NEWS - Friday, November 12, 2004
Halo 2 Strategy Guide: Bigger Than Clinton
’The Official Halo 2 Strategy Guide’ Has Biggest Random House, Inc. First-Day Sale Since Clinton’s ’My Life’ 270,000 - Plus Copies Sold On Nov 9th NEW YORK, Nov. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- THE OFFICIAL HALO 2 GUIDE, a user strategy guide for the sensationally successful new Halo 2 Xbox video game sold a whopping 270,000+ copies on Tuesday, November 9th, its first day on sale across the United States and Canada, becoming one of the fastest-selling new books of the decade, Random House, Inc. announced today. Published by the company’s Prima Games imprint, the 224 - page trade paperback had a first printing of 1.1 million copies, and has become the Random House, Inc. title with the biggest first day on sale since Bill Clinton’s MY LIFE release last June. Prima went back to press immediately for another 100,000 books. Licensed by Prima in an exclusive agreement with the game’s publisher, Microsoft, THE OFFICIAL HALO 2 GUIDE ($16.99) went on sale simultaneously with the game. Many retailers across the country opened their doors at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday in order to meet pent-up demand. The full color guide offers more than two hundred pages of strategies, tips, and maps for players of the hugely anticipated videogame, whose first- day sales set records for the videogame industry. Prima Games partnered with European publisher Piggyback, to create a unique book with detailed graphics, artwork, and maps. Behind-the-scenes, advance access to the game allowed the guide’s creators to provide readers with Xbox live features and multi-player tips exclusive to the book. "We are very pleased with the extraordinary results from the guide’s first day," commented Debra Kempker, President and Publisher, Prima games. "Halo 2 is so revolutionary in the video game industry and we’re thrilled to be a part of its success." The fifteen-year-old Prima Games imprint, based outside Sacramento, California, is part of the Random House Information Group division of Random House, Inc. It specializes in the publication of video-game strategy guides and has exclusive licenses to create guides for such games as Madden, Gran Turismo, the Sims, and the forthcoming Half-Life 2, on sale November 16th. Source: Random House Information GroupSource: http://media.prnewswire.com
