On the afternoon of September 24, there was no mountain dew left on the shelves of Walgreen's on Edgewater Dr. in Orlando. Down to a single can of Red Bull and running low on AA batteries, as well. I was almost tempted to check the weather report as, to me, this seemed like a supply shortage of hurricane proportions. But there would be no storm. Fortunate, as this is the one day of the year when the power cannot be cut. For at the stroke of 12:01 am, September 25'th, Halo 3 would arrive.
Now I have long thought of myself as your average male, not inclined toward excessive ways of geekery. I, from time to time, looked down on people who stood in line for tech and game releases. But this is different... This is Halo. I found myself in line as early as 8:30pm with a odd array of characters. Let's break down their geek archetypes, shall we?
#1 in line: Chase. Your typical teenage over-gamer. Sweet, shy, a bit overweight, and a retainer accent common to nerd-types throughout the land.
#2 in line: BlazeAce. The game jock. Cocky, young, black. Spouting warnings of the inevitable "pwnage" he would inflict on us come release time.
#3 in line: Me. Waiting in horror as BlazeAce started to form a Magic The Gathering Circle.
For hours, we waited. Exchanging gamertags, discussing rumored changes to the game from it's progenitor, and of course, smack talking the night away. Reveling in the brotherhood of Halo is a unique experience. In your average day, you more than likely encounter a number of us as you go about your business. You're boss, doctor, drug dealer, etc. Halo players are everywhere. As we sat, I felt the kinship rise in my throat. More than likely, I would never see these men in the real world again. Only on XboxLive. At which point, I'd probably try to kill them in some grotesque manner. So we waited, feeling ok with the fact that we must have looked like total dorks, wasting time that could have been spent socializing, sexing, or partying, by waiting in line for a game. That's when he arrived.
A man that trumped us all. An Alpha Geek like never before. A man who no doubt spent many night cheating on his wife with his Xbox, an wasting ungodly sums of cash to arrive as the super soldier himself... The Master Chief. Courage personified. He stood for photo's, let us hold his rifle, and took a back burner to the chaos that ensued as the line arrived.
Plumbers in their 40's. Jobless slackers in their 20's. Mothers waiting in line with their young sons, well past their bed-time. This store alone, had taken over 400 pre-orders. White, Black, Latino, whatever the hell the guy behind me was.... Halo 3 had united humanity in a way I never thought I'd see. Truly, for 4 or 5 hours, the xbox bearing nations of the world, were at peace.
But who gives a shit... WHERE'S MY FUCKIN' GAME!!
The countdown begins as the seconds tick away to 12:01. With a single unified voice we count the final 10 seconds. I bid farewell to the boys in line and step up for my copy. From this point, I embrace a speed worthy of a comic book hero back home to my console. The beautiful Halo 3 screen fades in as a small map of the world sat in the lower left corner of my screen. A small white light appeared for every player that logged into Halo 3. I sat there and slowly watched the east coast catch fire with white light.
Time well spent.
Good night, Boys.
See you in Slayer.
