MW2 sold 5.5 mill week one on 360 alone?!?! 0_o!!!!  Thats just raunchy as hell! 

I don't think Halo: Reach will come within even a million of what MW2 did its first week.

MW2 is basically more popular than any other game out there!

I doubt that halo:reach will outsell halo 3 for the first week.

Oh yeah Halo Reach will beat MW2 sales in both debut and lifetime on 360. I expect Reach to do 7-10 million day one. Lifetime = 16-18 million.

Halo 3 / userbase at start - 11m
Reach / userbase at start - about 40m

Halo 3 is still the top game on XBL.

I think that Reach sales will destroy the sales of MW2. 5m - day one / 6m - week one

People stop saying that MW2 sold 5.5m copies on X360 week one because it's just a prediction. Honestly I think it will be closer to 4.8m.

MW2 sold about 3.8m on X360 day one, do you really think that it will push another 1.7m later this week, I don't think so.

Reach can easilly outsell MW2 week one sales if MS and Bungie will play it right.
1. it is the last Halo game from Bungie.
2. it is the last Halo game on 360 and that's the ultimate multiplayer game for 360 as well since there will loads of people to play with even years after xbox 3 release.
3. beginning of the new Halo series.
4. beginning of the whole Halo story.
5. one of the most anticipated games of 2010 if not THE most anticipated game of 2010.
6. it may be released with some Natal related stuff so it will also push Natal buyers to get Halo game since it will be THE core title for a Natal controller.

I think MW has taken the console FPS crown from Halo. Halo Reach is going to be a fucking awesome game, but I don't think it will touch these sales.

The real question is 'who is playing MW' and 'who is playing Halo'. By this I mean, what is the demographics for each game on the Xbox, what is the overlap, and then try and correlate sales predictions based on this demographics. Of course we do not have this information, but we do have some trends over the last 2 years. My suspicion is that the demographics of Halo encompasess a larger age spectrum.

1. Halo 3 and CoD4 were both released within a couple of months of each other 2 years ago. 2 Years is a petty long time, and both have sold well over this time. Halo 3 is outselling CoD4 10:7 (roughly), and for the last 18 months, month over month has outsold CoD4. This suggests that Halo 3 is more popular than CoD4.

2. Halo 3 frequently has entered the top 10 sales per week over the last several months.

3. Though both rated 'M', Halo 3 is more sci-fi, more unrealistic, and cartoony. Thus parents are not opposed to their kids playing this game. CoD is more realistic, more blood, and has mature themes. Parents are less likley to allow their kids to play this game (I have a 9 year old, and I let him play Halo3, but will not let him play CoD). Halo 3 is like star Wars, yes there is violence, but I never see blood when playing multiplayer.

4. Halo Universe is quite popular. Many books, many toys, costumes, and soon Anime cartoon. The Marketing of Halo 3 was far far greater than CoD:MW2. Halo Mountain Dew, Halo posters everywhere, Spike TV and other channels had TV shows of the midnight launches with the numerous parties across the country. Everywhere in Walmart/Target/BB etc, big cardboard cutouts of master chief with a battle rifle and the slogan 'finish the fight'.

5. As others ave mentioned, if this is Bungies last Halo game, everyone will want a piece of it.

6. Many people have read the books, and the reality is that the story has not ended. There are many other stories (like the ending in 'Ghosts of the Onyx' (my favorate halo Book) that needs resolution, and if Reach follows some of the story lines from the books, we are in for a real treat. Master Chief is NOT the only surviving spartan, there are others........

7. Halo 3 is the most played on-line multiplayer game (uptill this week). Again this suggests Halo 3 more popluar than COD4.

8. Halo: Reach will be released 3 years after Halo 3, CoD:MW2 released 2 years after. Fans of Halo 3 have to wait 1 extra year, more wait = more anticipation. Halo ODST and Halo Wars do not count. They are tools to expand the story line, nothing more. It keeps that Halo name in the headlines and just wet our appetite for more.

9. Halo 2 was the 2nd most played game on Live after Gears of War, up till Halo 3 was released.

10. I will concede that as a franchise, CoD:MW reaches out to more gamers because it is multiplatform, thus as a franchise as a whole it could be considered more popular. The problem is we will never know how popular Halo could be if it was released multiplatform. With that being said, I still suggest that Halo is more popular than CoD on the Xbox (maybe not this week, or perhaps till halo Reach is released, but then again comparing a new game to a 2 year old game is not really fair either).

With all that said, Halo and Xbox are almost synonymous, just like Mario and Nintendo. Games come and go, but at the end, there will always be Halo.

You actually think it's possible for Reach to sell on its first day what Halo 3 has only managed to sell in its LIFETIME?

I'm speechless.

LOL...that might be a bit of a stretch for Day 1 sales...maybe Week One at 6-7 million, imho.  I'm not sure how people are coming to the conclusion that MW is now bigger than Halo...can somebody explain it to me...and saying "Look at these week one sales..."  is a riddiculous statement...I'll point out hte attach rate of Halo 3 vs. MW 2 isn't in the favor of MW.   

play to its strengths and become a million seller easily?