours before.

Well, according to Doug Free, the company's Silicon Valley public relations director, it's a chance to celebrate the developer community here and the theory that some of the most important coders in the region may also be serious gamers.

That was the concept, at least, behind planning this event--for which more than 700 people registered to attend.

"The whole idea was to invite the developer community, tech influencers and gamers," said Free, "to come and compete, see a preview (and) enjoy Halo 3."

But Free said the event is also a chance for Microsoft to showcase some of its new developer tools. As for whether a bunch of people in a Halo-induced frenzy want to mess around with development software is something I'll just have to answer later, as right now, all I can see around me is people interested in wolfing down food, quaffing free beer and--naturally--playing the much-anticipated game.

The rationale for the party, Free continued, was pretty straightforward: "We know (a lot of developers) are serious gamers, so why not have a Halo 3 party for developers in the Bay Area?"

The man of the hour: Jim 'Master Chief' Cush

(Credit: Caroline McCarthy/CNET Networks)

Leave it to Microsoft to turn the glitz factor up to eleven. The company that brought us interpretive dancers on bungee cords for its Vista operating system has brought in spotlights, prizes, NFL players, and rappers for the launch of Halo 3, the final installment of its hit first-person shooter trilogy, which launches at midnight on Tuesday.

They kind of need to do it. As Halo is a piece of software, not a harder-to-manufacture gaming console or handheld device, the way that Microsoft has drawn the crowds for this Xbox 360 release is with star power. If there weren't a high-profile launch event, fans could just nap until midnight and then stroll over to pick up a copy. Many of the almost exclusively male, almost exclusively under-25 queuers showed up either to meet other fans, or to be a part of the experience.

Throughout the evening, a host of local NFL players like Osi Umenyiora and Brandon Jacobs of the New York Giants and Leon Washington and Nick Mangold of the New York Jets have been showing up to play the new Halo game--behind the windows of the store, which closed to the public at 9 PM. Outside, the crowds have been picking up free t-shirts and inflatable goodies, yelling "Hi, Mom!" for the cameras from the cable networks G4 and Spike TV (both are broadcasting the launch), and sampling the Mountain Dew "Game Fuel" being handed out in plastic shot glasses. (For the record, it tastes like prescription cough medicine.)

Later in the evening, rappers Chingy and Ludacris (who was the guest of honor at Sony's PlayStation 3 launch last year) and R&B singer Bobby Valentino are scheduled to show up, too. But for now, the center of the photo ops is Jim Cush, an IT professional who is, for the night, the guy dressed up in the armor of Halo protagonist Master Chief.

When asked about the temperature inside his plastic suit of armor, Cush responded that it was "extremely hot. I've been trying to drink a lot of water and everything, but I'm trying not to drink too much so that I'd have to go to the bathroom." He'd apparently earned the gig through connections to some prominent Xbox Live folks, and said that the night had brought him "probably the craziest look form a woman I've ever got in my life."

But it's been a great evening, Cush insisted. "Everyone's pretty friendly," he explained. "Look at these guys," he said, gesturing toward the bubbly young crowds in line, who were waving around inflatable rods and glow sticks. "None of them knew each other before tonight." He's planning to join the crowds at midnight in obtaining the game.

It is, really, all about the experience.

Even at invite-only Halo 3 pre-launch events, there's waiting. No tents were needed, though.

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET Networks)

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--Right now, my colleague Caroline McCarthy is waiting, with the masses, in New York's Times Square. They're holding out for midnight when, at long last, the curtain will roll back on Halo 3, the latest iteration of one of the biggest video game franchises in history.

But, I'm here, in the heart of Silicon Valley, at Microsoft's campus here, and the small crowd here is waiting to get into the invite-only Halo 3 pre-launch event the software giant is hosting tonight.

Instead of thousands, there are dozens. But the anticipation on the faces of those in line is probably the same as those huddled up in New York, LA or Miami.

For me, there was a bit of a scare as it turned out I wasn't on the list to get in, but after a little bit of back and forth, the nice people at the entrance gave me the thumbs-up.

The emergence of a 'Halo 3' line on Monday afternoon outside a midtown Best Buy store.

(Credit: Caroline McCarthy/CNET Networks)

It doesn't hold a candle to the lengthy queue that assembled a few blocks north for Apple's iPhone in June, but a handful of New Yorkers decided to sacrifice a full day's work (and then some) to wait in line for Halo 3, the highly anticipated title for Microsoft's Xbox 360 that hits stores at midnight on Tuesday.

