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Why Halo 3 Matters to Your Custom Installation Business
Up until Monday night at midnight, the most profitable entertainment medium (in terms of release revenue) was a movie. Now it's a game.
For the last two years at the Gaming Minicamp I teach at EHX, I have shown the video trailer for Halo 3.
Every time I show it, attendees get excited about its release date.
And it's finally here.
As I drove up to my local Gamestop at 11:30 PM Monday night in Pikesville, MD, to pick up my two reserved copies of the game, I was greeted by a line of people representing all walks of life. We were all brought together by a common love for a game -- to many, a phenomenon -- Halo.
I met college students, high school students with their parents in tow, single moms and dads, police officers, firemen, and construction workers.
The Pikesville GameStop is a smaller store than most, but according to store manager Jeff Leo, 90 copies of the game were sold in 20 minutes. Part of the reason that the line went so fast was that people could not wait to get home and get online to play with their friends and family.
Before heading home, I stopped at the Gamestop in Owings Mills, MD to pick up my third copy of Halo 3. The store manager, Donna, said that they had sold through all their copies within an hour.
By the time I got home at 3 AM, already 100,000 people were playing online on Xbox Live. That's 100,000 people before the West Coast stores had begun sales at midnight Pacific time and without any of the larger chain store sales.
Sales the next day was even more impressive. All of the Maryland GameStop stores opened at 8 AM without advertising an early opening. According to Jeff Lao at the Pikesville store, he was amazed to see a line of people around the block waiting to pick up their reserve copies or hoping to get a copy.
So how big were the national sales of Halo 3? The official estimates by Microsoft and analysts were 1.5 million units pre-ordered plus an additional 300,000 units purchased in the first eight hours.
At an average price of $78.00 each (due to three levels of the game available), that equates to a total of $140 million dollars -- in eight hours!
The current reigning king and benchmark of success for an entertainment product release is Spider-Man 3, which tallied $151 million in its first 24 hour weekend run. Consensus amongst gaming industry and traditional financial analysts and experts puts Halo 3's first 24-hour sales at $191 million.
Every time I show it, attendees get excited about its release date.
And it's finally here.
Going to Pick Up Halo at Midnight
As I drove up to my local Gamestop at 11:30 PM Monday night in Pikesville, MD, to pick up my two reserved copies of the game, I was greeted by a line of people representing all walks of life. We were all brought together by a common love for a game -- to many, a phenomenon -- Halo.
I met college students, high school students with their parents in tow, single moms and dads, police officers, firemen, and construction workers.
The Pikesville GameStop is a smaller store than most, but according to store manager Jeff Leo, 90 copies of the game were sold in 20 minutes. Part of the reason that the line went so fast was that people could not wait to get home and get online to play with their friends and family.
Before heading home, I stopped at the Gamestop in Owings Mills, MD to pick up my third copy of Halo 3. The store manager, Donna, said that they had sold through all their copies within an hour.
By the time I got home at 3 AM, already 100,000 people were playing online on Xbox Live. That's 100,000 people before the West Coast stores had begun sales at midnight Pacific time and without any of the larger chain store sales.
First Day Sales Approach $200 Million
Sales the next day was even more impressive. All of the Maryland GameStop stores opened at 8 AM without advertising an early opening. According to Jeff Lao at the Pikesville store, he was amazed to see a line of people around the block waiting to pick up their reserve copies or hoping to get a copy.
So how big were the national sales of Halo 3? The official estimates by Microsoft and analysts were 1.5 million units pre-ordered plus an additional 300,000 units purchased in the first eight hours.
At an average price of $78.00 each (due to three levels of the game available), that equates to a total of $140 million dollars -- in eight hours!
The current reigning king and benchmark of success for an entertainment product release is Spider-Man 3, which tallied $151 million in its first 24 hour weekend run. Consensus amongst gaming industry and traditional financial analysts and experts puts Halo 3's first 24-hour sales at $191 million.
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About the Author
Andrew Finkel is an avid gamer as well as the principal of Synergistic Wellness Technologies, a cross industries gaming, consumer, and home healthcare electronics consultancy company. He can be reached at 410-486-4999 or andrew@synergisticwt.com. His Xbox Live Gamertag is CEProgamer and his Playstation Network name is Remixer.
2 Comments (displayed in order by date/time)
Great article…....and true point. We have been creating our Home Theaters, as double duty for quite some time now. I’ve found that families and (kids in particular), realize just how powerful and captivating game playing can be in a dedicated home theater. Everyone we sell/install to, has some form of Gaming System, sometimes even three. http://www.audioelite.net
Page 1 of 1 comment pages
Yes… there will be a paradigm shift.
With this latest crop of gaming consoles, it is even more important to have the complete package in one’s home theater. Excellent surround sound, definitely hi-def, networking and internet integration all play a part in enhancing the ultimate gaming experience. Professional installers should take notice.
Movies, audio (iPods), gaming in addition the usual plethora of networking and security, and home automation enhancements all need to be part of the ultimate electronic home, especially for this newer more tech-savvy clientele.