Here’s a new strategy from Microsoft and developer Ensemble: Halo Wars will be released in America four days later than in Europe, and five later than in Japan.

The game is scheduled for release here on March 3, 2009. Japan and the Asia Pacific get it on February 26. Europe, the Middle East and Africa will see a Feb. 27 release date.

The action-based strategy game is exclusive to the Xbox 360, and it’s the first game in the Halo series rated lower than Mature, at "T" for Teen. With less than a few months from release, pre-orders are happening now. We’ve previously reported on the nature of the incentives for doing so -- you get an in -game Warthog with flame decals, but it’s just a cosmetic change with no gameplay advantages.

A Limited Collector’s Edition, which is estimated to cost $79.99, is also available for pre-order. This includes the Honor Guard version of the in-game Wraith (again, no gameplay perks), a Spirit of Fire patch, a graphic novel, six leader cards, and the Mythic Map Pack for Halo 3, which will include the maps Assembly, Orbital, and Sandbox.

Not to sound arrogant, but the US is typically on top of the list when it comes to release dates, especially with an American company like Microsoft. The folks at Gamerscore Blog, who broke this news, didn’t explain the discrepancy in release dates. We hope to hear a reason the near future because, you know, we Yankees are a demanding lot.