Video Gaming News - October 2004
Redmond, WA (October 19, 2004) - Microsoft today announced that Halo 2
has hit the 1.5 million mark in preorders.
From Microsoft:
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.”
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