Microsoft says "Halo" 1st-week sales were $300 mln

The news builds on Microsoft's previous announcement that the final chapter in its series of alien-battling shooting games did $170 million in sales in the first 24 hours after its September 25 debut.

The game is crucial to Microsoft's efforts to establish dominance in the $30 billion global video game industry that has been dominated by Sony Corp (6758.T) the past few years. Microsoft also competes against Nintendo Co Ltd's (7974.OS) Wii console, which has enjoyed stronger sales this year.

"Initial reports from retailers worldwide show console sales have more than doubled compared with the weekly average before the launch of 'Halo 3,"' Microsoft said in a statement.

Microsoft did not elaborate, but industry figures show that the company sold 277,000 Xbox 360 units in the United States in August and just over 11,000 units in Japan in that month.

Microsoft also said "Halo 3," which lets people play the game together or battle each other over the Internet, had spurred a "record number" of people to sign up for its paid Xbox Live online service.

The company said all three "Halo" games had sold more than 20 million copies. Earlier this year, Microsoft said the first two games had sold 14.8 million copies, which could mean "Halo 3" has sold as many as 5.2 million copies.

Shares in Microsoft rose 0.9 percent to close at $29.71 on Nasdaq. Over the past year, the stock has risen 6 percent.

(Reporting by Scott Hillis)