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'Halo 2' sales top 'Grand Theft Auto'

24 hour sales of Xbox title exceed what GTA earned in its first six days.


sorry if old


courtesy http://money.cnn.com/2004/11/11/tec...sales/index.htm

NEW YORK (CNN/Money ) – "Halo 2" has claimed early bragging rights in the 2004 video game battle.

In its first 24 hours of retail availability, the flagship title for Microsoft's Xbox gaming system sold approximately 340,000 copies more than "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" did in its first six days on shelves.

Microsoft announced late Wednesday that retailers sold 2.4 million copies of "Halo 2" on Tuesday, racking up sales of $125 million -- 25 percent higher than what Peter Moore, vice president of Microsoft's games division, predicted at a Harris Nesbitt investment conference Tuesday.

Take-Two Interactive Software (Research), which publishes the "Grand Theft Auto" games, does not disclose internal sales numbers, but the NPD Group -- a third-party organization that tracks video game sales -- reported "San Andreas" sold 2.06 million copies in October. The game began selling Oct. 26.

Analysts had expected "San Andreas" to sell somewhere in the neighborhood of 2.5 million copies in October.

Each game is exclusive to a specific console at this point. "Halo 2" can be played only by Xbox owners, while "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" can only be played on the PlayStation 2.

Both games are widely expected to be the top sellers in the gaming industry in 2004. Most analysts believe "Grand Theft Auto" will ultimately sell more copies, due to the significantly larger number of PS2 owners. There are 9.8 million Xboxes in homes around the country, compared to 24.9 million PlayStation 2s.

Still, Microsoft's (Research) massive marketing campaign, estimated to be in the tens of millions of dollars, created an aura of excitement that prompted gamers to respond. Fans lined up outside some 7,000 retail stores for up to 15 hours before "Halo 2" went on sale at midnight Tuesday morning. Moore on Tuesday said one retailer had sold 200,000 copies of the game before daybreak. Game specialty retailer GameStop (Research) reported first day sales of over a half-million copies.

The popularity of "Halo 2" is also having a ripple effect on other segments of the video game industry.

Prima, a division of Random House, sold over 270,000 copies of its Halo 2 strategy guide Tuesday. That's the best first-day sale of a Random House book since the release of former president Bill Clinton's autobiography.




sell your ps2s its all over!
 

DopeyFish

Not bitter, just unsweetened
Prima, a division of Random House, sold over 270,000 copies of its Halo 2 strategy guide Tuesday. That's the best first-day sale of a Random House book since the release of former president Bill Clinton's autobiography

Halo 2 topping both videogame and book charts in a single day :eek:
 

jenov4

Member
teh ps2 is d00m3d!!!

On a more serious note, that's some fucking impressive numbers. Can't wait to see the overall numbers of GTA:SA vs Halo 2 after the holiday season's over.
 

AlphaSnake

...and that, kids, was the first time I sucked a dick for crack
I'm not surprised. Considering that Xbox owners have been waiting for 3 years for a new Halo and PS2 owners only 2 for GTA SA, and we had two GTA's before that. Not to mention PS2's library is much more crammed. Halo 2 was really fucking imporant for MS. Hell, I even did the midnight launch thing and I don't regret it. Rock on, MS!
 
Well yeah, the build up for Halo 2 has been 3 years in the making also. Grand Theft Auto has become almost a yearly release now.

And I think the Halo 2 audience is a bit more hardcore. Kinda like how you have movie fans and then you have Star Wars fans; they want to see the movie right away at midnight.

And its not entirely unprecidented either. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time outsold all Playstation software for holiday 1998, despite the PSOne being the market leader. That game also had tremendous hype and a rabid fanbase behind it.

And to be honest, I wouldn't mind if GTA is eclipsed as the industry's top franchise. It's a good game, don't get me wrong, but I think it reinfornced a lot of people's views that the game industry is all about sensationalist violence.
 
ourumov said:
Sad...

These are the kind of things that make me lose faith in gaming...

lol...halo 2 sells extremely well and you lose faith in gaming?

wtf?

soundwave05 said:
And to be honest, I wouldn't mind if GTA is eclipsed as the industry's top franchise. It's a good game, don't get me wrong, but I think it reinfornced a lot of people's views that the game industry is all about sensationalist violence.

halo 2 is pretty damn violent too.
 

Jonnyram

Member
soundwave05 said:
And I think the Halo 2 audience is a bit more hardcore. Kinda like how you have movie fans and then you have Star Wars fans; they want to see the movie right away at midnight.
Heh, that's a nice comparison - Halo is the game industry's Star Wars :) Good job, because the Star Wars games mostly suck.
 

Prine

Banned
ourumov said:
Sad...

These are the kind of things that make me lose faith in gaming...


get lost then. A game that scoring nigh perfect and you're sad that it succeeds in everyway possible way?

