Microsoft said its new video game, Halo 3, generated more than $170m (£84m) in sales within 24 hours of release - the most money earned in a day by an entertainment product.

First day sales of Halo 3 easily exceeded those of Halo 2, which brought in $125 million when it came out three years ago, and also eclipsed takings of the most popular Hollywood films, including Spiderman 3.

More than 1.7 million copies of the game were pre-ordered in America, the company said, and more than 1.4 million had gone online to play it since its release at midnight on Monday.

Reports that some discs were scratched by packaging - a problem Microsoft has agreed to fix - appear not to have dented enthusiasm for the game, which follows the exploits of a towering, armoured soldier called Master Chief.

Microsoft is relying on Halo 3 to boost sales of its Xbox 360 console - the only unit on which the game plays - in its battle with the Nintento Wii and Sony's PlayStation 3.

Analysts said the debut was impressive and described the game as "the leading first person shooter on console" but warned that in order to boost sales of its Xbox 360 platform Microsoft needed to release games that appealed to a wider audience.

With an 'install base' of 1.5 million in the UK, the Xbox 360 still lagged behind PlayStation 2, which has sold 8.9 million units, and while Halo 3 would "speak" to existing Xbox 360 gamers, Microsoft needed to release "more mainstream content" they said.

"This is a very important title for Xbox 360 - sales of Xbox have hit a brick wall in Europe and this is the kind of game that can drive console sales. It needs to be put in context, though," Piers Harding-Rolls, an analyst with Screen Digest, said.

UK sales of Halo 3 are expected to be similar to its predessor, which sold 700,000 copies, Mr Harding-Rolls said, adding that Xbox had the strongest catalogue any of the consoles in the lead up to Christmas - traditionally a strong period for console sales.

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