We Were Spartans

[Rad Party God]

I need to resist... I don't want to... I won't cry...

Back then I loved Halo a lot, even after Halo 2 came out, the first one was still pretty special, first, because I knew some of my cousins that I barely knew... a week before one of them died on a tragic accident... and then, this game, ironically, got me into PC gaming in the first place. Heck, this is the reason why I sold my N64 in the first place, to get some money to buy an Xbox, wich I never did.

I eventually got a 360, but it just wasn't the same.

 

[ImmortalDrifter]

Gah, remind me of the good ol' days. 4 friends, Command and Conquer, and serial cables. Set it down to tech level 1 and watch as the hordes of light infantry engage in an epic 4 way battle that takes up 3/4s of the map. Good times.

 

[Awexsome]

Online is great for convenience but it's so true that it can't compare to a LAN party. That's one of the things I really love about the Halo series. How much it encourages party-type play along with a competitive multiplayer online.

It's one thing to hear a friend over the mic go, "NOOOO!" as some grenade sticks them but another to actually see them screaming at the TV and reacting to what happens in the game. A few of my friends still make sure to keep visiting back and forth now and then even though we're a 2 hour drive apart.

Splitscreen and LAN type stuff will always be a defining moment for our gaming generation.

 

[alandavidson]

I remember hardcore LAN parties as a PC gamer. They've gone by the wayside for everybody, which really sucks.

Though I must admit I was quick to pick up multiplayer gaming and have made friends doing that. But my god, I miss those LAN parties.

 

[Nokterne]

I can relate to almost everything in this article. Halo Splitscreen and LANS are truly something special.

 

[Shifty Tortoise]

Awesome article, but somebody has to do this, i'm sorry.

"Brandon! You know on a Halo Sunday you don't right the doorbell," he says. "You walk right in!"

You don't right the doorbell? Who does?

 

[beefpelican]

I remember doing the same thing with halo 2 at my neighbor's house. 4 consoles, sixteen kids, all crammed into one room. Trying to huddle around one portable tv with three other people. Good times.

 

[MetroidNut]

I'm extremely pleased to say that this doesn't give me nostalgia; I've been organizing similar (monthly) Halo: Reach LAN parties for some time now. Nothing beats the feeling of being in the same room with your fellow players. It's pure MoThErFuCkIn MaGiC.

 

[The Hairminator]

I remember trying to get the my friends together for Halo on quite a few occasions. It bored them fairly quick since I was dominating more or less the entire time due to my friends' general inexperience with console shooters. Thus I became PC-LAN person, having jolly evenings with my friends playing Age of Empires, StarCraft, DotA, Counter Strike and so on.

Halo was for me more of a private pleasure, shared mostly over xbox-live. It saddens me I didn't get to experience the 1st installment in its full multiplayer glory.

 

[Jabberwock xeno]

I'm almost in tears...

I too, remember the days: but with me, what kept my group of friends togther was the clan and Y button friends list in halo 2.

Back when you could gather a group of friends on Halo 2 for custom games at any one moment, custom games were almost as common as matchmaking.

Hell, you didn't even need to know the guy, just a friend of a friend invited for live.

After the Y list was dropped in halo 3, it was never the same...

I miss troy, I miss cat and mouse, I miss tower of power...

 

[llafnwod]

That was actually pretty sweet. Reminds me of my own bonding experiences through gaming. :')

 

[Royas]

Damn.

This pretty much sums up my experiences, just replace "Halo" with "Dungeons and Dragons". You never really notice when something like that ends. You just look up one day, and realize you haven't played in a long time, and you don't know when you are going to play again. Online gaming is great and all, but it will never replace sitting around the table with your buddies, munching on Doritos and chips, cracking up when somebody does something funny in the game, hanging out before and after.... I miss that.

A lot.

 

[Buizel91]

My first Halo memories were in Halo 2, played it at a mates house, and even though i haven't played it in about 2 years it's still my favourite game, seen as though it pretty much got me in to the gamer i am today.

But still awesome story, ahhhhh the days of racing a Warthog on Coagulation <3

 

[FURY_007]

Wow, only now do I realize how long it's been since I've played/hosted a proper LAN party. Those were probably some of the best times of my life right there. My brother and I were fortunate where we could get a bunch of people with PCs and laptops over, so we would always play a myriad of games, from Warcraft III/TFT, Brood War of course, CS 1.6, UT2k4, Quake 3, and especially BF1942., Star Wars episode 1 racer.

If we had too many people over and/or people wanted to opt out cause they didn't like the game, we had a TV set up with an N64 and PS2 for whoever wanted to play goldeneye, Mariokart 64, timesplitters 2, etc.

We did that almost everyone weekend when I was younger. Also some of the best moments of gaming with friends have been on Halo 1, when we would set up 2 X-boxes and play 4v4, and one time one of my good friends family had a night where they would play Unreal:gold over LAN, and we had enough computers and people to play with I think 9 or 10 people

God I miss those days now, so very much

 

[MercurySteam]

Thanks for the dose of nostalgia. I think I really needed it.

 

[Coldster]

This is a very touching and fascinating story. I missed out on Halo 1 and started off on Halo 2 when my friend lent me his Xbox along with Halo 2 for a week. I can imagine this kind of experience since the same thing happened to me and my friends when we were much younger playing games like Mario Party 5, Mario Kart: Double Dash, Super Smash Bros Melee, etc. It was every Saturday. Funny that now I never even play Nintendo games anymore, but I still play with most of those friends over Xbox LIVE. Things do change, for better and for worse.

 

[OneBig Man]

About 3 or 4 weeks ago, my buddy setup a lan party at his place and invited about 10 other people and we had a good ol' fashioned lan party on reach. I have to say it was probably the most fun I had with video games in a LONG while. Just a bunch of dudes playing custom games and objective based ones. There were also a few nights at my university where a bunch of guys on my floor just played customs on Halo 3. We weren't right next to eachother but we either screamed on the mic or down the hall at eachother. Good times. I guess what I am trying to say is mutiplayer just isn't as fun if you don't have someone to play with.

 

[orangeapples]

Xbox Live: made gaming with friends less of an event and more of a Tuesday. Nothing wrong with Tuesday, but nothing spectacular either; it is just another day.

Technology designed to bring everyone closer together has actually pushed us all further apart.

 

[DesertMummy]

Cool story, bro. I have the same experiences playing over XBL, that I have playing over at a friends house, except at a friends house, we get sidetracked really easily, and end up doing thing better than playing the Xbox.

 

[Blueruler182]

Heh. Good ol' LAN party. Only thing my dad and I were able to enjoy together, best nights of my childhood. Wish it lasted longer, wish I remembered more. Wouldn't give it up for the world.