This is high from the rumor stack, but we knew you would want to hear it.

Best Buy began taking pre-orders for Halo 3 today for $59.99 and sets the launch date for May 15th, 2006. Microsoft will not confirm this date, and previous comments from Microsoft on Halo 3’s release placed it on the date of the PS3 launch. Recent rumors on Halo 3 have placed the games release closer to the of the Halo movie.

This also contradicts the EB Games pre-order page with a release date of June 30th, 2006.

Did Best Buy jump the gun and release the product page, as we have all seen retailers do in the past? We will have to wait and see. If this May 2006 date holds true for the release, perhaps gamers will see a fourth version released to coincide with the movie.

As the terms of almost all online retails’ pre-orders allows them to shift the delivery dates to match publisher release dates, it is likely that retailers are simply trying to lock in sales, but we can all hope.