My Halo Heaven
I waited in line at the Redmond EB Games (aka Gamestop) for several hours last night, in the midst of a crowd averaging less than half my age, so I could walk home with my Legendary Edition of Halo 3. It wasn't bad- among the passed-out freebies were an electric hand fan that alternately displayed "Halo 3" and "Finish The Fight" on its spinning blades, and candy and soft drinks.
The crowd was very well-behaved. I participated briefly in a Halo trivia contest (yes, I did mention I was a 'softie, although I didn't mention I participated in some of the H3 tests [I assume that's OK to mention, now that it's shipped; besides, most of my XBox Live friends have known for months, because it shows up when they check to see what I'm doing]). I eventually washed out, but got a cookie (which I gave to an earlier washout] and a Mountain Dew Game Fuel [which I'm adding to my stash- more on that below] for my miniscule efforts. I got lucky making it as far as I did- a lot of the questions had been answered on the G4 TV countdown, which I'd watched until I drove down to Redmond Town Centre to get in line...
Eventually, Bungie showed up [the main event was at the Bellevue Best Buy, of course, so I appreciate that they could make it at all]. I guess a guy with a gaucho hat and a waist-length graying beard draws some attention, because I soon had a T-shirt [which I am wearing as I write this- someone was a good judge of size] and a signed wall calendar without even doing the usual screaming and begging. The crowd went nuts, but that's by Pacific Northwest standards- no insane pushing and shoving- just a lot of noise..
I headed home with all my swag soon after [on the way out, I asked about the question I missed and found out it was Marcus Lehto's initials on the Master Chief's boot- I had thought of guessing that, but it seemed too obvious]. A little surgery on the outside of the box, and I've got a nice sturdy cardboard wall poster of the Chief. There are some nice shots on the rest of the box too- I'll probably scrounge those, as well.
The Spartan helmet [my main reason for getting this edition] is everything I could hope for and more. I'm torn between leaving it in my living room or putting it in my office [might use the posters at home to assuage my guilt]. The little H3-logo'd covering for it was kind of a nice touch, as well.
Now comes the hard part
I am on what one would call the "critical path" for some must-have [in a future unnamed release] WDF features, so no Halo vacation for me- there's serious work to be done. In addition, my daughter and I have been playing the game co-op at least the first time through for a while, and she's in school, so I have to avoid both temptation and anyone likely to give me a spoiler until this weekend. Since co-op can now be 4 player, we've enlisted a couple of her friends [I think they have some of that young romantic interest, but since they're in Chicago, I'm not too worried, yet] for that first run-through- one says he'll wait much as I am, the other promises no spoilers.
That may damage my gamer cred [like I have any], but I guess it leaves Papa cred and SDET cred [if I have any of that, either] sort of intact. My six pack of Game Fuel [which I've come to enjoy after turning a 2-liter and a 12-pack into that six pack] needs some enhancement, and I'll need to arrange for plenty of the usual snacks and such. Also need to quit playing Blue Dragon and swap out my existing 360 for the Halo 3 edition I picked up last week before my daughter arrives.
Then I'll get my slightly deferred trip to Halo Heaven, because like so many who got to the end of Halo 2, I have been waiting one long time to Finish This Fight!
Updated 9/27/02- The Best Laid Plans...
My daughter called me last night to tell me I should go ahead and play if I wanted to- says she's not that interested, anymore [she's been leaning more and more to RPGs lately, and spent all last weekend with World Of Warcraft, which I got for her birthday]. So, as my gamercard shows, I've begun my own somewhat incompetent journey to the end of the saga. Caught Patrick (or someone using his gamertag) playing on Legendary just as I decided to get some sleep [I'd just finished botching the first 3 levels playing Normal, one of which I'd played many times during some of the testing]. Maybe I'll catch him for a co-op sometime.
It must be going well- setting up the new box took much longer than expected because XBL was heavily loaded and I had trouble getting my profile over. At one point, of about a dozen friends online, the only one not playing Halo 3 was playing Halo 2.
In the meantime, I'm thinking I should revert to one of my earlier mottos- I live to die! Because there was far too much of that going on- doesn't help that I can get lost walking from one room to the next in my apartment. much less find my way in a firefight...
As for my offspring- she's growing up- I knew that boys would outrank Dad eventually, and other interests would also change over time- while there's some sense of loss, I wouldn't have it any other way!
