Ultimate Halo Freak Show
Well, we’ve seen some freaky stuff here at Xbox.com, but youHalo® freaks really freaked us out. Unfortunately, there were a bunch of freaky entries—hilarious, but freaky—that we just couldn’t publish here. Thanks a lot, lawyers.
So, here he is, the Ultimate Halo Freak: Keldog from Lexington, Kentucky! Why is he the freakiest? Well, the dude has got a permanent statement of his Halo devotion right on his body. Check the tat below.
"So what," you say? Your cousin has a Halo tattoo? Fair enough, a bunch of other people sent us pictures of their body art, but what set Keldog apart is that he also started an extremely cool Halo® 2 Web site that really adds to the Halo community. Go to Carnagestats.com to check it out. Keldog launched his site on February 1, 2005, and as of April 5, 2005, it has 1,667 members! When we called Keldog to tell him he’d won, the conversation went like this:
Xbox.com: Hey, we’re just calling to tell you that you’re the Ultimate Halo Freak!
Keldog: I’ve always thought so.
Xbox.com: Well, now it’s confirmed.
This was the best news Keldog has had in a while. On the weekend of March 25, someone broke into his house and stole his laptop, his games and movies, and all three of his Xbox® consoles! Not to worry, though. We’re sending Keldog a frickin’ sweet Haloprize package that includes:
- A copy of Halo®: Combat Evolved
- A Limited Edition copy of Halo 2
- A GameCom Halo 2 Edition headset
- A Halo 2 Soundtrack CD
- A piece of original Halo art from Bungie
- A Halo 2 t-shirt
- A copy of each of the three Halo novels: The Fall of Reach, The Flood, and First Strike
- A copy of the book The Art of Halo
- A Prima Halo 2 Strategy Guide
Here’s Keldog’s winning entry:
“I am without a doubt the Ultimate Halo Freak! I have been playing Halo: Combat Evolved since launch day of the Xbox. I've spent thousands of hours playing multiplayer. I have three Xbox consoles setup at all times for frequent spontaneous System Link game sessions, and I bought another one for my fiancée, so she could play Halo 2 with me via Xbox Live™ from grad school.
For the ultimate game franchise, you have to have the ultimate setup. I not only bought an HDTV and DTS surround sound system exclusively to play Halo (and later Halo 2), but I also took my Xbox to the store and played Halo on several of the TVs to see which one it looked best on. And, I of course have the Plantronics Halo 2 headset. Halocollectible action figures litter my living room and office, aiming at each other and the active camo Master Chief bashing the Elite in the head (leaving them in the box seems silly).
The local paper (Lexington Herald Leader) covered my weeklyHalo night on Thursday, March 10, 2005, and I am in Caff!ene Magazine this month for the Web site that my friends and I built for Halo 2 stats, CarnageStats.com.
Plus, I just recently I got my tattoo finished of an 8-inch Master Chief from the OXM cover that later became the box art. I take loving this game to a whole new level, and that is why I am the Ultimate Halo Freak!"
—Keldog
Read on for more freaks that stood out among the hundreds of entries that we received.
Super Freaks Who Freaked Us Out
“I bet a friend $53.08 (the exact price for Halo 2 at the store) that I could eat three jars of mayo. Three jars of mayo! That’s sick. I threw up five times.”
—Bob
“Well, if I had a job or money, I would buy every piece ofHalo merchandise there is and ever was, but I don’t. However, I’m working on that. What I do have is the fact that I named my five-month-old daughter after Cortana. Her name is Cortana Michelle.”
—Matthew
“What makes a person a Halo Freak?
Is it spending all of your free time playing the game, or is it owning multiple Halo Limited Edition consoles and six copies of they game, so that no matter what room you are in, you can still play Halo?
Or how about having two Halo store displays in your basement or owning every Halo figure Joyride Studios ever produced—or two! Is it reading all the Halo novels and being able to recite the story line so well that it drives your friends away? What about having your Xbox Live Gamertag and e-mail address be "HALO117"?