First in line at the Best Buy on Fifth Avenue and 44th Street, the official launch site for the city, is 28-year-old Uche Nwachukwu, a Web designer from the neighboring borough of Staten Island. "I want the experience," Nwachukwu told CNET News.com when asked why he chose to wait outside for the game rather than simply buying it on day one or preordering it. "I want to meet new people, maybe get some prizes."

Waiting in line for a highly anticipated product, it seems, has become the tech world's equivalent of visiting Mount Rushmore.

The stage display crammed into the Best Buy store.

(Credit: Caroline McCarthy/CNET Networks)

He'd been in line since about 6 p.m. ET on Sunday night and said that this was the longest amount of time he'd ever waited for something, but by no means the first time--Nwachukwu had queued up for the earlier Halo 2 release in November 2004 and the Xbox 360 system in May 2005.

"For Halo 2, I was out there at 11:00 the morning of (the release) and about the same time for the 360 as well," Nwachukwu said. "This is the first time I've waited overnight for something."

At about 2 p.m. ET, there were slightly more than a dozen people in line for the midnight release, but the Best Buy store was crammed with gawkers and curious shoppers who wanted to know why there was a massive stagelike contraption set up in one corner of the store. (It's for the broadcasts that the cable networks G4 and Spike TV will be holding later on Monday night.) The doors to the store close at 9 p.m. in anticipation of the launch, and then at midnight, the Master Chief shall rule Manhattan.

Or at least that's what the gamers hope.

While the main portion of the E3 Summit kicks off on Wednesday, Microsoft has fired the first shot in the always amusing press conference wars by hosting its annual event late Tuesday evening.

Master Chief, ready to finish the fight.

Packing journalists and analysts into a Santa Monica high school outdoor auditorium was an unusual choice, to be sure. The company put on their typical high-gloss presentation, which is traditionally the best stage-managed of the big three (the other two being Sony and Nintendo), which probably says more about the button-down Microsoft corporate culture than anything else. With a live band, smoke machines, and an actual man-made lake at the floor of the stage, it was a small taste of classic E3 excess.

Even though the Xbox 360 is the oldest current-generation game console on the market, Microsoft put its best foot forward, touting carefully parsed sales figures and the system's genuinely large software selection.

Microsoft VP Peter Moore led the audience through a series of slides showing the 360 hardware outselling the PS3 by a margin of two-to-one, and showing how the 380 is responsible for more game sales than the PS3 and Wii combined.

Most of the highlights concerned high-profile upcoming games, including:

Assassin's Creed: Buzz-heavy stealth/action game about a Crusades-era assassin.

Microsoft's Peter Moore and friends demo Rock Band.

All these titles are set for retail release by the end of 2007. Moore pointed to an industry prediction that Halo 3, along with the upcoming Grand Theft Auto IV and Madden 2008, could account for one-third of all holiday game sales. All three games will be available on 360, but only Halo 3 is a console exclusive.

On the hardware side, we saw the new Halo 3 edition Xbox 360, which seemed like a standard 20GB Xbox 360, done up in Spartan Green, the official Halo color. Also revealed was a new handheld controller with one giant button (and four small ones) that will come bundled with am Xbox version of the family-friendly board game Scene It? -- but the less said about that, the better (at least judging from the dead silence that greeted its announcement).

Reggie Bush demos Madden 2008.

Xbox Live, the most mature of the game console online platforms, has hit 7 million members and will include new downloadable content from Disney, starting immediately, plus further integration with Windows Live, allowing for cross-platform PC/Xbox play in select titles. So far, the PC version of Live has failed to excite PC gamers, who are generally aghast at paying for online multiplayer gaming--traditionally free for them.

As a final treat, Microsoft ran a short trailer for the only game featured that won't be available this year--Resident Evil 5, by Capcom, followed by an extended look at Halo 3, which inspired the best line we heard all night. As the Halo 3 slogan "Finish the Fight" flashed onscreen, one attendee, worn out from hours of sitting on a thin foam pad on the concrete bleachers, mumbled, "Finish the fight? How about finish the press conference?"

(Credit: GameStop)

We think it hardly compares with the "Simpsons" Xbox 360 as far as special editions are concerned, but Microsoft has come out with a promotional Halo 3 Zune, according to Engadget.

The company had said it would release the special 30GB media player next month, and GameStop is already taking pre-orders for a June 15 release at $250.

We'll get out our stopwatches to see how long it takes for them to show up on eBay.