In the first lucky break for Canadian gamers in industry history, the Canadian unit of Wal-Mart will sell the standard edition of Bungie's Halo 3 (X360) for CA$59.83 to match the game's standard $59.99 price point among U.S. retailers, Wal-Mart Canada announced today. Our gaming friends up north have typically paid a CA$10 premium on games, despite the growing value of the loonie, the Canadian dollar.

Four days ago the loonie actually matched the U.S. dollar in value, and has been trading above the U.S. dollar since--explaining the 16-cent difference between the Canadian and U.S. prices. "We have taken the opportunity of a higher loonie to lower prices where we can," said Wal-Mart Canada VP Jim Thompson in the announcement.

It's unknown if this move by Wal-Mart Canada will motivate the industry at large to stop overcharging Canadian gamers, but perhaps even more important is whether this CA$10 price drop will force gamers to take notice of Bungie's relatively obscure first person shooter amidst blockbuster titles like Telltale Games' CSI: Hard Evidence (PC, X360, Wii) also debuting this week (at a CA$10 premium).