Less gamers like you the better
 
Well maybe that wasn't the best analogy.

I think sometimes actually the "secondary console" userbase tends to be more rabid and fanatical than the Playstation audience.

Sony's audience is a bit more casual. They buy a lot of games, but doing stuff like lining up at midnight doesn't fly with this set.

But with the XBox audience this gen, and the N64 audience last gen, I think you actually get more of the really hardcore fanatics on those platforms (the secondary console). I mean Nintendo didn't do the midnight thing with Zelda 64, but if they had, there probably would have been big lineups for that too.
 

Alcibiades

Member
soundwave05 said:
Well maybe that wasn't the best analogy.

I think sometimes actually the "secondary console" userbase tends to be more rabid and fanatical than the Playstation audience.

Sony's audience is a bit more casual. They buy a lot of games, but doing stuff like lining up at midnight doesn't fly with this set.

But with the XBox audience this gen, and the N64 audience last gen, I think you actually get more of the really hardcore fanatics. I mean Nintendo didn't do the midnight thing with Zelda 64, but if they had, there probably would have been big lineups for that too.
true, it also doesn't help that they limited the special gold cartridge (wheras "CE" Halo 2 is readily available) and that they sold out of both versions of Ocarina of Time before Christmas, so they didn't have enough shipment...
 

Amir0x

Banned
I think that overall GTA:SA will still sell significantly more, as it has much more room for continual growth.

But that remains to be seen. I definitely didn't think Halo 2 would even outsell GTA:SA initially, so no foot in mouth here.
 
They sold a ton of Zelda 64s (for the time it was also record shattering). It reached like 7-8 million sold worldwide by the next year.

I also believe if you pre-ordered you got the gold cartridge, but I don't remember specifically on that.

Just making a comparision, it's not meant to be taken strictly absolute though.
 

Prine

Banned
honestly, Halo 2 will drop ofcourse BUT it'll have legs well beyond Halo because of live. It all depends on Xbox 2.
 
I dunno, maybe Microsoft will do a Halo 1+2 Remake for the XBox 2 launch.

I mean they could just take the engine, ramp up the graphics, and then maybe add some of the stuff that had to be canned from Halo 2 and include some new multiplayer/online battle modes.

It may also help soothe some people sour about the possibility of XBox 2 not being backwards compatible.
 

Lee-T

Member
Sony's audience is a bit more casual. They buy a lot of games, but doing stuff like lining up at midnight doesn't fly with this set.

I remember all the Sony people lining up at EB every year for the new Maddens. The EBs around here even are open at midnight for the Madden fans.
 

Miburou

Member
soundwave05 said:
Sony's audience is a bit more casual. They buy a lot of games, but doing stuff like lining up at midnight doesn't fly with this set.

Funny, since they lined up at midnight to buy the console itself.

The PS2 simply has a far more varied selection of games. And Microsoft's marketing for Halo 2 was phenomenal. Hell, I bought Halo 2 CE and haven't played it for more than 30 minutes so far.
 
Yeah I'm sure there are hardcore gamers with Sony too (obviously), but I think their userbase tends to be a bit more casual.

To be honest, it wouldn't shock me if one of the bigger audiences for a game like GTA: SA is younger junior high aged boys who either sucker their parents into buying it or scrape up enough money to get it themselves.

When I was in junior high, you know you always wanted to listen to the most violent, crude music, just because the older kids were doing it.
 

drohne

hyperbolically metafictive
i thought there were more xboxen out there...25% penetration on day one is insane. folks predicting a hard drop-off -- probably the same folks who underestimated its initial sales potential -- are likely to be wrong again. the original halo is still among the best-selling xbox games on a month to month basis.

it's kinda nice to like something popular. for a change.
 
Willco said:
Do we ever converse that much anyway? I'm not sure who you are, actually.

No, but I do find you often spreading chaos, and near trolling threads/subjects that I thoroughly enjoy. Hence the comment.
 

Goreomedy

Console Market Analyst
I'd like some official numbers from Take Two before I concede. NPD doesn't cover everyone, and those swing states are too close to call...
 

Willco

Hollywood Square
DarthWufei said:
No, but I do find you often spreading chaos, and near trolling threads/subjects that I thoroughly enjoy. Hence the comment.