Maybe you're a Halo Freak if you actually spend time trying to figure out what actor would best portray the Master Chief in a movie.
Does spending more than $1500 and countless hours in pain sitting in a chair while some guy stares at the cover of a Halogame and tattoos it on your arm make you a HaloFreak?
Well, if that makes you a Halo Freak, then count me in because I love this game.”
—HALO117
“I am the Ultimate Halo Freak. My wife and I had a baby at 5:10 A.M. on November 9, 2005. Well, I was standing in line at my local game store getting my copy of Halo 2. I was the first one to get it at 12:01 A.M., and then I ran home and grabbed my Xbox, so I could hook it up to the TV in my wife's room at the hospital While I was playing some single player (you know hospitals sucks cause they don't have Xbox Live), the doctor came in and was like, 'Whoa ... You already have Halo 2?' I was like, 'Hell yea, I do!' He stood there and watched me play for a minute until my wife was like, 'Hello, I am in labor over here.' It was real funny and an experience we will never forget! And, by the way, our daughter's name is Trixie!”
—Steve
“Not everyone sat beside a payphone on the first day of the I Love Bees mystery, became an officer in 'The Crew' by cobbling together a vacuum suit, and made it to one of four locations across the country for advance screenings of Halo 2, four days before it shipped. Fewer still have written a research paper for a senior-level literature class on the Halo universe. All of my friends and family know my addiction, and its name isHalo.”
—Skennedy
“My Halo freaky-ness culminated on January 15, 2005. After weeks of late nights and hot glue gun burns, I donned a homemade suit of gold MJOLINR Mark V armor for aHalo-themed paintball game here in Western North Carolina (see picture), winning 'Best Dressed.' For that day I lived the dream. I lead Marines. I assaulted the Covenant. I was Master Chief. Hoorah!”
—Chris
“I am the ultimate Halo freak because the mighty angels of heaven rejoiced upon my glorious receiving of the triumphant return of Master Chief.”
—Joshua
The Freak Show Continues
“A while ago, when someone took a trip to New York and brought Master Chief with them and took all kinds of pictures. Well, on this past spring break, I did the same, but I took the Chief to Jamaica.”
—StillNinja
“I am a 50-year-old mother and was addicted to Halo 2. I would even ground my son, just so I could play Halo 2 on the Xbox. There were even a few times when I took off work just to play Halo when my son was at school. My son doesn't know that I take off from work to play, so that is one way I get to play by myself all day long.”
—Valerie
“I constantly have Halo on my mind. If I’m walking downtown and see a homeless guy passed out on the sidewalk, I feel the urge to squat on him while repeatedly bashing him. When I answer the phone, I say 'Halo' in a cheerful sort of voice.”
—Irish Duff Man
“I'm 35 years old and a management consultant. I spend a ton of time on the road. So, since late November, I've owned two Xbox consoles and two copies of Halo 2. One set sits in my living room, and the other stays in my suitcase, so I can play during those lonely business trips. CNN is boring. Halorocks.”
—PJ Hammer
"I am a 55-year-old Halo Freak, and I want to be considered for the top prize because I don't think there is anyone out there my age (or younger) who can zap and grenade the little freaks like I can. I constantly still play Halo even though I have beaten the game over and over. My wife says I am married to the game because all she sees is the drool coming down from the corner of my mouth and a faraway lost look in my eyes as I am kicking ass. She talks to me and tries to get my attention while I am playing, and my response is always, 'Yes dear.'"
—Hector
“Why am I the Freakiest Halo Freak? I hope you’re sitting down … Here are some of the Items I have created or procured and have on display:
- First purchaser (receipt to prove it) of a copy of Halo 2 at the New York City Times Square launch. (Number 1, baby!)
- A full suit of Master Chief’s MarkIV Armor.
- Red Base Flag (hand-sewn).
- The Oddball Skull (attaches to flag pole, too!).
- Custom Dual SMGs
- Bungie.Net membership since May 2002.
