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Halo 2 Passes 1.5 Million Pre-Orders!

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Guard your copy with your life! :lol

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Press Release


REDMOND, Wash. — Oct. 19, 2004 — There hasn’t been this much anticipation for an otherworldly touchdown since Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon. With three weeks to go before the game hits store shelves, pre-orders for “Halo® 2” – the highly anticipated Xbox® exclusive from Microsoft Game Studios – have eclipsed the 1.5 million mark in the United States. With phenomenal record-breaking video game pre-orders, “Halo 2” is poised to generate more revenue in 24 hours than day one sales of any full feature movie in entertainment history, including “Spider-man 2,” “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” and “Matrix: Reloaded.”
In the U.S., the anticipation builds to a fever pitch on Nov. 9 when thousands of shoppers line up to be among the first to get their hands on the action-packed thriller. The first copy of “Halo 2” will be distributed at a Midnight Madness event at the largest Toys “R” Us in the world located in Times Square, New York. Toys “R” Us Times Square will open its doors at 12 midnight on November 9, and deliver the first retail copy of the game to a lucky fan.

“The original ‘Halo’ is still a top ten title three years after it hit shelves, and the buzz for the sequel is off the charts,” said John Barbour, president, Toys “R” Us, U.S. “We can think of no more appropriate place to unveil ‘Halo 2’ than the site Xbox first launched–Toys “R” Us Times Square.”

More than 6,500 U.S. participating retailers*- including Gamestop, EB Games, Best Buy, Gamecrazy, Game Rush, Circuit City, Kmart Super Center stores and FYE, will open their doors at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 9 to allow for sales of “Halo 2,” Xbox consoles and Xbox Live™ Starter Kits.

The global launch of “Halo 2” will also be marked by celebrations from November 9 through November 11 at more than 1,125 retail stores in cities around the world including London, Seoul, Toronto and Sydney. “Halo 2” will be translated into seven languages (Japanese, Korean, traditional Chinese, Spanish, French, German and Italian) and will be distributed in 27 countries.

“‘Halo 2’ is expected to be the biggest 24 hours for a video game title in retail history and is projected to bring in more revenue than any day one box office blockbuster movie in the United States,” said Peter Moore, corporate vice president of worldwide publishing and marketing for Xbox. “We call it the Halo 2 effect. We’ve even heard rumors of fan anticipation of the ‘Halo 2 flu’ on November 9.”

“Halo 2,” the follow up to the marquee Xbox title, “Halo: Combat Evolved,” was selected for the Toys “R” Us Joy List as one of the expected top sellers this holiday season. “Halo 2” utilizes Xbox Live to redefine online play, delivering superior online multiplayer capabilities, which allow gamers to engage with or against friends from around the world in an effort to save humankind.

Developed exclusively for Xbox by Bungie Studios, part of Microsoft Game Studios, the original “Halo” has sold more than 5 million copies worldwide and spawned a legion of powerful devotees who participate in competitions, tournaments and game nights.

 

pilonv1

Member
Joe said:
this game is gonna create a TON of xbox live subscriptions.

MS is doing half price live kits with Halo 2 pre-orders in Australia. Nice way to top up my subscription and replace my dying headset.
 

Jonnyram

Member
Sho Nuff said:
(1.5 million + 2, my dad and I both preordered today)
Shit, I was tempted to preorder, but I thought there's no point over here. Do you think it's going to sell better than the first? That limited edition looks mighty sweet.

1.5 million preorders with two weeks+ to go.... insane.
 

Jumpman

Member
Just a little while ago it was supposedly at 2 million preorders, I guess people must be cancelling. Halo bomb!!!
 
Huh? The last official MS PR had said 750k to 1 million. I think it was an article that had stated the 2 million figure...probably an estimate for worldwide preorders.
 

StoOgE

First tragedy, then farce.
I think 3 million by the end of the year is an achievable number.. 'tis crazy for the install base.
 

Jumpman

Member
MightyHedgehog said:
Huh? The last official MS PR had said 750k to 1 million. I think it was an article that had stated the 2 million figure...probably an estimate for worldwide preorders.

You can tell yourself whatever you want, but it's obviously all over for MS.
 

borghe

Loves the Greater Toronto Area
ummm.. great, stores have ordered over 2M copies.. so what will sell through be? And didn't GTA:VC have more store pre-orders?
 

DopeyFish

Not bitter, just unsweetened
TeTr1C said:
This is already the biggest Xbox game ever, and it didn't even come out yet! Bahaha.

You're already one of the more annoying posters on this forum, and you've only posted twice! Bahaha
 
"With phenomenal record-breaking video game pre-orders, “Halo 2” is poised to generate more revenue in 24 hours than day one sales of any full feature movie in entertainment history, including “Spider-man 2,” “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” and “Matrix: Reloaded.”


*sigh* I hate when PR compares games to movies. I recall when Gamecube came out, Nintendo issued a press release saying it was "HOTTER THAN POTTER" because Gamecube made more than the Harry Potter Movie did in its opening weekend.
 

human5892

Queen of Denmark
I wonder what percentage of Halo 2's preorders is of the total people who will eventually buy it...or at least buy it in 2004?

What I mean is, Halo 2 is so well-known -- not only from hype, but for being the sequel to the game that many Xbox owners have their system for -- that I wonder if a large percentage of sales will actually just be the preorders. How many people can there really be who know they want the game, but haven't pre-ordered it yet? After all, the game isn't necessarily all that casual (by which I mean, more of an impulse buy or a "Oh yeah, that game is out now"... at least, not at the level of a Madden or even a GTA), and it's on a relatively niche hardcore system, where the majority of the userbase (like the GameCube) keeps careful tabs on upcoming games.

