SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 27, 2007 (AFP) - Sales of exclusive Xbox 360 video game 'Halo 3' rocketed to 170 million dollars on opening day, marking an historic debut that outdid the final Harry Potter novel and the film 'Spiderman 3.'

Microsoft confirmed on Thursday that the third installment in the 'Halo' game trilogy had the highest grossing launch day in entertainment history after going on sale in the United States at midnight on Monday.

'Halo 3 has become a pop-culture phenomenon,' said Microsoft Game Studios vice president Shane Kim.

WASHINGTON, Sept 24, 2007 (AFP) - Microsoft hopes the launch Tuesday of its much-anticipated 'Halo 3' game will turn into another blockbuster that will fend off challenges from Nintendo's Wii and Sony's Playstation 3.

With plenty of hype and talk of record-breaking sales, Microsoft was to release the game in the United States at 12:01 am Tuesday (0401 GMT) and in 37 countries by the end of the week with a series of high-profile events.

WASHINGTON, Sept 24, 2007 (AFP) - The gaming world braced Monday for the launch of 'Halo 3,' expected to help Microsoft and its XBox 360 console in its battle against Nintendo's Wii and Sony's Playstation 3.

Microsoft was to release the game in the United States at 12:01 am Tuesday (0401 GMT) and in 37 countries by the end of the week with a series of high-profile events.

TOKYO, Sept 24, 2007 (AFP) - Video-game machines, long seen by parents as a formidable enemy in the battle to get their children to study, are advancing into the Japanese classroom.

In a growing number of cities, teachers hoping to engage children born in the fast-moving digital age are using game machines such as the Nintendo DS, the hugely popular double-screen handheld console, to draw in and hold students.

The strategy seems to be working in one Tokyo classroom, where students come for extra-curricular maths lessons each Saturday morning.

MAKUHARI, Japan, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) - Sony said Thursday it was delaying until next year the launch of an online virtual universe for the PlayStation 3 where users will be able to socialise, shop and even go to the movies.

Sony had planned to launch 'Home' this year but PS3 owners will now have to wait until early 2008, the head of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc, Kazuo Hirai, revealed at the Tokyo Game Show.

The delay is another setback to Sony, which has much riding on the success of the PS3 but faces fierce competition from Microsoft's XBox 360 and Nintendo's Wii.

MAKUHARI, Japan, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) - Sony said Thursday that it was bringing the rumble feature back with a new PlayStation 3 controller, but there was no mention of any price cut for the console.

In a keynote speech at the Tokyo Game Show near the Japanese capital, the head of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc, Kazuo Hirai, said that 40 new PS3 software titles would be released by the end of the year.

Sony has 'reflected on the basics and we want to make an interactive game machine for consumers to enjoy,' Hirai said.

SINGAPORE, Sept 6, 2007 (AFP) - Welcome to the new world.

Video games on personal computers, mobile phones and other devices are bringing people together in a new community -- and Asia is playing a huge part in the fast-expanding sector, industry leaders said as a conference opened Thursday.

The first Games Convention Asia, which lasts until Sunday, brings together regional industry figures who are holding a conference, as well as games developers exhibiting their latest products for the public.

TOKYO, Aug 23, 2007 (AFP) - A virtual version of Tokyo will open its doors on Friday, giving people -- or at least their alter egos in the fictional world of Second Life -- a chance to explore its pop culture from their computers.

For the opening day, Virtual Tokyo will offer a cyber athletics competition, one day before the real-life world athletics championships get underway in Japan's second metropolis Osaka.

TOKYO, Aug 22, 2007 (AFP) - A Japanese game maker said Wednesday it would withdraw arm-wrestling machines from arcades after three players -- two of them foreigners -- broke their arms.

Players would choose a strength level from 10 characters, ranging from a maid to a professional wrestler, and face off with an artificial arm on the other side of the table.

A 25-year-old South Korean man broke his right arm while playing the game in Osaka, while a 19-year-old Frenchman and 24-year-old Japanese man also suffered arm fractures, the company said.

BEIJING, Aug 17, 2007 (AFP) - A Chinese company is suing the developer of the immensely popular online game World of Warcraft for allegedly using its fonts without permission, state media reported.

Chinese IT firm Founder Electronics Co. claims it lost more than one billion yuan (132 million dollars) through the unauthorised use of five of its fonts in the multiplayer role-playing game, Xinhua news agency said late Thursday.

TOKYO, July 27, 2007 (AFP) - Japanese game company Sega Sammy Holdings Inc. said Friday it slipped into the red in its first quarter as its businesses aimed at children slipped.

The company -- born through a 2004 merger between video-game maker Sega and pinball machine company Sammy -- posted a net loss of 5.08 billion yen (42.87 million dollars) during the three months to June, reversing the year-earlier net profit of 779 million yen.

TOKYO, July 26, 2007 (AFP) - The Wii outsold the PlayStation 3 almost fivefold in the quarter to June as Nintendo ratchets up the pressure on Sony in the multibillion dollar video game industry, figures showed Thursday.

Sony said Thursday it had sold 710,000 PS3s worldwide in the three months to June, a day after Nintendo reported Wii sales of 3.43 million for the same period.

The PS3 'sales figure was somewhat weaker than our target but we still believe that the main battle is still ahead of us,' Sony's chief financial officer, Nobuyuki Oneda, told reporters.