Gamers all over the world received one of their Christmas presents early this year.
The much-anticipated Xbox game, Halo 2, was released Nov. 9 to record-breaking video game sales.
Peter Moore, Microsoft's corporate vice president of retail, sales and marketing, estimated, prior to the release date, that day-one sales would reach at least $100 million, according to GameStop, a Texas-based online video game retailer.
GameStop has also stated that sales might actually have exceeded $125 million after selling an estimated 2.38 million copies of the game in the United States and Canada. This surpasses even the highest grossing opening weekend for a holiday film, including Spiderman 2 and Matrix: Reloaded.
There were an estimated 7,000 store locations, according to GameStop, that opened their doors at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday to start selling the game to rabid fans.
Brett Wynne, a 20-year-old junior, was one of them.
"I bought it at midnight at EBX," he said. "We got there at 10 p.m. and had to take a number."
One retailer, according to xbox.com, sold 8,500 copies of the game in the first 11 minutes of sales.
So, why is the demand so great for a video game?
Halo 2 picks up the story of the "Master Chief," a "super-soldier" and the only human to ever destroy the alien empire, the Covenant.
Wynne said he has been anticipating the release for months.
"The [advertisers] basically said what the differences were between the two games ahead of time, and it sounded cool," he said. "Then we got a bootleg."
The difference, according to Wynne, is that everything about Halo 2 is better.
"Halo 2 has better graphics, better multi-player, and better guns than the first Halo," he said. "The enemy reacts differently even if you play one part the same way twice."
Jared Stigler, a 21-year-old junior, agrees.
"It's better because in part of the campaign you're an alien," he said.
For college students, the release of the game might prove untimely, now that the stresses of an ending semester are quickly approaching.
"Because we're so busy, we only get to play, like, two hours at a time," said Wynne.
"If I had more time, I definitely would be playing more."
Halo 2 will be translated into seven languages, including French, Italian, Japanese and Korean, and will be distributed in 27 countries, according to xbox.com. The original Halo sold about five million copies.
