Halo 3 SKUs for Xbox 360 blast top five at retailer

Three retail SKUs for Microsoft Corp.’s upcoming sequel Halo 3 blasted the top five at retail Amazon.com this week.

The Halo 3 standard edition on Mon. ranked as the No. 1 best-selling in Amazon’s Computer & Video Games division, followed by the Limited Edition SKU at No. 2 and the Legendary Edition at No. 5.

Halo 3, to be released on Sept. 25, is the final chapter in the original trilogy. Retail SKUs will range from $59 to $129 for the Legendary Edition.

Microsoft in May began a pre-release beta test for the title’s multiplayer component.

The previous entry in the series, Halo 2, generated $125 million in sales in the first 24 hours of release. The franchise has sold more than 14 million units worldwide.

Microsoft in Aug. price cut all Xbox 360 models from $20 to $50. The hardware ranked as the No. 3 best-selling video game hardware in Aug., selling 276,700 units during the month.

The Xbox 360 has sold 6.3 million units in the U.S. to date.