It’s “the biggest game Microsoft has ever released,” said Phil Spencer, the corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios, in a statement. “Every major installment has grown in scope and popularity, firmly cementing the ‘Halo’ franchise as one of the most popular entertainment properties in the world over the past decade.”

The amount taken is more than its predecessor, Halo 3 which tool $170 million in its first 24 hours and is proof positive that the worldwide computer games industry is at least as big now as the movie industry.

Microsoft needs popular games such as Halo, that are designed in house, to recoup the massive losses buit up in developing and subsidising the XBox and XBox 360 consoles.

Microsoft are claiming that Halo:Reach is the biggest entertainment launch of 2010 in the United States.  In this they have taken into account the initial takings of movies such as Iron man 2 and Toy Story 3, during their opening weekends.  Some people are speculating that the forthcoming launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops could be even bigger.

Halo 3 previously held the title for the biggest selling game of all time, a record now held by another XBox 360 title, Call of Duty 2: Modern Warfare.  Halo 4 looks set to propel the series back to the top of the charts.

The first Halo game was the launch title for Microsoft’s original XBox console and was as well received then as it is now.

Last month, the new game was leaked onto the Internet and appeared in file-sharing websites such as The Pirate Bay.  Microsoft has threatened to permanently cut gamers who illegally download the game off from the XBox Live gaming service.

Halo 4 has generated a huge amount of interest so far and is an example of how well the gaming industry has  weathered the global economic downturn.  The latest version puts the player in the role of a super-soldier called Noble 6, in battles against an alien collective.

Microsoft’s entertainment director, Stephen McGill has described the new release as the “biggest Halo release ever” and the marketing budget has grown by 60% since the release of the last title.

Source : BBC

Garena supports computer games like Warcraft 3 Frozen Throne, Quake 4, Counterstrike 1.6 and Source, Starcraft, Left 4 Dead and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

Each user has to register an account with the Garena service to use the software program. The software itself is divided into various rooms for the games which can be joined by the user. Each room is further divided into chat rooms of a maximum of 255 players each who can use community features like chat, private messaging or buddy-lists.

Games are started from these individual rooms by selecting the executable of the computer game on first start. Garena will remember the settings from then on and start the game automatically from then on.

Games can then be created and joined normally in the computer game that has been started (which is usually network play). Garena offers game leagues, clan creation, tournaments, a ladder and a client that is available in many different languages. The two main benefits of Garena are the community features and the network play (which removes the game key requirement for some games).