By Lynn Little

1.5 million and counting.

That’s how many copies of Halo 2 that have been preordered in the United States. On November 9 thousands of shoppers will line up to be among the first to get their hands on the action-packed thriller. More than 6,500 U.S. participating retailers- including Gamestop, EB Games, Best Buy, Gamecrazy, Game Rush, Circuit City, Kmart Super Center stores and FYE, will open their doors at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, November 9 to allow for sales of Halo 2, Xbox consoles and Xbox Live Starter Kits.

“‘Halo 2’ is expected to be the biggest 24 hours for a video game title in retail history and is projected to bring in more revenue than any day one box office blockbuster movie in the United States,” said Peter Moore, corporate vice president of worldwide publishing and marketing for Xbox. “We call it the Halo 2 effect. We’ve even heard rumors of fan anticipation of the ‘Halo 2 flu’ on November 9.”