- Assorted posters, figures, and Master Chief standee.
My most treasured Halo possession is a picture of Jay Allard, Peter Moore, and myself in the armor between them—from NYC midnight launch! I was first in line at the launch and was there for more than six hours. I was interviewed by Jimmy Kimmel and received coverage on Xbox.com, MSNBC.com, IGN, and eWeek!”
—Devastator
“Being a female and loving the game is Just a small part of why I am completely obsessed with it. I am also an artist, who has devoted her time and energy to creating unique pictures based off of Halo's story.”
—Pinkuh
"I created a drink called 'The Master Chief,' which consists of Mountain Dew and a lot of Bacardi 151. Sometimes we top it off with an Everclear flame.”
—bamarama
“First, I’m a busy father of two boys ages 5 and 3. I have a full-time job, plus I own and manage two companies on the side. And, my wife makes me watch movies like 'Shall We Dance' with her every-other night. (Ouch.) But, that hasn’t stopped me from playing more than 800 Halo 2 matchmaking games since November 9. I usually start playing at 11:30 P.M. and stop around 3 A.M.”
—Rapier47
“While serving in Iraq, a bunch of my buddies and I received our beloved Halo 2 shortly after release. We spent the next few hours running cables all over the living areas and networking our boxes. I have no idea how many hours I played, but we would start receiving Mortar or Rocket fire and just kept on playing. It added some realism to the game to have building rocking from explosions going on while I was sniping by brothers in arms.”
—Scott
“Top 10 reasons you know you're a Halo freak:
10. You can't catch a ball because of 'lag.'
9. You're IM-ing a friend and tell him to 'stand-by' before getting up from the computer.
8. You spend hours contemplating the most benign things, such as how some of the calibers of human guns don’t make sense (12.7mm pistol, for example) and how the plasma pistol can fire bolts at the 100 to 150kV range, when that’s a range of energy, and plasma is actually the fourth state of matter.
7. You use a matchmaking dating service.
6. On your dating service profile, you explain how you enjoy ' … long walks on the beach, Sunday cruises in open-top jeeps, and tightly holding that special rifle, er, someone.'"
5. You want to adopt an orphaned Grunt.
4. You’re actually considering saving $3,500 for real-life Mjolnir battle armor that‘s being sold online.
3. Plasma pistol = Best. Weapon. Ever.
2. “Red vs. Blue” is the greatest sitcom of all time.
And, the number-one reason you know you're a Halofreak:
1. On November 9, 2004, you wet yourself … and admitted it!"
—shinobi_razor
“My eye-hand coordination has improved dramatically because of playing Halo. I find myself catching flies with chopsticks every-other week or so, to my friends’ and family’s amazement.”
—Michael
“I have a collection of anything and everything Halo- and Halo 2-related I can get my hands on—from every single action figure ever produced to date to Halo Xbox consoles to custom-made Halo-themed plaques. And, how many people do you know that have a fish tank modeled after the Coagulation map?”
—Conrad
“I’ve contemplated driving a truck through the front window of a blockbuster just to get my hands on a six-foot Master Chief statue that they wouldn’t sell to me. I put a quick stop to that plan for obvious reasons. Anyway, that’s one of the many reasons why I think I'm a Halo freak. Plus my wife hates my guts now. That’s called sacrifice.”
—Anaconda211
“Everyone else just says they’re Halo freaks, but in truth, they’re just freaks. Have the other so-called 'Halofreaks' decoded the message in the packet called 'Conversations from the Universe?' I didn’t think so. Have the other 'freaks' done every glitch in the game, found every Easter egg, and even found ways to create their own Banshee tricks and glitches? No, they haven’t. I, on the other hand, have done all these things, including the decoding of the packet’s message, with a key I created myself.”
