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Halo 2 was widely publicized by Microsoft as being the largest money-making launch in the history of entertainment releases, with over 125 million in first day sales. Well look out, Master Cheif, you're facing off against Slime!

Retail reports out of Japan indicate that Square Enix and the Japanese retail community are expecting even more out of Dragon Quest VIII when it sees Japanese launch on 11/27. Apparently, Square Enix plans to ship more than 2.5 million copies of the game for its first shipment, arriving to stores in time for the Saturday launch.

As large as it is, the initial shipment may not be able to meet retailer demand. On top of the original allotment of 2.5 million copies promised by Square Enix, retailers had apparently demanded additional copies totaling over 700,000 units. According to one retail source, Square Enix will only be able to provide 40% of that amount, leading up to total shipments of 2.78 million-or-so copies of the game.

News source: IGN

When you consider how much Dragon Quest VIII actually costs, these numbers become even more impressive. Most stores are taking pre-orders for the game for the equivalent of $80, with same-day purchasers likely to have to shell out upwards of $90 at some stores. Assuming Square Enix manages to sell close to the initial allotment of 2.5 million copies on day one, DQVIII could see one day totals eclipsing even Halo 2's awesome numbers.

Of course, we're assuming that the game will do such massive business in its first day. But, given the large-scale pre-order campaign for the game, where Dragon Quest VIII is visible at every convenience store in the nation and the game's theme song can be heard at seemingly every street corner in Tokyo, first day sales could indeed be huge. Square Enix is anticipating such buzz from the game that it's opening up its customer support call center for special hours this Saturday and Sunday and will be fielding Dragon Quest VIII questions only.

Overall, the game should be able to pull Grand Theft Auto sized numbers. While Square Enix itself hasn't given out official estimates (all the numbers in this story are not official numbers), Hirokazu Hamamura of Enterbrain, the publisher of Japan's Famitsu videogame magazine, expects the game to top four million in sales eventually.

We should have some firm numbers early next week. But before that, stay tuned to IGNPS2 for coverage of the DQVIII launch and DQVIII itself on late Friday night in America.