Microsoft Sees $100 Million First Day for 'Halo 2'
34240
First-day sales of Microsoft  Corp.'s MSFT.O new video game "Halo 2" will reach $100  million, a senior Microsoft games executive said on Tuesday.
280678
Microsoft Corp  began its midnight sales of "Halo 3," the acclaimed alien shooter game that it hopes will widen its lead over Sony Corp  in the battle for industry dominance.
76990
It's the hottest ticket in town, as dedicated fans flock to retailers to grab copies of Microsoft's new video game. The opening-day sales figures catapult the sequel to the top of the entertainment heap.
635968
Strong sales of new and old products alike led Microsoft to its fastest first-quarter growth in seven years with the company reporting growth in all five business segments and both revenue and EPS (earnings per share) that beat analyst expectations.Revenue for the fiscal quarter ended Sept. 30 was up 27 percent at $13.76 billion compared to $10.81 billion a year ago, Microsoft said Thursday. Consensus estimates from Thomson First Call analysts were for the company to generate revenue of $12.57 billion. Microsoft&#39;s EPS for the quarter was $0.45, which also soundly beat Thomson First Call consensus estimate of $0.39. Net income for the quarter was $4.29 billion, a 23 percent increase over the $3.48 billion reported a year ago.At $5.92 billion, operating income for the quarter also had double-digit percentage growth: An increase of more than 25 percent over operating income reported for the same period last year of $4.47 billion.Microsoft&#39;s first quarter was buoyed by the highly anticipated launch of the Xbox 360 game Halo 3 on Sept. 25, just days before the quarter&#39;s close. In its first 24 hours on sale, the game brought in $170 million in sales; it became the fastest selling video game in history after being in the market for just a week and a half, according to the company.Strong performances from Microsoft&#39;s client, business, server and tools, and online divisions also contributed to revenue growth in the quarter. In particular, Microsoft said sales of its Windows Vista OS experienced double-digit growth through multi-year business contracts, and demand for Microsoft Office, Windows Server, and SQL Server was also high.Looking ahead, Microsoft said it expects to report revenue in the range of $15.6 billion to $16.1 billion for its second quarter, which ends Dec. 31. Operating income is expected to be in the range of $5.9 billion to $6.1 billion, while diluted EPS are expected to be between $0.44 to $0.46 for the second quarter, the company said.For its fiscal year 2008, Microsoft expects revenue in the range of $58.8 billion to $59.7 billion and operating income in the range of $23.3 billion to $23.7 billion. Diluted earnings per share are expected to be between $1.78 and $1.81 for the fiscal year, the company said. These new numbers were increases in Microsoft&#39;s guidance for the year from previous forecasts of $56.8 billion to $57.8 billion in revenue and $1.69 and $1.73 in EPS for the year.On a conference call Thursday, Microsoft CFO Chris Liddell said the company raised its financial guidance for the year due to improved outlooks for Microsoft&#39;s client business, its server and tools operation, and the Microsoft Business division.Sales of Vista seem to be on an uptick, and the fact that many long-term contracts Microsoft has with enterprise customers were up for renewal during the quarter helped fuel some of the revenue growth for the OS. Liddell expects that although companies have signed up for Vista in their contracts, many won&#39;t adopt it until the arrival of Vista Service Pack 1, expected in the first calendar quarter of 2008.&quot;It&#39;s still early days&quot; for Vista adoption, he said.Though analysts on the call gave Microsoft kudos for the quarter, there was still criticism about the performance of Microsoft&#39;s Online Services Division (OSD), the home of Microsoft&#39;s search and online advertising business. Revenue for the division grew only 25 percent year over year despite the close during the quarter of&#160;Microsoft&#39;s $6 billion acquisition of digital services agency aQuantive, a company expected to fuel growth in online advertising revenue.Liddell acknowledged on the call that this kind of growth for OSD is &quot;acceptable, but not stellar,&quot; saying, &quot;we&#39;d like to see it higher.&quot;This story was updated on October 25, 2007
199953
Halo 2, the stunning Xbox video game nearly three years in the making, goes on sale at midnight tonight, with Microsoft pulling out the stops to herald its launch as a pop culture event.
691645
When "Halo" became a smash video game hit following Microsoft's launch of the Xbox console in 2001, it was a no-brainer that there would be a sequel to the science fiction shoot-em-up.
355067
Microsoft Corp geared up on Monday to launch "Halo 3", the acclaimed science-fiction video game that it hopes will widen its lead over rival Sony Corp in the battle for industry dominance.
346049
Microsoft Corp  began its  midnight sales of "Halo 3," the acclaimed alien shooter game  that it hopes will widen its lead over Sony Corp  in  the battle for industry dominance.
181040
"Halo 2" appears to be one of the most hotly hyped and heavily anticipated video games ever, and Microsoft is planning a Tuesday release that may rival the best of Hollywood's movie glitz. -washingtonpost.com
575519
Microsoft Corp's  "Halo 3" video game set an opening-day U.S. sales record of $170 million, outdoing any video game or movie debut and giving the company's money-losing entertainment unit a strong boost toward profitability.
662111
Microsoft Corp's &lt;MSFT.O&gt; "Halo 3" video game set an opening-day U.S. sales record of $170 million, outdoing any video game or movie debut and giving the company's money-losing entertainment unit a strong boost toward profitability.
408516
In the days before Microsoft Corp. released the hotly anticipated Halo 2 video game for the Xbox game console, some gamers noticed a sudden spike in the number of people being kicked off the company's online game service. That was no coincidence.
157628
The first Halo game sold quite a few Xboxes (we know a few Xbox owners who don&#39;t appear to play any other titles on their consoles), and Halo 2 has already clocked $125 million in sales -- on its first day in stores.
286430
Microsoft threatened severe penalties Thursday for those who circulate a stolen copy of &quot;Halo 2,&quot; the hotly anticipated Xbox game set to go on sale next month.
190264
The company says thousands of retailers across the country are planning &quot;midnight madness&quot; sales for eager gamers. Microsoft says it has 1.5 million pre-orders for the sequel to the popular &quot;Halo&quot; game, which sells for $50.
245175
Halo 2 broke entertainment retail records in its first 24 hours. Microsoft Game Studios said that the video game sold through 2.4 million stores in the US and Canada raking in $125 million in sales.
630703
Microsoft Corp  on Wednesday said its "Halo 3" video game had $170 million in sales on its first day, easily surpassing its predecessor, 2004's "Halo 2," which racked up $125 million in the first day.