—Susan
“Last year, I moved to an area that missed getting DSL and cable by literally a few 1000 feet. I didn’t know this at the time we moved. Since Halo 2’s release, I have decided to sell my house. Our house is now on the market, and my wife and I are looking for a home with broadband access. No, I am not kidding. I have waited for years for the environment that Halo 2 offers with the XboxLive setup. My wife isn’t completely happy about it, but she knew about my obsession before we got married.”
—Reuben
“After working my way up to 10 Xbox consoles on 10 screens, a two-channel headset intercom system for team games (I hate yelling down halls and stairs), going to GameStop at midnight to get 10 copies of Halo 2, my latest project is my Halo 2Xbox Live theater. There's nothing like a few hours of matchmaking games on a 100-inch screen to brighten up your day. Did I mention I was an Xbox for Halloween?”
—TRALFAZ
“I was on business in Boston on November 9, 2004, so I had to buy a TV with s-video for my hotel room!”
—Bill
"My fellow soldiers and I take Halo as seriously as it deserves to be taken. On many occasions, we have played through enemy fire. Other times, we have to throw controllers on the ground and run to the nearest concrete bunker. Halo was my crutch, it gave me a way to relax and unwind while in an environment of extreme stress. Nothing can compare to hosing Grunts while listening to 50-calibur fire in the background. It is nirvana. Iraq sucked, but Halo (and eventually Halo 2) made it bearable. I have the memories of Iraq in my mind and the sand of Iraq in my controller."
—Christopher
“My most prized Halo possession would be my Limited Edition Halo Xbox, which I have visually enhanced with a custom Halo logo jewel, a DVD case window, and green LED lights.”
—Logan
“I am the University of Wyoming Halo 2 champion, along with the 2005 champion of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Halo 2Tournament, and the 2004 University of Wyoming PC gamersHalo champion.”
—got guns 1
“I tackled a woman to get a Bungie hat at the Halo 2Launch Party. At the end of the party, Bungie employees started to throw out prizes. A hat came my way, but just out of reach, so I jumped for it, so this woman couldn't get it, and she got in my way. Kinda low, but I had to have that hat!”
—Matt
“Although the boys that lived two floors below me got the French Version of Halo 2 before it was released, I refused to play it or watch it until it was officially released on November 9, 2004.”
—xSHOOT2KILLx
“For the love of god, I even named my cat Master Chief!”
—Cameron
“I'm not really going to say much about why I’m the ultimateHalo freak. Just take a look at the picture. Like it? Yeah, that’s me and my buddy in our very own master chief suits”
—Qp
"I've learned and memorized the actual names of every covenant troop (and will name them off if you want me to). I have translated and began writing in the prophet Alphabet (working on a computer font … stay tuned). I collect naughty pictures of Cortana (let me know if you wanna see—I have 19). Me and my friends made up a religion in high school worshipping Jason Jones, Joe Staten, and the rest of the Bungie Team." [Editor’s note: These are just four out of 23 list items he sent us. We did, in fact, want to see his Cortana pics, but he didn’t reply to our e-mail.]
—infernus
"My friends and I bought the life-size Master Chief duel-wielding SMGs for $300. I sit in bookstores and read the novels because I don't have any more money to get them. Every free second I have, I play Halo 2 online. I got Xbox Live just forHalo 2—that means a wireless router, the clear greenHalo 2 headset from Plantronics, and the subscription, all for one game."
—Adam
“This energy sword I made happens to be the coolest thing in the world. I only wish you guys could see how many times I ran around hitting my girlfriend with it, saying, 'Betrayal.'"
—Gabriel
“I run a mattress store, and as you would think, it can be very boring at times. So, I have a 25-inch flat-screen TV set up by the desk with my Halo Special Edition Xbox hooked up to it. Next to it is a Halo 2 calendar that I use to set up my mattress deliveries. On any given day, I may only see two to eight people, so to keep my mind sharp by playing Halo 2 all day. And, who do I play with? Well our other location is also hooked up, so we can play together. The other manager,Ashes2Ashes, and I have logged on countless hours of playing on the clock. It should be illegal. We sometimes still hold LAN parties at the store after close. We even purchased a banner with our clan on it for such occasions. Everyone has a nice comfy bed to relax on and a nightstand for their TV. So, one day as we were drinking from our Halo 2 Slurpee® cups, I come up with a great idea. I made a display that reads 'Purchase a new Stearns and Foster mattress set, and receive a copy of Halo 2.' We gave away about a dozen copies of Halo 2 and made a ton of sales for the store. Customers still ask to play along with me, even after they have just purchased a new bed.”