You must be thinking of someone else. I haven't frequented this side of the forum since June until Halo 2 came out.
 

kaching

"GAF's biggest wanker"
And Microsoft's marketing for Halo 2 was phenomenal.
Well, they smartly took advantage of a groundswell of "grass roots" interest based on Halo 1 by orchestrating a media blackout for the most part but, other than that, I think the real credit goes to the fans of the game who put the most effort into the marketing...unless of course it turns out that many of those fans are in the service of AEG ;)
 

nitewulf

Member
one thing i found very interesting about the Halo 2 launch was how it correlated with big game launches in japan. you guys like everything about japan, the culture, the food and the games. yet when something similar is starting to happen in america, gaming is becoming a pop culture phenomenon...people are lining up and celebrating the launch of a game, you pass it off as a marketing gimmick, and say that you are losing your faith in gaming.
ppl waiting for halo 2 are losers. yet ppl lining up for dragon quest 7 are cute and hardcore?
i dont get it. as gamers, you should be elated that gaming is becoming so mainstream. communities are being built...the halo 2 poster at time square was awe inspiring.
 

Fatghost

Gas Guzzler
nitewulf said:
one thing i found very interesting about the Halo 2 launch was how it correlated with big game launches in japan. you guys like everything about japan, the culture, the food and the games. yet when something similar is starting to happen in america, gaming is becoming a pop culture phenomenon...people are lining up and celebrating the launch of a game, you pass it off as a marketing gimmick, and say that you are losing your faith in gaming.
ppl waiting for halo 2 are losers. yet ppl lining up for dragon quest 7 are cute and hardcore?
i dont get it. as gamers, you should be elated that gaming is becoming so mainstream. communities are being built...the halo 2 poster at time square was awe inspiring.

IAWTP.

By the way, something I noticed in the line up at the store I bought my copy of Halo 2 from was that everyone was well over 18 years old. I was among the youngest people there and I'm pushing 25.

Bodes well for video games in general that a game can appeal to adult and even middle aged consumers in such large numbers.
 

Miburou

Member
By the way, aren't we comparing NPD figures to Microsoft announced figures? And do both figures cover the same regions (US or US+Canada)?
 

Amir0x

Banned
Willco said:
Oh, you like Star Wars? I can't be held responsible for that.

Haha, awesome. I'm not fond of Star Wars either, least of all stupidly hyped up trailers that have no possibility of living up to expectations due to the non-talents of George Lucas.
 

ourumov

Member
dude, get a life
You meant a "Live" right ?

lol...halo 2 sells extremely well and you lose faith in gaming?

wtf?
I lose faith in the gaming that comes from the hype and just this: the hype. My opinion of course.
This post wasn't against Halo 2 but against the crapload of games that just sell because of hype. And this include GC, PS2 and GBA titles. When you receive a new iteration that barely improves/adds something to the previous yet it sells more...well...I don't like this nor I think it's good for the gaming industry.
Other examples of this: Mario Party games, most EA sport franchises, etc. You know what I mean.
Another thing is I don't like Halo, which is true, but as I said the post wasn't against Halo 2 sales.

Only thing sad here is your post.
Thanks for the comprehension.

get lost then. A game that scoring nigh perfect and you're sad that it succeeds in everyway possible way?

Less gamers like you the better
Do you know what education is ? Less posters like you the better.
 

pilonv1

Member
Halo 2 sales will drop off like Halo sales did. I mean it's not like you see in the top 10 every month or anything!!
 
ourumov said:
You meant a "Live" right ?


I lose faith in the gaming that comes from the hype and just this: the hype. My opinion of course.
This post wasn't against Halo 2 but against the crapload of games that just sell because of hype. And this include GC, PS2 and GBA titles. When you receive a new iteration that barely improves/adds something to the previous yet it sells more...well...I don't like this nor I think it's good for the gaming industry.
Other examples of this: Mario Party games, most EA sport franchises, etc. You know what I mean.
Another thing is I don't like Halo, which is true, but as I said the post wasn't against Halo 2 sales.


Thanks for the comprehension.


Do you know what education is ? Less posters like you the better.

for reference; games that sell by hype

ENTER THE MATRIX
DRIV3R

casuals = stupid = sales = $$$ = good for sequel = bad for everything else.
 
ourumov said:
I lose faith in the gaming that comes from the hype and just this: the hype. My opinion of course.
This post wasn't against Halo 2 but against the crapload of games that just sell because of hype. And this include GC, PS2 and GBA titles. When you receive a new iteration that barely improves/adds something to the previous yet it sells more...well...I don't like this nor I think it's good for the gaming industry.
Other examples of this: Mario Party games, most EA sport franchises, etc. You know what I mean.
Another thing is I don't like Halo, which is true, but as I said the post wasn't against Halo 2 sales.

?

That's your opinion, sure. But it doesn't make any sense to me. This is nothing new and has been around since the NES and Atari 2600. Look at the early hype-monsters in SMB2 & 3. This kind of attention and massive visibility is important for the industry, in general...not just Halo 2, or the XBOX. To be accepted as a major medium of (commercial) art, like film, games needs to have big guns to open up the awareness on the industry, as a whole. The more people who play games, the more chances for people to see all of those smaller, more niche titles that deserve more sales. In general, the sales ratios will widen for all titles. How this is sad for the industry boggles my mind.
 
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