Microsoft today has announced that Halo 3 has officially surpassed 1 million pre-order sales in North America. While well short of the rumored 4 million we reported months ago, Microsoft notes that retailers have labeled Halo 3 presales as "the fastest in video game history." All of that is well and good, but it is nothing, nothing compared to the deluge of marketing madness that is fast approaching. Microsoft has lined up a veritable army of marketing partners including Burger King, Mountain Dew, Pontiac, 7-Eleven, Doritos, and Comcast. In addition, Halo 3 is the official sponsor of the Projekt Revolution tour this year, featuring popular groups like Linkin Park and My Chemical Romance. All the kids tell us that these "bands" are "dope" so we're assuming Microsoft has made a smart move in sponsoring them.

As Joystiq puts it, a perfect storm of products is currently heading our way, including Burger King meals, Slurpees, a custom Pontiac G6 GXP Street, Comcast content, and Mountain Dew, all emblazoned with Halo 3 branding. In other words, if you're sick of all the hype that Halo 3 is getting now, you might as well go into hiding until 2008. Of course, by then, the Halo 3 toys will be rolling out, so you might not be safe then either. We suppose you should really just give in and drink some Mountain Dew, eat a burger, jam out to Linkin Park, and stop off at 7-11 on your way home for a Slurpee and some Doritos before settling in to watch some Comcast cable, because Halo 3 isn't going anywhere for a while.