Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) Halo 2 video game racked up sales of $125 million the day it hit the market. The world's largest software company believes that sales of the new Halo 3 game will be even larger. Aside from a version of the game for the Xbox 360, there will also be a Halo 3 for the Microsoft Zune.

According to one video game review publication, the newest version of the game is meant to fend off competition for the Sony (NYSE: SNE) PS3 and Nintendo Wii.

Video game industry experts say that Halo 3 has four million pre-orders from retailers, compared with 1.5 million for the launch of Halo 2. If that is true, it may add to the troubles for the already shaky start of the new PS3. Most surveys show the new Sony platform's sales lagging the unexpectedly popular Wii and the Xbox.

Wall Street and the gaming industry did not expect that Xbox, which was launched in late 2001, had much of a chance of catching Sony. The Japanese company simply had too large a lead. But, it is now Sony that is struggling to move back into first place. PS3 problems have even been blamed for the departure from Sony of PlayStation creator Ken Kutaragi.

The Microsoft way is to enter a business, out-develop and out-spend competition, and then finish them off. It seems to be working against Sony.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

Ken Kutaragi, the chief mind behind Sony Corporation's (ADR) (NYSE: SNE) enormous PlayStation empire, will be leaving the Japanese electronics giant in June at the company's next annual shareholder's meeting. According to many industry pundits, the failure of the PlayStation 3 to almost immediately become world dominant was the impetus that made Kutaragi step down (more than be asked to leave).

The PlayStation franchise has been enormously popular for Sony and has led to the sale of 200 million gaming consoles worldwide. The decision to include a next-generation DVD player (Blu-ray) into the PlayStation 3, though, was a mistake that added hundreds of dollars to the console's price. In effect, the $599 price (for the upscale model) was out of reach for many and the console's sell-through has been a tad dismal to this point because of it (and possibly other reasons)

Meanwhile, Nintendo Co., Ltd's (ADR) (OTC:NTDOY) "lowly" Wii gaming console has taken the gaming world by storm, outselling both the PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Corporation's (NASDAQ: MSFT) Xbox 360 by a wide margin. It comes down to engaging customers (players) emotionally instead of having the highest-tech onboard, and Nintendo knows this. While Kutaragi will go down as Sony's most important executive (possibly ever), his latest creation may continue to flop and die a slow death. Although, it's only been six months since the PlayStation 3's release -- is the market (as always) just looking for instant gratification here. But, if Sony can't recover from the PlayStation 3 mess, will CEO Howard Stringer be the next one to "step down"?