—Thulsa Doom
“I did a project in my environmental design class that was a small scale model of Lockout. It sits in my dorm room with Haloaction figures all over it in battle-esque poses.”
—John
Girl Trouble
Apparently, Halo freaks prefer chillin’ with the Chief over the love of a good woman. This is a just a fraction of the “I lost my girlfriend/wife because I play too much Halo” stories that we received.
“My wife just told me the other night that Halo 2 is a new form of birth control, and she is sure the population of gamer children will start to decline because of it.”
—Gazelum
“To start off, I get on Xbox Live around 9:00 P.M. (Central), and I ignore about everything. My gorgeous wife will come out in some kind of lingerie, if any, and try to coax me away from the Halo 2 goodness. Much to her dismay, it has not worked. It is a sort of a ritual to sit in front of my TV like a stoned zombie and play for hours on end. That is the ultimateHalo freak: passing up sex for a damn video game."
—Deepapothecary
“I have actually threatened to leave my wife if she kept interrupting me during our Halo tourneys.”
—William
“I tell my girlfriend that I have plans or have something important to do just to skip seeing her, so I can play. I call her from my cell phone to make it seem that I'm out. Look at the picture I sent. How much more of a freak can I be?”
—Edward
“I spent more time with my Xbox than my own wife, but now it's going to be my ex-wife because one of the main reasons she is leaving me is because I play Halo 2 too much. We were married for 10 months and now its over … but now I have even more time to play with my Xbox and Halo 2.”
—Carlos
"Halo is the reason me and my girl friend are not together anymore. I wanted to play Halo 2 online, and she didn’t agree with it, so she punched me in the face. It was her loss, not mine.
—Grover
"I dumped my ex-girlfriend because she said I play too muchHalo and I spent no time with her at all, and I told her, 'You better be happy that I’m at least letting you go out with me." Then, I dumped her right there. I've lost three girlfriends because of Halo."
—Paul
"I accidentally called my girlfriend Cortana (once)."
—Kasumoto
“I started bringing Halo with me to my girlfriend's place, just because I couldn't get away from it. Well, it made her mad. I thought she would understand, but she didn't. She came in one day while I was playing and told me, if I didn't get off Halo, she would leave me. I kinda miss her, but I would missHalo more.”
—Daniel
“I've been in the doghouse constantly since getting XboxLive, mainly for waiting for my fiancée to go to sleep and then sneaking out of bed to play Halo. That and yelling out commands in my sleep. She kicked me outta bed the other night for making machine gun noises in my sleep.”
—Allen
Best Essay
This was not superfreaky, but we really liked Sexy Vacuum’s style.
“I placed Halo 2 in the Xbox with my shaky hand while crouching in my puddle of drool. I ran over to the lazy boy with my controller and did a superman jump onto it and did a matrix style move with my upper body that enabled me to push the handle down to put the footrest up before I hit the seat. I sat there with my somewhat seizuring body and my eyes that were bigger than apple pie while waiting for the game to start with the Microsoft Game Studio logo and Bungie business goin’ on. WHAM here comes the first level, The Master Chief was goin’ trigger happy due to my flinching right index finger. I sat there for at least 10 hours, until I completed the game, at which point I turned on some rave techno and started breakdancing to the credits. You know what time it was then: XBOXLIVE TIME MOTHERF****. I snatched my headset and plugged in my Ethernet cable to the back of the Xbox and held my breath hoping my Internet was working and hoping that my Xbox wouldn’t blow up because of its 10 or more hours of staying on. I played my first rumble pit game with my cousin (darrin2k), and I got exactly 13 kills and 3 assists. I finally built up the courage to go upstairs and make food. I made 5 TV dinners and brought them downstairs and plopped them on the nearest table. I sat there in front of my 27-inch TV about five feet away and played Xbox Live for exactly 17.3 hours. That is when I passed out from exhaustion. That is why I am the freakiest Haloplayer."
