It comes as no surprise to anyone that “Halo 3″ would be the best-selling game for the month of September. We also know that the game sold $170 million dollars worth of product on its launch day, but how well did it do in the days that followed? Today we learn the answer to that question thanks to the sales figures released by NPD Group which calculate that a whopping 3.3 million copies of “Halo 3″ were sold in the game’s first twelve days of release. That’s correct, the 3.3 million figure is not even for two solid full weeks let alone a whole month. To give you an idea of how staggering that figure is consider that the number two best-selling game on NPD’s list is Nintendo’s Wii Play with Wii Remote which sold 282,000 units, or roughly 3 million less than “Halo 3″ did.

Microsoft was also able to translate the “Halo 3″ hype into moving more of its Xbox 360 game units off of store shelves. The console leapt to the top of the sales charts with 528,000 360s sold in September, well over the Wii (with 501,000) and the PlayStation 3 (119,000). However Nintendo posted its best month ever selling Wiis for September and usually the company is in first place for console sales, so enjoy your one month of being at the top of the heap, Master Chief.

A massive buyout has taken place within the world of video game development. One of the world’s biggest makers and distributors of video games, Electronic Arts, has agreed to buy out the holding company that owns BioWare and Pandemic Studios, two leaders in the industry for the princely sum of $860 million dollars. EA pays $620 million to the investors of VG Holding Corporation, the company that bought the two software developers two years back for $300 million, as well as $155 million in equity to employees, assume $50 million dollars in stock options and pay $35 million to cover the cost of the deal.

BioWare is the developer of the two “Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic” and “Neverwinter Nights” games, both of which proved to be bestsellers and the choice of many for game of the year. Since those two licenses are owned by third parties the intellectual properties are not included in the EA deal. What is covered are all the original IPs that BioWare and Pandemic have created such as “Jade Empire”, “Mass Effect”, “Mercenaries” and “Saboteur”. As well BioWare is in development on a top secret massive multiplayer online game set for release sometime in 2009. That also becomes the property of EA.

Now that you’re all grown up and have that big paycheck to buy all the things that you wanted from your childhood the Brookstone people are hoping to entice you to part with $1,995 dollars for their tabletop Pac-Man arcade game. The game’s ROM is the same as the classic coin op from the 1980s right down to the sound effects, graphics and tricks that you could make if you were a Pac-Man champ. To further sweeten the impulse buy the arcade game also comes with the authentic versions of Galaga and Ms. Pac-Man. Now that $1,995 price tag doesn’t seem so crazy anymore, does it?

It seems that Microsoft is reacting to the increased competition from Sony and Nintendo for the upcoming holiday season. In anticipation to Sony’s forthcoming price reduction for its PS3 Microsoft will be releasing two Xbox 360 console and game bundles before the end of the month. The Pro Xbox 360 bundle pack ($349) will consist of an Xbox console (20 GB version) and copies of “Forza Motorsport” and “Marvel: Ultimate Alliance” while the 120 GB HDD Elite 360 pack ($449) will ship with the same two games. Essentially you will be getting two free games when you lay down your dollars for either one of these two systems. Microsoft also probably is hoping that the good will generated will in turn get you to open your wallet further and maybe pick up a copy of “Halo 3″ while you’re standing in line.

The ratings body that oversees the classification of video games in Britain has again banned the sale of “Manhunt 2″. The British Board of Film Classification ruled once again that the horror-laden action/puzzle game is not sufficiently toned down to substantiate a public release. “Manhunt 2 is distinguishable from recent high-end video games by its unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone in an overall game context which constantly encourages visceral killing with exceptionally little alleviation or distancing. There is sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed, and encouraged, in the game,” the BBFC said in its release.

“Against this background, the Board’s carefully considered view is that to issue a certificate to Manhunt 2, on either platform, would involve a range of unjustifiable harm risks, to both adults and minors, within the terms of the Video Recordings Act, and accordingly that its availability, even if statutorily confined to adults, would be unacceptable to the public.”

Remember when we told you last week that “Halo 3″ made a stunning $170 million dollars worth of sales on its release day? Microsoft is back to blow its trumpet again: the first week of “Halo 3″ sales made the company $300 million dollars. Keep in mind that this game is only available for a single video game console, the Xbox 360. That could be why sales of the 360 have more than doubled in the past week as people open their wallets and purses to jump on the Master Chief bandwagon.

Razer, a gaming hardware specialty company, today unveiled two new PC gaming accessories. The Razer Lycosa keyboard and Piranha headset are both priced at around $80 and will be available in November and October respectively.

The Razer Lycosa offers an extremely fast response time to allow for more efficient gameplay. Its keypads are illuminated, non-slip and made of rubber as well as being full programmable. There’s also customizable gaming profiles, a USB port, detachable wrist rest and dedicated media keys.

Belkin is getting some new gaming hardware as it today unveiled the n52te, a hybrid gaming keyboard enhanced by Razer gaming software. The n52te is priced at around $70.

