Men Never Grow Up
I’m not a huge gamer, but for some reason the Halo games have always been something my friends and I could really get into . It all started with Halo. I originally refused to get an Xbox because I really hated everything Microsoft. Then along came Halo. My friends all seemed to have it, and occasionally when we would hang out we would get a game going. It was always fun to kill your friends and make fun of them while doing it. We all started playing it more and more and eventually I broke down and bought a system and the game.
I started playing more and more and got really good. Eventually the geek in us would really come out. We started throwing LAN parties. We would invite over about 15-20 people, setup 3 or more rooms with a TV or projector and network our Xboxes together. Then a night of killing, trash talking, pizza eating, and just boyhood geekdom would erupt. As technology developed and Xbox live took off, there was no reason to throw LAN parties anymore. We could all just connect to Xbox live and play each other from the comforts of our own homes.
For the longest time Halo and Halo2 were the only games I had. I eventually tried some other games, but it seemed like I was always drawn back toward Halo. So once Halo3 came out, some of my friends and I pre-ordered the game. Then at midnight on the day it was released we all went and stood in line to grab our copies. It was funny standing in line. I remember looking around thinking to myself what a bunch of geeks. Makes me wonder how many people were saying the same thing about me.
As soon as we had copies it was off to play the game! We played for hours and some even skipped work the next morning. I had to go into work and could think of nothing but getting off work to go join my friends who were still playing. That’s how bad it was. Over the years we played countless hours online playing with friends, killing strangers, and wondering how little kids were that angry over a game. Eventually though we started playing less and less. Not sure if we all just started growing up, getting busy, getting tired of the game, or sick of the people we would run into online. We would try other games here and there, but none of them seemed to have us all excited as the Halo games. I’m sure some of the games were just as fun, but it didn’t seem like they were able to capture our attention for as long as Halo did.
After our passion died out of Halo 3 it seemed maybe there wouldn’t be that next game that really had us wasting hours and hours of our lives. Microsoft even came out with another Halo game (Halo ODST) that I don’t think any of us even bought. So I figured maybe my gaming days were behind me. It seems like forever since I had played a game on my Xbox. It basically was just a nifty looking DVD player now. Then about a week ago I noticed John’s Facebook status about his pre-order for the latest and greatest Halo, Halo: Reach. John was really excited about it and it was generating a lot of buzz. Talking with John, I decided that if enough of us got it that I would as well. It didn’t take John long to convince Jesse to buy it. Seeing them both online got me anxious to play. Then Clark ordered his copy and I ran out and got mine.
So last night when I got home after buying the game, I jumped online with Clark and Jesse and we played for hours. It took me back to when that seemed like the norm. I have to say it was a lot of fun. We just started going through the campaign, or story mode, so it was just us playing against the computer. I figure it won’t take us long to beat that part and then off to try to put a beating on some little kids who play night and day that will probably squash us like little ants on the sidewalk. So at least for now, I think there will be plenty of nights that I will be able to kick back and feel like a kid again. Especially with my headset on my head and me screaming through the mic at my friends about needing help before I die!
