Redmond (WA) – It appears that Microsoft had a blockbuster title in stores just in time for Christmas once again. Gears of War 2 could not quite match Halo 3, but 2.1 million boxes sold on day 1 means that Microsoft’s game studios and Epic received an early Christmas present and the Xbox 360 should see a nice bump in unit sales.

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VGChartz.com apparently had early access to retail sales numbers for Gears of War 2, which, according to the site, sold 2.1 million units on its first day of availability (1.4 million in the U.S. alone). We can criticize Microsoft’s everything-to-everyone game console strategy as long as we want, but we do have to credit the company with an impressive product strategy that delivers key content at the right time.

Last year, it was Halo 3 that sold 3.8 million units on day one and drove $300 million in retail sales within one week – and single-handedly pushed Microsoft entertainment business group from the deep red into the black. Gears of War can’t quite match Halo 3, but has become a $100 million business on day 1 as well and should be capable of driving Xbox 360 sales.

Halo 3 was capable of more than doubling Xbox 360 unit shipments: In August 2007, the month prior to the game’s release, Microsoft shipped 276,600 Xbox 360 units, according to NPD. In September (Halo 3 was released on September 25), that number climbed to 527,800. Unit sales dropped to 366,600 in October 2007.     

Microsoft does not quite as much push Xbox 360 sales with Gears of War 2, but we would be surprised if there wasn’t a decent sales bump this month, which should serve as a nice catalyst for Xbox 360  Christmas sales.

holiday bundles

Nov 09, 2008 19:23     

one game alone won't push those console sales. those holiday bundles with "2 free games" will be what sparks sales. lego indiana and kung fu panda, around the same time those dvd's for the respective movies come out as well. its almost too perfect.
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GoW2

Nov 09, 2008 23:14     

Well showing that Gears of War 2 is an awsome and well made game then it's no wonder it would hit 2.1 million. As for Playstation there are no killer titles other than MGS4 which is an excellent game.
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gow2

Nov 10, 2008 05:26     

vgchartz pulls numbers out of thin air or will use shipment numbers and then change according to final released numbers. nobody believes that sight anymore because it is always so wrong.
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not on PC

Nov 10, 2008 09:45     

if it ain't on a PC, it's not a good first person shooter. I hate playing FPS on a controller.
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@ Yo

Nov 10, 2008 11:21     

Its not an FPS game, its a third person. not being on pc also has nothing to do with the quality of the game, especially with the current trend towards console gaming. its an awesome game. definitely the best shooter i have ever played.
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@ YO

Nov 10, 2008 11:45     

Thats cus you have no hand-eye cordination, you need a keyboard, with all the controlls laid out for you and a mouse so that you can point to exactly where you want to shoot ... yeah thats immersion for you ... no wonder PC gaming is doing so great
09 F9 report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +1

^^

Nov 10, 2008 12:25     

What are you talking about. Yeah perhaps you'd love to drive a car in real life with a controller because having controls laid out for you would just be horrible right? I hate douche bags such as yourself that think just because something is harder to do than it must be better. Have you ever used a mouse in a game? At least with a keyboard and mouse you PLAY the game and not try and play the controls.

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gow2

Nov 10, 2008 12:34     

only reason why i dont like gow2 (have gow on computer) its kinda boring. Run, duck, shoot, repeat. The only way you can live in that game is if you do that. I never seen another way to play that game then to do that
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@ anonymous

Nov 10, 2008 14:32     

I guess you must be moron #2 that has no hand eye coordination. Here’s a concept try playing checkers, that may be your right speed … and if you are up for a challenge. Then give monopoly a try … although rolling the dice may give you a challange – here’s a hint: keep the dice on the board. As towards your driving analogy – I can see how you can translate driving a real car with typing on a keyboard or playing a video game … yeah real good analogy there buddy. In response to the rest of the crap fest that you wrote: “just because something is harder to do than it must be better” -- I never said its better because its harder, as said its not good because there is less immersion. Do you know what that means or is that word to big for you. Wiki it, it might help. Suggestion: learn how to read or better yet maybe you should try to dominate the English vocabulary before you make a moron of yourself in public again.

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@@ 09 F9

Nov 10, 2008 17:19     

Here I'll defeat your argument in 1 word: Counter-Strike Appeared as both a console and a PC game and guess which one remains incredibly popular today. Suggestion for you: Learn more about what you're talking about before you start typing. Oh wait why don't you use your mouse and click out all your letters....you think PC games suck so much and console games are the end all, then you should love doing that.

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@@ Anonyanus

Nov 11, 2008 08:24     

The reson counter-strike is not doing as well on the console as it is on the PC is because there are better shooters on a console. And quite putting words in my mouth, I never mentioned anything about computer games sucking. Just you!
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@all :)

Nov 11, 2008 08:55     

Calm down children. PC Gaming is just different from console gaming. Neither is better or worse than the other, they just cater for different audiences. Consoles target younger and sometimes more amateur players and the PC the more seasoned ones.
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Haha, wow.. at the last few comments

Nov 11, 2008 12:46     

09 F9 makes a good point in immersion, as well as the current trend of gaming, which is obviously moving in favor of console gaming. The ease of play and familiar controls of a console make it a great medium. Controller vibration also adds another dimension of game play, still not seen in PC's Where PCs reign dominant, is user generated content. Why was Counter Strike more successful on PCs? all the custom content, which was never available or as easily available on consoles. However, with XBL marketplace, and the impending dashboard update.. I'm sure we will start to see Custom user content enter the console market. Where as, I don't see PC gaming dying out. It certainly is fading into a bad investment by game developers, fueled by piracy. Until PC game devs can deliver content not available on consoles, and a reasonable solution to piracy is figured out, the future of PC gaming looks grim. @anonymous... please learn to make an argument or have someone else do it for you.

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MAVERICK!!! *wink*...

Nov 12, 2008 10:07     

MAVERICK!!! *wink*
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