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The Guinness Book of World Records Gamer's Edition has already bestowed one or two dubious honors. Today, they added one with more concrete statistics to back it up. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, according to "the global authority on record-breaking", had the most successful entertainment launch in history.

MW2 made $401.6 million on its first day on sale, coming from about 5.8 million units sold. It cost about $50 million to produce but counting marketing, disks pressed, and shock collars to keep Jason West and Vince Zampella submissive, it cost about $200 million. (Via Guinness and the LA Times.)

That's miles ahead of Twighlight: New Moon's sparkly first-day box-office takings of $72.7 million in the US. Divide that by $7.50 (the average ticket price in the US for 2009), and about 9.7 million Americans went to see it. Ironically or otherwise. (Via Box Office Mojo and the Motion Picture Association of America.)

Book sales are typically measured in units sold, and on its first day Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows sold 11 million copies in the US and UK combined. The book was sold at a discount almost everywhere, but the New York times estimated a $170 million day-one revenue for the US. (Via the New York Times and the Telegraph.)

So for the shareholders, their only concern is met — MW2 was probably the fastest money-making entertainment entity of all-time. Most successful though? That depends on your definition of "success" — aren't acclaim (from critics and gamers), long term revenue, or the amount of people who actually played it important? Probably not to Bobby Kotick, but this is supposed to be a gamer's book of records, not a business man's.

Numbers like these can be misused by gaming evangelists to exaggerate the relevance of our hobby — individual games make more money than films but that's because they cost more than a movie ticket. When the film-makers have counted the money from DVD and Blu-Ray sales and rentals, they have a bigger number.

And incidentally: how can any record be set for "all-time" without the aid of time travel?

(Original story via Joystiq.)