According to Gamestop, Halo 3 pre-orders have already passed the 4 million units mark. To put it into perspective, the pre-sales for Halo 2 were only about 1.5 million units, which at the time was a record number.Gears of War, which has been out for 6 months, is just barely at the 4 million units mark, and it's the best selling 360 game in the consoles history. To make Microsoft even more happy, Gamestop employees have stated that a number of pre-sales have gone to people who don't even own a 360 yet, but are waiting for the console price to come down over the months leading up to Halo 3. Hopefully this chapter in Master Cheif's story will actually live up to all the hype. There is definitely a smile under that helmet. Source