Microsoft appears to have its battle rifle poised to fire a shot right over Sony’s bow. It seems the Halo 3 release date might just be Nov. 16, one day before Sony’s launches the Play Station 3.

Kotaku came across the little tidbit about the Best Buy site. It seems other retailers, like EB Games, haven’t set the date in stone as of yet, but that doesn’t mean Best Buy’s guess isn’t correct. (EB, in fact, only has the graphic novel listed on a search for Halo 3, but hey, maybe they’re behind the times?)

With the back and forth between Microsoft and Sony heating up in prep for the PS3 launch, the release date would be a huge coup for the Xbox 360. Bill Gates has been quoted as saying that kind of timing would be "...perfect. The day Sony launches, and they walk right into Halo 3."

Just imagine all those gamers lining up to get their hands on the PS3 and realizing the 360 is not only cheaper, it has some major new Master Chief action, too!

Add to that the speculation Microsoft intends to lower the 360’s pricing in time for the PS3 launch and the entire concept of the Halo 3 release date coinciding with the PS3 launch gets even more interesting.

While Sony says the PS3 will be powerful enough to replace a PC, and it even has the not-so-highly-sought-after Blue-ray technology, can it compete effectively against a price-reduced Xbox 360 and a shiny copy of Halo 3?

Looks like we might get to find out in November.