Though the Reach beta may be over, all you little Spartans out there now have a new date to mark on your calenders: September 14th, 2010. Okay, September 15th if you live in Japan, I guess.

What happens then? Why, just the beginning of the end of the Halo saga, that’s all.

Yep, Halo: Reach has a final release date, dropped this morning by Microsoft. In the same press release we also learn that more than 2.7 million players participated in the Reach beta, making it the largest console beta test to date – more than three times larger than the Halo 3 beta. We hope Bungie is doing good things with that 1,826 YEARS of play data before they scamper off to Activision.

GameStop seems to be pretty happy at the prospect of Reach as well, according to Senior VP of Merchandising, Bob McKenzie:

“There’s no doubt in my mind that ‘Halo: Reach’ will be one of the biggest games and hottest entertainment products of the year. Pre-orders for ‘Halo: Reach’ have been off the charts, with fans snapping up the limited and legendary editions since they were introduced just a month ago. Overall, it’s a real testament to the passion of the ‘Halo’ fan base.”

His brother Doug declined to comment, beyond telling us to “Take off, ya hoser!”

Slightly less than four months to go. Who’s excited?