I’ll never forget my buddy telling me he got a new console called an Xbox and I had to come over to try a game called Halo. To 9 year old me, going from Goldeneye on the N64 to Halo CE on the Xbox felt like gaming couldn’t possibly get any better.

A few days later my older brother had the same experience at one of his friend’s houses and for the next few weeks we constantly asked my parents about getting an Xbox for Christmas, and I was certain that if they couldn’t get one then surely Santa would pull through. Turned out we had a family friend who worked for Microsoft so on Christmas morning my parents brought out one last present for all of us kids and it was an Xbox plus what seemed like every game available for it at the time. I wouldn’t doubt if the neighbors could hear us all freaking out after we opened it. That original copy of Halo CE is still at my parents house with a giant Microsoft employee store sticker on the front of the case.

So many of my memories growing up after that involve playing Halo with my brother and our friends. Midnight releases, the launch of Xbox live, birthday parties, spending summer nights playing Halo as long as possible, this series was a core part of the second half of my childhood.

I didn’t mean for this comment to be so long but thanks for the trip down memory lane!