As we predicted (see review on left) Halo 3 has broken all kinds of sales records and has made other entertainment media look a bit rubbish in comparison.

We only have US sales figures for the time being, and to be honest they’re bigger than ours are ever going to be. In any case they illustrate that Halo 3 has, as retail analysts might put it, dun good.

First off Microsoft has pronounced Halo 3 as officially “the biggest entertainment launch in history.” How big, you yawningly enquire? Try a staggering $170 million in sales in the first 24 hours alone. That’s an impressive performance, to say the very least, especially as it turns out that it shades other ‘proper’ entertainment record breakers such as Spiderman 3 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Even so we’re not sure it quite deserves the hype Microsoft’s Shane Kim is giving it, although we do understand his excitement: “Halo 3 has become a pop-culture phenomenon. Not only is Halo 3 setting sales records, it’s also redefining entertainment.”

Well, wowsers, props to ya, big shout out to the Halo 3 massive and all that, but redefining entertainment how, exactly? The last time we looked Halo 3 hadn’t reinvented any wheels – apart from the one with fat cigar spokes, diamond-studded rims and tyres stuffed with crisp hundreds, that is. Nevertheless the big stats keep on a-rolling.

Yep, it seems that Halo 3 has broken pre-sales records too – 1.7 million trusting consumers pre-ordered the game in the USA, beating the previous record-holder, Halo 2, by nearly 500,000. And then we learn that more than a million US gamers went online to try and play the game within the first 20 hours, making it, and we quote, “the most active Xbox LIVE gaming day in history.”

So there you have it. The game has done well, which is a surprise to precisely nobody. Doubtless it’ll go on to become the most-played game on Xbox LIVE and to smash its sales targets. Deservedly so too, most likely. Although if they keep on overusing the phrase “in history” and don’t reign in the claims to be “redefining” anything the Halo 3 backlash might start earlier than expected.