The Thrifty Gamer

The good folks over at the Microsoft Corporation have plenty of reasons to celebrate these days as their company stock is on the rise. This can be attributed mostly to the incredible success of the video game Halo 3, which was released on Monday, September 25. This futuristic first person shooter game has had a devoted following since the first version was released in 2001, and they are the indirect driving force behind the increase in the Microsoft stock price.

On September 24, 2007, the day before the release of the Halo 3 video game, Microsoft saw their stock value increase by as much as 3.35 percent. By the end of the day it had settled at 29.08 dollars per share on NASDAQ, up by 1.5 percent. About a week later on Monday, October 1, it opened up at 29.46 per share, and things are expected to improve even more for Microsoft during the week.

Halo 3 has been flying off the shelves since September 25 with a record breaking 170 million dollars made on the first day. With the holiday season coming up, Microsoft is hoping that all the publicity and sales will be focused on their Halo 3 video game and Xbox 360 video game consoles instead of on Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii, as it was last year.

Even with all of the business Microsoft has lost to Sony and Nintendo lately, they are still doing very well overall. They are a huge corporation with annual revenues reaching 50 billion dollars. Their Entertainment and Devices division makes up only about 12 percent of that amount, but it is the fastest growing part of their company. In 2007 this division grew by 28 percent. This kind of growth has caused Microsoft to take their video games and video game consoles very seriously.

The Halo 3 video game cost Microsoft 60 million dollars to make and another 20 million dollars in promotion and marketing. They are predicting that overall Halo 3 will make about 600 million dollars with a profit margin that is astronomical compared to most video games. So far, sales have exceeded expectations and it seems certain that they will continue to do so.

Video games like Halo 3 are not typical in their success. In fact, most video games lose money. But this game is different, for it has a cultural phenomenon surrounding it. There is a very large customer base that adores this video game and just cannot get enough of it. The first two installments of the Halo franchise sold 15 million video games.

Sales of the Xbox 360 video game consoles had been lagging in recent months due to the popularity of Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii. The Halo 3 game should help to improve their sales. Microsoft is hoping that this highly publicized chapter in the Halo video game franchise will also help to sell a lot of their Xbox 360 video game consoles that come with a Halo 3 theme and design.

The rave revues and excitement surrounding the Halo 3 video game has given stock investors confidence in Microsoft. They are predicting that this video game and its related products like Xbox 360 video game consoles, action figures and the Xbox 360 Live game that subscribed members can play on the Internet will put Microsoft far ahead of its main competitors Sony and Nintendo.

Playstation 3 and Wii consoles have dominated the hearts and minds of those who play video games due to their technological advances, but neither of those two video game consoles has a game like Halo 3 attached to it with such a huge fan base.

Microsoft has been very clever to marry the Halo 3 video game to their Xbox 360 video game console. Having the Halo 3 name and design on the console is sure to boost the sales of it and bring in more revenue to Microsoft through their Entertainment and Devices division.

So far, those who play video games are giving Halo 3 rave revues and it looks like Microsoft has hit a home run with this product. They are well on their way to regaining the crown as the king of video games and video game consoles. Halo 3 has proven to be a very good investment for them, and this has helped the value of the Microsoft stock. It has risen almost 2 percent in just one week and things are looking good for this scrappy, creative and innovative company.

Michael P. Connelly is an Author, Artist and award-winning Filmmaker who writes on a variety of topics that effect people in their every day lives.

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