BEIJING, May 14 (Xinhuanet) -- Microsoft expects the launch of its upcoming "Halo 3" video game to surpass that of "Halo 2," which pulled down 125 million U.S. dollars in sales in its first 24 hours, a company executive was quoted as saying by media reports Monday.

    "I definitely believe that 'Halo 3' is going to be bigger than 'Halo 2'. Retailers know what 'Halo 2' did and they are not going to want to be caught out of stock," Shane Kim, head of Microsoft Game Studios, said, suggesting the next chapter of the fast-paced shooter trilogy will help it fend off competition from Sony and Nintendo.

    With Halo 2 for Windows Vista, Microsoft is drafting the battle-hardened super soldier called Master Chief into a brand new mission: Convincing gamers who have abandoned the PC for living room game consoles to come back and give it another try.

    Microsoft staged previews in New York and San Francisco on Friday in advance of the public test, or "beta" of the game, which goes live next Wednesday.

    A public beta is unusual for a console game, and the one for the flagship title for Microsoft's Xbox 360 is being closely watched by gamers eager to know how it looks and plays, and whether it will live up to the considerable buzz.

    "I definitely believe that 'Halo 3' is going to be bigger than 'Halo 2'. Retailers know what 'Halo 2' did and they are not going to want to be caught out of stock," said Shane Kim.(Agencies)