Gamers Spend $170 million on Halo 3

This is called "Halo Effect". Gamers in the United States spend about $170 million on copies of "Halo 3", within 24 hours after the Xbox 360 game went on sale. The game, which was developed by Microsoft-owned Bungie Studios, completes the saga of helmet-clad Master Chief and his quest to save humankind from aliens. "'Halo 3' has become a pop-culture phenomenon," Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios, said in a statement.

Fans pre-ordered more than 1.7 million copies of the game, and more than 10,000 stores opened at midnight Monday to start selling, according to Microsoft. The much-anticipated launch was marred only slightly by reports that limited-edition packaging left scratches on game disks. Link