—Sexy Vacuum
Tattoos
"I have a Halo tattoo similar to Pete Parsons', except I've had mine for about two years now, and it's smaller because I only had $40 to spend.”
—Jacob
“The kicker is my tattoo. I got the Chief, and it's the start if my arm piece on my left arm. It is going to be all Halocharacters. I got the Chief about four months ago and next is the Arbiter lighting up the sword.”
—ArieS
“I play basically all day, skipping college classes and skimping out on my girlfriend. I mean, come on guys, the ring tone and background on my phone is Halo. I wear the t-shirt everywhere. But, if that doesn't top it off, I got a Halotattoo. Yes, that's right, a tattoo of the elusive 'O' on my back. That’s not like some poster you can take down. That’s permanent.”
—visible1
Uh, yeah …
"I am the Ultimate Halo Freak because Master Chief is my father. He told me as I was battling him in a duel with Covenant Energy Swords. He said, 'The Arbiter never told you what happened to your father.' I then replied with, 'He told me enough. He told me you killed him.' He then said, 'No, I AM YOUR FATHER!'"
—Michael
"I don’t even call my cereal Honey Nut Cheerios, I call them Honey Nut Halo O's."
—Andy
"What I would do with a Spanker Rocket!
- Shoot my neighbors car.
- Shoot a squirrel.
- Shoot a random rocket up in the air.
- Shoot a Rocket at an apple on top of someone’s head.
- By now, I would need more ammo. If you need me, I'll be in rocks next to Camp Froman."
—Mike
"I am dead sexy, which means I should be picking up chicks. However, I love Halo 2 so much that I don't leave my room or talk to girls."
—Lucas
"I am the Ultimate Halo Freak because I run around the game with my underwear glued to my head, skidmarks still intact, screaming 'who's your daddy?' when I know damn well it's me."
—Don
"When I turn Halo 2 on, I sing the intro, and I feel like it is my cult calling. I feel like it is a little bit like a religion or something, like Lord of the Rings."
—Lloyd
“One time I stabbed a box full of garbage with a knife as a result of rage build up due to horrid performance in Rumble Pit.”
—Ernie
"I have freaking Halo figures lined up on my TV, ready to bust a cap on anyone in my room other than me. (Wish they could do that really … )"
—Sean
"I wish Master Chief was my father, and I wish Cortana was the mother of my babies. That about sums it up, I think."
—Alvaro
"If I have to use the bathroom, I sit in the window. If I am hungry, I eat the bubbly gum off the wall. Xbox is my girlfriend, and she is pregnant."
—Chico
“Cortana is my girlfriend, and she is pregnant with my digital baby. Seriously, I'll put her on the phone. I need a weapon.”
—Justin
“My life is bound to Halo. Without it, I would die. I would eat the game disc to absorb more Halo into me (if I could afford to buy more copies).”
—Zac
Taking One for Halo
"I got a speeding ticket coming home from Halo 2 Midnight Madness."
—Paul
"I painted a '2' on my face in blue face paint, but my teachers, who are game-hating old ladies, made me wash it off. I took a D-Hall for you Halo 2! You owe me one!"
—Evan
"We were so engrossed in a game that 16 of us didn't get up to answer the door for the pizza guy, and he ended up leaving. Happy now? I feel like such a dork."
—Blarg
"What makes me the Ultimate Halo Freak? Could it be that I flunked out of my first college because of Halo? Maybe it’s because I got kicked out of my second college in result of November 9, 2004. Or maybe I’m a freak because my girlfriend dumped me on the account that I had a crush on Cortana?"
