For gamers who have been waiting for the third and final chapter in Bungie Studios’ immensely popular FPS “Halo” series for the Xbox you can start counting the days left until it’s in your hands. Microsoft reports that “Halo 3″ has gone gold and the master copy is off to the manufacturing plant to be turned and burned into millions of Xbox 360 game discs. The release date for “Halo 3″ is slated for Tuesday September 25. Barring an act of God there is nothing that will stop Microsoft from reaching that release date and making tens of millions from game sales on launch day.

“This is a huge milestone for us and a big cause for celebration at Bungie and Microsoft Game Studios,” said Harold Ryan, the studio head at Bungie Studios. “This is the game we’ve always wanted to make and certainly the best game our studio has developed. We can’t wait for gamers to get their hands on it on Sept. 25.”

When “Halo 2″ arrived for the original Xbox console back in November 2004 Microsoft reported that the game sold over $125 million dollars in sales within the first 24 hours of its release. Can “Halo 3″ meet or beat that number? Does the Master Chief look like he’s worried about it?