Well I have no idea, the beta helped for sure, if it wasn't for the beta I wouldn't be surprised it would end up doing worse. Yeah Gears of war 2 gave a lot of gamers a bad taste and another game that was overhyped. I know I sound like I am flaming but I am 100% sure that a lot of players who played Gears of War 3 were really loving it and after the beta tried the Gears of War 2 multiplayer and thought it was shit...