I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade, and these preorder sales are undeniably impressive (whether they're 750k or 1.5 million), but I'm more interested to see the sales data after the game actually comes out.
 

PhatSaqs

Banned
I went to the EB where I pre-ordered yesterday just to get some details on how the midnight madness shit is gonna be run. The manager told me that they had more pre-orders for Halo 2 than Madden across all consoles combined (he wouldnt give me an exact number though). Said that they did something similar when Madden came out but started handing them out at 10pm and the line was stretched outside into the parking lot. Also said expect it to be "crazy" and in line for a while as they'll only be letting 10 peeps in the store at a time :(

And I havent heard of this, but he said that 7-Eleven is going to be selling the game. Anyone else hear this?
 

Chi-Town

Member
PhatSaqs said:
And I havent heard of this, but he said that 7-Eleven is going to be selling the game. Anyone else hear this?

He probably confused it with the 7/11 "win it before you can buy it" contest.
 

borghe

Loves the Greater Toronto Area
jarrod said:
Wind Waker had 600k iirc, so now Halo 2 would've passed it with either 750k or 1.5M.
Where has it been said that they have 750K or 1.5M customer pre-orders??? PR please...

all I have ever seen is "generic pre-order" as in store pre-orders, just like how GTA:VC had like 4M pre-orders even though it sold nowhere near that many in it's first couple months.

Without PR, Wind Waker still holds customer pre-orders and GTA:VC still holds store pre-orders. Halo 2's records are all on the xbox.. =P
 

Ghost

Chili Con Carnage!
Where has it been said that they have 750K or 1.5M customer pre-orders??? PR please...

all I have ever seen is "generic pre-order" as in store pre-orders, just like how GTA:VC had like 4M pre-orders even though it sold nowhere near that many in it's first couple months.

Without PR, Wind Waker still holds customer pre-orders and GTA:VC still holds store pre-orders. Halo 2's records are all on the xbox.. =P


MS told gamespot that pre-orders were at 750,000 a week or two ago to confirm that the 2million number was store pre-orders not customer.
 

GhaleonEB

Member
Please stop using the old box art.

Old art:

210263b.jpg


Final art:

231432.jpg


I've been saying for some time now, Halo's fan community is both large and active. The hold Halo has on gamers is strong - Halo 2 will move 3 million copies in November.
 

jarrod

Banned
I kinda doubt 3 million copies are moved into retail in November, much less sold through to customers... I'm still thinking it'll be closer to 2 million. Maybe 3 million for the year.
 

GhaleonEB

Member
borghe said:
http://www.gamespot.com/xbox/action/halo2/news_6109802.html

The article is ambiguous to say the least.. Microsoft says presales when talking about GAT:VC but then slips back to pre-orders when talking about Halo 2...

So definitively, Wind Waker still holds the record until someone comes forth and officially says that Halo 2 had more customer pre-orders.

Denial: Not just a river in Egypt.

jarrod said:
I kinda doubt 3 million copies are moved into retail in November, much less sold through to customers... I'm still thinking it'll be closer to 2 million. Maybe 3 million for the year.

Think of it this way: If the rate of preorders continues, there will be at least 1.7m copies sold on November 9, if all that is sold are preorders. Big games like that tend to have some momentum, so unless it stops dead on November 10 I see at least 2.5m in November.
 

PhatSaqs

Banned
borghe said:
So definitively, Wind Waker still holds the record until someone comes forth and officially says that Halo 2 had more customer pre-orders.
:lol

Yes because Nintendo said so.
 
You know, I think we could just have a board for Halo 2's sales expectations threads. And it would probably be more active than 95% of the VG message boards out there.
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
borghe said:
http://www.gamespot.com/xbox/action/halo2/news_6109802.html

The article is ambiguous to say the least.. Microsoft says presales when talking about GAT:VC but then slips back to pre-orders when talking about Halo 2...

So definitively, Wind Waker still holds the record until someone comes forth and officially says that Halo 2 had more customer pre-orders.

Chill out.

I know you hate the game and are hoping for failure, but come on...
 

jarrod

Banned
GhaleonEB said:
Think of it this way: If the rate of preorders continues, there will be at least 1.7m copies sold on November 9, if all that is sold are preorders. Big games like that tend to have some momentum, so unless it stops dead on November 10 I see at least 2.5m in November.
Problem being, preorders aren't guaranteed sales. Wind Waker had a similar problem, despite the 600k preorders it only sold around 800k for it's first month due to people not picking up or changing preorders... if Halo 2 managed similarly even with 1.7M preorders they'd only actually move about 2.2M units.
 

borghe

Loves the Greater Toronto Area
lol.. even if I wanted it to fail (which I don't), obviously it is not going to... hahaha..

all I am doing is damage control on their PR.. though there isn't anything from either MS or retailers saying they had 750K presales.. there WAS something for Wind Waker from both Nintendo and retailers saying that title had 600K presales.

jarrod said:
Problem being, preorders aren't guaranteed sales. Wind Waker had a similar problem, despite the 600k preorders it only sold around 800k for it's first month due to people not picking preorders... if Halo 2 managed similarly even with 1.7M preorders they'd only actually move about 2.2M units.
The difference is that WW's 600K were actual customer reservations. How many customer reservations does Halo 2 have? That number seems to be unstated from the looks of it.
 

jarrod

Banned
borghe said:
The difference is that WW's 600K were actual customer reservations. How many customer reservations does Halo 2 have? That number seems to be unstated from the looks of it.
Either 750k or 1.5M... either way, 3 million for Novemeber alone is unlikely.
 

borghe

Loves the Greater Toronto Area
lol.. it's now official.. owned is the most over and incorrectly used term on this message board... lol!!
 
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