—Daniel
"I lost my girl because I decided to go to the launch on November 9 (midnight). Her birthday is November 8. I left her birthday dinner early so I could make it to the store by 10:00 P.M., when theHalo contest started. Well, I lost the contest and my girl. I also got suspended from my job the same night."
—Mikeyo
“Waiting in line for an hour at GameStop on November 8, I receive my Limited Edition copy of Halo 2. After showing my roommates my copy, one of them smiles, snatches it out of my hands, and runs. I chase, catch, and tackle him down in the parking lot, using so much momentum that he rips his clothes, scrapes his left hand, and breaks a finger.”
—JT
"Um, in math class, me and my friend played Halo with imaginary guns from different corners of the room. We were thrown out for doin’ it and were known as the losers for it."
—Andrew
"I was thrown out of a GameStop for harassing the employee because he refused to sell me the life-sized Master Chief diarama."
—AC
“Me and my friend tried to play Warthog on his mule (think golf-kart here), and it's actually really hard to flip back up. It's also really hard to bail out when you're movin' like 50-60 mph. Plus, it hurts when part of it lands on your foot.”
—Jared
“I punched a hole through my wall and broke four fingers because I got so mad when I lost a LAN party game.”
—anonymous
"I withdrew from a college course, with late withdrawl penalties, to free up more time for Halo (picture included of the withdrawl form, signed and dated)."
—Leighton
“As of November 20, I have been unemployed from my job due toHalo 2. My boss fired me because he found out that I would sneak out of work daily to play the game I so dearly love—which was fine because it gave me more time to play Halo 2.”
—Chad
“I live in Brooklyn Park, Minn., and it is very cold here. Well, I had been sick for about a week before November 8 and had phenomena and was feeling very bad. I went to the doctor and in casual conversation, I told him about Halo and Midnight Madness. He asked me if it was outside, and I told him yes. Then that dirt bag told my mom. They said I couldn't go because I would get sick. I was under 18 at the time, so she could control me. So, on the evening of November 8, I went to bed early … or so my parents thought. I slipped out of the house via my window in such skill and walked to the shopping center. It took me until 9:00 P.M. to get there. Then, I sat out in the cold, risking death, and waited two hours until November 9. I got the game and went home. I felt like I was dying, but I got the game and that made me happy. That night I played Halo 2 until I fell asleep in the chair in the middle of Delta Halo. When my parents woke me up the next morning, I said I was too sick to go to school. Then, I played all day.”
—Kyle
Endurance
“Me and my other roommates in college stayed up until midnight at GameStop to get Halo 2. I skipped my classes the whole day and played Halo nonstop! I did not go to sleep for 54 hours, until I beat the game!”
—XbOxLiVeAdDiCt
“The night Halo 2 came out, I was first in line for the special edition set. After I received it, I began a period of introspective self-reflection, where I refused to eat any food until I had beaten the single-player campaign on Legendary difficulty. I didn't eat anything for three days.”
—Ryan
“I have played 3,574 ranked games online, equaling about 42,888 minutes online on just ranked games. To top it off (and you can ask my wife), at night while sleeping, I will start blabbing aboutHalo and telling her the aliens are coming for us and weird things like that.”
—Pr0Killa
"I played Halo 2 online 72 hours (sober), and I didn't take a shower for three days, so my mom made me stop playing, take a shower, and put my clothes on. I missed all of my college midterms, and I'm going to fail all four of my classes because of this. I have to pay back my student loan that I bought my Xbox, Xbox Live, and Halo 2 with because I didn't pass my classes, and I don't have a job, so I don't know what I'm going to do."
—Jesse
“I have four nights set out of the week with friends to play both games all night from 8:00 P.M. to 8:00 A.M.”
—tilok
“I don’t know what you consider a Halo freak to be, but I have had two times were I played non-stop online for 48 hours. I've played more than 1500 matched games and about 1000 custom games. I've beat Halo 2 20 times. I've beat Halo more than 50 times.”
—Lane