The Belkin n52te is designed to help PC gamers across a variety of gaming genres, be it first person shooter or real-time strategy. It has 15 programmable keys built for quick access, a backlit keypad and scroll wheel, tactile feedback and can be toggled between three keymap states.

Richard Garriott has been one of the founders of computer role-playing games since the days of the Apple II. Under his gaming name of Lord British, the creator of the best-selling “Ultima” series and the first MMORPG “Ultima Online”, Garriott cemented his place in the video game history books. Now he wants to set another record: to be the first second generation astronaut (his father Owen Garriott was a NASA astronaut on Skylab and one of the early Shuttle missions) and the first-ever video game creator to fly into space. Garriott has announced his plans to fly to the International Space Station in October 2008 where he will help perform a number of science experiments.

“I am dedicating my spaceflight to science,” remarked Garriott in a press release. “It is my goal to devote a significant amount of my time aboard the space station to science, engineering and educational projects. I understand the necessity for conducting research in extreme environments whether it is collecting microorganisms from deep sea hydrothermal vents to carrying out experiments in the continuous micro-gravity of Earth orbit. We need to be adventurous in mind and stimulate our intellects to answer today’s most daunting scientific questions and to invent tomorrow’s technological marvels.”

Information on the release of the new “Rock Band” game from MTV has made its way into the blogosphere today flaunting a lower-than-expected price. The game is to be released for both the Sony PS3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 on November 23, both priced at $169.99. As an early surprise, Rock Star will also be available for the PS2 the following month on December 10, going for $10 less at $159.99.

The games will come bundled with a single guitar, microphone and a drum kit. Also, that guitar that comes bundled for the PS2 and PS3 won’t be tethered with any wires letting you rock out more freely but unfortunately the Xbox 360 will require you to plug it in, at least for a while. A wireless guitar model for the 360 is expected to come up sometime next year.

Check out these inflatable boxing gloves intended for use with the Nintendo Wii. They even come with a little pump so you don’t have to wear yourself out blowing them up before your bout. Inside you can grip the Wii Remote and Nunchuck controllers in each hand and have at it, giving you a little bit more realistic feel during on your boxing game. Just be sure not to get too carried away and hit anything around you, or each other for that matter.

Microsoft is happy with the tally of “Halo 3″‘s first day of release. The software giant has released a statement saying that sales figures for America alone for the first day of release for “Halo 3″ turned out to be $170 million dollars. That exceeds the $125 million in first day sales that the earlier installment, “Halo 2″, accomplished in 2004. It also gives Microsoft the bragging rights to claim that “Halo 3″ earned more on its first day than any previous Hollywood movie ever made on its opening weekend.

“‘Halo 3′ has become a pop-culture phenomenon,” said Shane Kim, the corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios. “Not only is ‘Halo 3′ setting sales records, it’s also redefining entertainment. Within the first 20 hours alone, we’ve seen more than a million Xbox LIVE members come online to play ‘Halo 3′ – that makes September 25 the most active Xbox LIVE gaming day in history.”

Today the Liverpool-based Bizarre Creations, one of the largest formerly-independent developers in the UK who are well-known for the Project Gotham Racing and Geometry Wars series, announced that they are becoming part of Activision alongside the companies other studios. In the announcement Bizarre assures us that this isn’t some act of desperation from a failing studio, but more a strategic move the help bring their games up to the “next level”. Bizarre Creations also states that they will continue to remain intact with no redundancies and that Activision will have a “hands off” way of running things.

Whether you’re a gamer or not it’s hard to ignore the recent build-up to what just might be the largest game rollout in history – the release of Microsoft’s “Halo 3″. Any closet hardcore gamers in your office could very possibly be outed on Tuesday as more than 10,000 retailers across the nation plan to be open at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday morning for the launch. Retailers participating in the Halo 3 “Midnight Madness” include Best Buy, Circuit City, Game Stop, Wal-Mart and more. Most of them will also be hosting special promotions along with the launch.

You don’t need to frequent one of these popular gaming retailers to catch some of the hype, though. More than likely you’ve already been exposed to the Halo 3 nation through places like Burger King or 7-Eleven who have Master Chief plastered on their products. Even NASCAR is getting into the frenzy with the No. 40 car at the Dover 400 Nextel Cup Series race featuring a Halo 3 paint theme in today’s race.

With billions of dollars up for grabs all based on the perception of who’s winning the next gen console war is it any wonder that representatives from Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft will use every chance they get to drop sales figures to the press? The latest salvo comes from the big M touting their Xbox 360 horn. According to gaming mag Next Generation Microsoft has sold 11.6 million consoles in 37 countries and more 360 games have been sold (24.3 million units) than all of the PlayStation 3 and Wii games combined (19.8 million units.) The company’s Xbox Live service is the largest social network in the living room with 2.6 million IM, text and voice messages sent over the service every day. To underscore their bragging rights, a new Xbox Live subscriber joins the network every 8 seconds.

Microsoft also provided the top ten most played Xbox Live games, the most downloaded demos and the most popular arcade downloads. We’ll show you the top ten most played Xbox Live games but to find out who made the top of the charts for the other two you will have to follow our link to the source site after the jump.