SEPT. 26, 2007 • In 24 hours, Microsoft’s Halo 3 sales exceeded $170 million in the United States. The tally bested Spider-Man 3’s previously leading $151 million, making Halo 3 the highest grossing launch day in entertainment history. Halo 2 saw sales of $125 million on its first day on sale. After one week on sale, Microsoft said U.S. retailers had reported Halo 3 sales of more than $300 million, and that Xbox 360 console sales for the week had nearly tripled compared to weekly sales before the game was released. In addition, more than 2.7 million people have logged on to Xbox Live to play Halo 3 against other gamers, logging 40 million hours of online gameplay. Marring an otherwise stellar launch were wide reports that he metal case for the $69.95 Limited Edition SKU was so  badly designed that the Halo 3 game disc inside was prone to come off its spindle support during shipping. Although Microsoft said the resulting scratched discs were usually playable, the company set up a special free exchange program for that SKU through Dec. 31.

Impact: Halo 3 fulfilled our expectations. Given the huge take of Halo 2, and the quality of Bungie’s work, $170 million in 24 hours is right on the mark for this franchise. The more critical question is whether the game can fuel Xbox 360 hardware sales in the weeks ahead. If so, then Halo 3 will be the win Microsoft needs to expand the platform in the face of serious competition. If not, then Microsoft remains on the hook to find more ways to attract more consumers to the platform. After waiting too long to acknowledge the 360’s overheating problems, it’s good to see the company respond so quickly to alleviate the results of ill-thought-out Halo 3 packaging. This proves Microsoft can adjust swiftly to problems when it wants to.