Over 4 million Halo 3 preorders at GameStop?

via gamespot

Source: A variety of reports linking back to the console partisans at Xbox Evolved.

What we heard: Even skeptics of Halo 2's sales potential on the PC--which is limited only to Vista-enabled machines--can't contest the fact the game is a monster hit on the Xbox. As of March 31, it has sold nearly 5.7 million copies in the US alone, according to the NPD Group. The industry research firm pegs combined retail sales of Halo 2, the Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack, the Halo Triple Pack, and both versions of the original Halo: Combat Evolved at a grand total of 11.6 million. And, again, those are just the US retail figures: On its first day on the market in 2004, the game shipped 2.38 million copies worldwide, generating over $125 million in 24 hours.

Needless to say, the level of interest in Halo 3 is somewhere in the stratosphere. Between 60,000 and 80,000 inquiries about the game are made on GameSpot each day, and the mere mention of its title sends story comments into the hundreds. So when reports began to surface today that at least four million people have pre-ordered Halo 3, they seemed perfectly reasonable.

However, at second glance, the news of Halo 3's preorder milestone seems much shakier. They stem from a single report on Xbox Evolved citing "information at five different Greater Cincinnati Gamestop locations." The console fan site claims the four million figure was "verified at all locations" even though "a document showing this information was not revealed." Also, the report claims four million people preordered the game via GameStop alone. That figure seems awfully high, given the fact that GameStop only accounts for around one quarter of US game sales, and there were only 10.4 million Xbox 360s worldwide as of January.

The official story: Calls to six different San Francisco GameStop and EB locations produced an almost uniform answer. "We don't have access to that kind of information," one manager said incredulously. "And even if we did, we wouldn't give it out without the OK from corporate." For its part, GameStop's corporate office had not responded to inquires from GameSpot as of press time.

Furthermore Microsoft--who presumably would want to tell everything with an opposable thumb about four million Halo 3 preorders--refused to even address the report. "No comment," was all a recalcitrant rep would say.

Bogus or not bogus?: Bogus that four million Halo 3 GameStop preorders have been officially confirmed in any capacity. Not bogus that at least four million gamers worldwide will scoop up the Master Chief's adventure in its first few months on the market.