14 DAY TRIAL // The release of what Microsoft referred to as a global entertainment phenomenon has managed to explode sales of its Xbox 360 consoles. The combined market performances of Halo 3 and Nintendo's Wii console have contributed to a 75% jump in sales of video gaming hardware and software in the U.S. According to market research firm NPD, gaming related sales passed the $1.3 billion milestone in September, increasing from $779 million the previous month. NPD indicated that Microsoft's claims revealing Halo 3's impact as a new standard of interactive entertainment were justified, as the title pushed in excess of 3.3 million copies in its first month. In this context, the following nine games combined, in the top 10 selling titles, account for a little over half of Halo 3's sales.
The latest version of the Halo franchise was a catalyst for the sales of Xbox 360. Piggyback riding on the immense success of Halo 3, Microsoft sold approximately 528,000 consoles. The fact of the matter is that the third installment of Microsoft's Halo flagship franchise - Halo 3, put Xbox 360 well ahead of Nintendo's Wii. But Wii, even without a Halo of its own, still managed to sell 501,000 consoles in the U.S. just in September.
This means that overall, Nintendo pushed over four million consoles, with Microsoft not far behind at almost 3.5 million and with Sony's PlayStation 3 at just over 1.7 million. In this regard, the truly remarkable results are those of Wii, launched in November 2006, almost concomitantly with the PS3, while Xbox 360 has been available since 2005. PS2 delivered a poor performance in comparison with its rivals selling only 119,000 items in September. Still, Microsoft's official position is that it's not all about Halo 3. In fact, it would be dangerous for Microsoft's Xbox 360 to become associated with a single game, when the content available for the console is much richer. But this does not deny the fact that Xbox 360 is currently ridding the Halo 3 wave to perfection...