You've been waiting for this game for a long, long, LONG time. So
you know you want to bust it out big. In the final days of
anticipation, here's our guide to throwing your own Halo 2 launch party.
Setting the scene
First, get your dirty underwear off the floor, soldier. Get your
living quarters combat-ready before inviting people over. Pick up
your crap and eliminate any offensive odors.
Now, you'll want to enlist some help with the equipment. Unless
you've got a bunch of spare TVs and Xbox® consoles laying around,
you probably want to get your buddies to bring over theirs. Now,
about networking. The greatest thing about Halo 2, of
course, is that it's Xbox Live™-enabled. However, you hook
up 16 Xbox consoles to your one dinky modem and you're gonna lag.
So, here's what you do. You set up a System Link area to practice
on before you take your game online. You could even have a
mini-tournament to see who gets to take it onto Xbox Live.
You can link up to 16 Xbox consoles together, and each player gets
their own full-screen experience. Read our LAN party eXpert
Guide for the pain-free way to do this. Remember, you need a
copy of Halo 2 for each Xbox console.
Once you go online, you can have three guests play split-screen
with you on one Xbox Live account. So you want to make
sure that your connection is hooked up and smokin' (not literally,
of course) before your guests arrive. You've got broadband Internet
service, right And, an Xbox Live subscription. If not,
make sure you get that all set up before your party. Here's how to
do it quickly and easily. We've mentioned this before, but
it's really important to make sure that you've got an Xbox
Live compatible router.
Who to invite
Your Halo buddies, natch. People willing to lug their TVs
and Xbox consoles to your place.
The guy who owns the local tavern would be a good choice. Some
folks that can be relied on to bring munchies. Make friends
with the local Dominoes franchise owner.
Who not to invite
Mom, grandma, great-aunt Amarillis. Anyone you don't want to expose
to your full-on Halo alter-ego. Don't invite that hot
chick you've been eyeing, either—she might be a devastating
distraction, and you probably don't want her to see you in your
testosterone- and Mountain Dew-fueled state of madness. If you're a
family man, this would be a good time to send the wife and kids to
Disneyland. Tell 'em to give your regards to Mickey.
What to serve
Mountain Dew. Try to score the cool Halo 2 cups from
7-11—you get 'em with a Mountain Dew-flavored Slurpee for a limited
time. Just make sure your brain has thawed before you start
playing. Speaking of Dew, you can score a free Halo 2
T-shirt when you buy 10 qualifying Mountain Dew products before
November 30, 2004.
Pizza. Order it half an hour before your guests arrive. You'll
probably have to spring for another round in a few hours. Go
easy on the anchovies … you're going to be stuck in a room with
these people for several hours.
Hooters wings. Buy a couple big buckets. They're an instant
crowd-pleaser, and you won't have any trouble recruiting someone to
pick them up. One note of caution—beware of people leaving wing
residue on your controllers. In fact, make everyone bring their own
controller.
What to wear Guess what? Your sweat-stained
wife-beater and those boxers that leave nothing to the imagination
just won't do when company's coming. Put some pants on. Beyond
that, you can't go wrong with Halo gear. You can purchase
all kinds of coolness at the Bungie Store.
If you want to be superstylin', get yourself a Halo 2
headset. Our buds at Plantronics cooked up these
beauties.
What to listen to
The Halo 2 soundtrack. Doy. It includes all-new songs by
cool bands, including "Blow Me Away" by Breaking Benjamin,
"Connected" by Hoobastank, and "The Odyssey" by Incubus. So crank
it up to eleven!
