Halo 4 pre-order goods plant their flag in select retailers

In the old days, we used to just toss our cash upward into the wind, wait 3-5 business days, then find a game waiting on our doorstep. Today, retailers compete for your gaming dollars with pre-order incentives, and Halo 4 is the latest to play into that retail shuffle.

Depending on the retailer you hitch your Warthog to, you'll snag some very different things: Amazon will offer a golden "web" skin for use in multiplayer and a pair of exclusive emblems, while GameStop will offer the customizable "forest" skin for multiplayer. UK retailer GAME is tossing in the blue circuit armor skin, an arctic weapon skin and six specializations – these are further cosmetic tweaks to help you stand out from the rest of the cybernetic crowd.

Other specific UK retailers have their pre-order items listed past the break, like Blockbuster (you guys still have those over there?). And if you're really looking to buy everything with Halo 4 printed on it, the soundtrack and special editions are also tempting offers.

Halo 4 launches on November 6 worldwide, exclusively for the Xbox 360.

• GAME: Downloadable Blue Circuit Armour Skin, Arctic Weapon Skin and 6 specialisations

• HMV: Downloadable Locus Helmet, Purple Spartan Warrior Armour and Xbox LIVE Unicom Avatar Armour (if ordered in-store)

• Tesco: Halo 4 T-shirt and Downloadable Black Raptor Armour Skin

• Amazon: Downloadable Gold Web Armour Skin, Bulletproof Emblem and Spartan Emblem

• Blockbuster: Downloadable Xbox LIVE Spartan Warrior Avatar

• Play: Downloadable Deadeye Helmet

• Shop2net: Downloadable Assassin Emblem

• Grainger Games: Downloadable Red Pulse Armour Skin

• GameStop: Forest armor skin with customizable colors