One in Three Xbox 360 Owners Buy Halo 3

Master Chief holds FIFA 08 down, prompting console sales in the process.

Microsoft was quick to tout the American launch of Halo 3 as the biggest entertainment debut in history after the game brought in $170 million in just 24 hours. The game hasn't been much of a slouch in the UK either.

According to the latest weekly UK sales figures, not only did Halo 3 easily take the top position for the week, it did that by being snapped up by a third of all Xbox 360 owners.

There are no official sales figures yet Chart Track's comments imply that around 470,000 people bought Halo 3 over the four-day launch period in the UK alone.

That was enough to give Halo 3 the second-fastest opening of all time in the UK behind only Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which came at a time when there were a lot more PlayStation 2 owners than there are now Xbox 360 owners.

Not surprisingly, the arrival of Halo 3 has lifted Xbox 360 hardware sales too. According to MCV, sales of the console were double those of the previous week, pushing it ahead of the Wii for the first time in six months.

The big question is whether, with a third of all Xbox 360 owners now owning a copy, Halo 3 will continue to sell or whether it will quickly drop down the chart.

If history is a guide, that's a fate that EA's new FIFA game probably doesn't have to be concerned with. Though it missed the top spot, FIFA 08 ends up in No. 2 this week, with the PlayStation 2 version outselling the one on the Xbox 360 by nearly 2-to-1.

Other new games on the increasinly bustling charts this week include Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights (entering at No. 5), Sega Rally (5), Skate (11) and Quake Wars: Enemy Territory (16).

The Top 20 games for the week ending 29 September, as determined by Chart Track, are below:

1. Halo 3 (Microsoft)
2. FIFA 08 (EA)
3. MySims (EA)
4. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 (EA)
5. Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights (THQ)
6. More Brain Training From Dr Kawashima (Nintendo)
7. Sega Rally (Sega)
8. Super Paper Mario (Nintendo)
9. Transformers: The Game (Activision)
10. Wii Play (Nintendo)
11. Skate (EA)
12. Stuntman: Ignition (THQ)
13. Forza Motorsport 2 (Microsoft)
14. Medal of Honor: Airborne (EA)
15. Dr Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo)
16. Quake Wars: Enemy Territory (Activision)
17. Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree (Nintendo)
18. John Woo Presents Stranglehold (Midway)
19. Cooking Mama (505)
20. SingStar Rock Ballands (Sony)

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo