Are they more accurate than Sony or Nintendo? 

No, I think we already disscused this. I beleive is was ssome fabricated number by someone. They're high, but not 4million high.

EDIT:lol 69th post :D

I don't think it's a mistake cause even the people who are complaining with changes in the game will still end up buying it. So a big beta is actually a very good thing to keep the hype really high... Also, Halo 3 sales are going to smash Gears sales to tiny little pieces. Also, Halo 3 Beta bumped the Crackdown sales big time which is another great feat for MS. Sony and Nintendo should release Betas of games that are their biggest hitters with other games that are less so and they will make money off of it.

 Source?

It could go either way IMO. Either they do release something around Halo and it takes some Halo purchases away, or they release something around Halo and it doesn't get picked up. Even if the number is not official I am guessing the preorders are still extremely high, I remember I was the only one of my friends who reserved H2, my friends thought they would be able to pick it up that day and couldn't because it sold out. If these same types of people are indeed are still wanting H3 they now know they will need to preorder if they expect to play it launch day.

The hype has died down because everyone is playing the Beta. When that beta ends and they start tinkering with the game again even more hype will build. Plus these people are complaining about the graphics of a multi-player beta. The Halo multi-player graphics were always a step down from the single-player game so just wait. For one thing you can't even compare Halo 3 to Gears of War. They both have 2 different art styles, and move at a different pace. I love how people say Halo 3 won't be next-gen if the graphics can't top Gears. I didn't know the next-gen was all about graphics. To me the beta looks great. The graphics could stay the way they are and I would be happy. The game is as fun as it has ever been and that's what matters.

That's a good point. Microsoft assisted Crackdown big time. Without the Halo 3 beta hype, that game might only have half of it's sales now.

And I do think Halo 3 will beat Gears of War sales wise, and Gears has passed 4 million recently, I think. 

first, i was at a gamestop and they told me the real number is around 1 million pre-orders thus far (but if you look at amazon.com, 2 of the top five selling 360 games are halo 3 and halo 3 legendary edition pre-orders, i think that's very telling) second, i am personally really enjoying the beta and look forward to "finishing the fight" and i think most halo fans are quite pleased. I think what some people are forgetting is that halo is a bit of a "hardcore" game and doesn't normally appeal to casuals... if you didn't like halo 1 and 2 then you probably won't like halo 3.. anyone expecting a totally different game will be sadly disappointed, but anyone expecting halo will be happy.

There is nothing that Nintendo or SOny can release that will take sales away from halo, nothing, people, even the 2 people who are disgruntled with the beta (I have it it is a lot of fun, but needs some work) will buy Halo 3. guarenteed. I mean, why do so many people but Madden year after year, even though it sucks year after year, except Halo will have somethin over Madden, and that is it isnt a mediocre game.

 Yep, I've been saying it all along. The Halo 3 beta was a bad move. It kills hype. Most of the hype from a huge title is never having played it before. That anticipation of ripping the shrink wrap off a brand new game the world hasn't seen yet. Hype is all about ANTICIPATION of something you've never played, nor has 99.9% of the world. It's like waiting for Christmas presents the night prior.

Halo 3 definitly spoiled a little bit of all that with the Beta. No question. I also actually think they spoiled a little more with a Sep 25 release date. Even though the game was done, the MOST hype is always for a November release. Make you wait even longer. Release near Christmas when that holiday feeling is strong and you expect blockbuster games. Those types of things. Selfishly, I'd rather get the game two months earlier. But from a pure HYPE perspective, no beta and a Nov release would be better.  September means some other game like GTA 4 could come along in Oct or Nov and steal Halo 3's thunder a bit.

That said, it's still Halo. So it will still be huge even with these marketing missteps. At least the Beta was only three weeks, so there will be a lot of time to build hpye between the end of the beta and release. Also, Bungie as not shown any of the campaign, and I think the gfx will be improved on that over what we expect based on the Beta.