yeah but not so much in europe.

the FPS fanbase has been increasing TRUE

but since 2 years, Gears of War + CoD4-5-6 have both GROWTH a lot and I do believe damaged Halo3 cartoonish appeal.

Halo, on Xbox, is not anymore the King ...

(the game will still perform stellar sales numbers but will have a lower mediatic impact outside the Halo hardcore fanbase)

Halo is not king anymore?  How was it the number 1 played game on Live last year?

I think Halo Reach will probably sell just below 3 so around 9-10 million LTD but around 4-5 million before Xmas, it does have some stiff competition in the king of FPS COD and (possibly) the revamped MOH. If GT5 releases in the summer then it will sell more in 2010 but not if it releases in the autumn/winter, i see it doing around 9-10 million LTD also. The new COD might outsell both of them in 2010 as despite the inevitable backlash it will get it seems Treyarch are trying something different and I think if the Vietnam rumours are true some people might be drawn in.

well if you take into account the ps3 and PC numbers its undeniable that the COD series is now number 1

well, put it like this :

Cod players are split between CoD4 - 5 - 6

Gears of War players are split between Gears 1-2

L4D players are split between L4D1-2

I m sure people still play a lot Halo3. You are right.
But the game is far from being a technical pearl, is far from being original and has been seriously outclassed by L4D/Gars and CoD.

The next game will sell but it will not be as big as Halo3 in term of global appeal : it is alone anymore on the Xbox system.

Absolute truth!  Starcraft will be selling long after the Halo series is a footnote in FPS history.   It's like, "power overwhelming."

1 Halo 3+ODST
2 Call of Duty 4
3 Modern Warfare 2
4 Call of Duty: WaW
5 Gears of War 2

CoD4 + CoD6 > Halo3 my guess ...

we dont have true numbers, so no one know at the end ...

EDIT : remember Halo 3 multiplayer is Halo3+ODST .... so this list is REALLY unfair compared to CoD ...

1 Halo 3
2 Call of Duty 4
3 Modern Warfare 2
4 Call of Duty: WaW
5 Gears of War 2
6 GTA IV (Purchase and download the full game)
7 Left 4 Dead
8 Halo 3: ODST

Halo 3: ODST has its own stats at number 8. This is only for campaign and Firefight co-op.

The number 1 slot is all Halo 3 dude. The only thing ODST added was 3 maps to it. So that unoriginal, outdated, and outclassed game had more people play it online last year than any other game. It is all about gameplay dude and Halo 3 is king. No false meta game stuff to keep people coming back, just pure fun. Plain and simple.

ah, sorry I didnt see the others slot !

well, you are right, but seem to still enjoy playing thos game after (2 years ?)

but I m not sure it will warranty Halo REACH success ...