That was so not funny...

I laughed...

which also happens to be the number of ps3's sold

So true. Anyway, I'm sure Harry potter beats this out.

Last book sold 11 million 1st day at $35 each is $385 million in one day.

Where are your math skills Joystiq?

Harry Potter 7 sold 11 million copies at 35$ each on the 1st day, earning $385 million dollars.....and thats not even counting the audio books.

oh, so NOW my 1st post shows up....now i look stupid.

Yeah, but books are often sold at 30%, 25% etc off (ay least at borders and B&N) so just multiplying by the suggested cost might not be accurate.

35 bucks for the harry potter book...i guess i got luck on amazon and paid 20 bucks.

I believe it was 120 million.

Over nine thousand.

Well, if you just took day one sales, they would probably be deep in the red

They easily spent 2x this revenue on advertising alone, but they'll net those returns back many times over (and not only in Halo 3, also in LIVE subscriptions, headsets, and other peripherals sold with it)

Actually, quite a few brands asked Microsoft to be part of the Halo marketing. Pepsico shelled out the money for Game Fuel, not Microsoft. I still doubt this will put them in the black, but Microsoft got a lot of cash from other companies wanting to ride the Halo train all the way to Moneytown.

Dude, M$ only spent 10mil on marketing for Halo 3, and if you include the actual production of the game including all costs it's around 60 mil. That means they game has already brought in 110 mil, 80% of which goes directly into Microsoft's pockets.
You seriously thinkthey spent over 300 million dollars to market a video game?

MS hasn't spent that much on advertising, which may be shocking to some. BK, Pontiac, and Pepsi all paid to ride the Halo train. They no doubt spent a few million making those short films and will spend more on commercials in the coming months.

But up until now, the vast majority of advertising has been from sites anywhere from msn to joystiq to fox news putting story after story up on a popular piece of our gaming culture.

How many commercials for the game have you seen on TV? I've seen more for Lost Planet, Gears, and Prime 3 in my day than for Halo 3. That's the honest truth. I bet they have spent 20 million advertising this thing and will spend another 10 or 20 in the coming months when they really hit the commercials with it.

"How many commercials for the game have you seen on TV?"

In five hours of TV I watched in the past week, I saw 17 commercials for Halo 3, including a 30 second tie-in to the NFL on CBS. At more than 3 per hour, I think that's a lot.

they'll break $350 million easy (~5 million copies if you take the specials and legendary editions) and may even $700 million by the twilight of the Xbox 360. Don't forget that Halo 2 sold over 7 million copies by the end of the original Xbox's life cycle. One thing's for sure... Bungie has just bank-rolled the next 3 years of development for what ever awesomeness they will think up next and MGS (Microsoft Games Studios) will be poised to take risker chances on creative titles. User generated content (especially with MGS) is also panning out to be a much more viable proposition. Many facets will benefit from this. Don't forget all this hype cost Microsoft $10 million because of very smart co-marketing efforts: This will usher a new way to market ESTABLISHED IPs. I also can't imagine how such deep market penetration doesn't grow the industry as well as the install base of the associated platforms. Halo 3 just isn't a win... it's a complete win for everyone involved from Bungie right down to me :)

it's not his lack of economics, its just joystiq's usual slant on MS stories

Woah, hello high school econ. That only works in simplified economics. There's this thing called utility. The value a customer gets out of a $60 is worth the entry price (30 - 50 hours at minimum versus a 2 hour movie).

So while it's still impressive due to the price, it's not really inexplicable. The whole point of advertising is to create that quality image.

I'll give you guys an example because apparently somebody's reading this.

Pet Rock, USD$4 in the 1970s
Wii USD$250 in 2006

Which has sold more? Price isn't the only thing that matters, obviously. Price does matter, as Sony is finding out, but what matters more is if your customers believe that the product is worth the price. Most gamers would hop at the chance to get a PS3 at $299 or even $399, but at $599 it doesn't feel worth it. At $10 a movie ticket, Harry Potter fans are going to see the movie whiles others may hold off for the $3 rental (or not see it at all).

My girlfriend says games are expensive. I say a typical game costs about $60 and I get 30-40 hours of play, $1.50 - $2 per hour. When I take her out to dinner, I spend $40 on an hour meal that I'm going to shit out in a few hours. So, what's more expensive here?

If you really study economics, you learn to take many more things than supply and demand into consideration. The Law of Demand is pre-school economics.

tell ferrari that. its a 2 year waiting list for any car in their lineup.

But they're both fruit!

I've been saying this at work for the last two days, ignore me :)

It's like comparing apples and oranges, when the orange business is a bunch of bitches who say apples can never be considered a high art form, but the apples have once again proven that they are a more profitable industry than the oranges and shutting those oranges right up!

HOW YOU LIKE THEM APPLES EBERT!?!

how did the art debate get in here? Halo 3 isn't art. Spiderman 3 isn't art. Halo 3 might prove video games is the next big entertainment medium but it says nothing about art. I think the oranges are starting to figure out there's a lot of money to be made from apples... I don't know about art, though.

I'm hungry now.

haha yes. noice work i give a standing ovation to bungie for all their effort put into forge, matchmaking, the rank system, and saved films. bravo, halo hater or not, this is a break through and great news for the games industry and should be celebrated by everyone. ehh nvm...maybe not sony or their zombie fanboy followers. they can change their diapers.

Why did you have to mention the PS3?

Oh well, I knew this game will do good. But after this, what else does the 360 have to offer with this much hype? Especially, next year!!!

Game On, PEACE!

Also, even WHEN they sell more copies of this than HALO 2, they still wont make any profit! Due to their "billion dollar investment"... :)

@Myke

Ninja Gaiden 2

Well, i was just pulling numbers out of my ass anyways

Economics was never my strong suit >_

Where is the trial code? My copy doesnt have one.