I joined this community back when halo was first in it's infancy. . .my brother introduced me to the game fresh off the presses; came home -now popped that gleaming disc in the clunky drive and that was the first time I experienced the spine-chilling menu music. Keep in mind, I had only ever played super nintendo and one or two n64 games up until this point (goldeneye notwithstanding) So when I was shown this strange character hopping out of a frozen tube - in gleaming green iridescent armour, I knew something special was about to happen. - being thrust through the first few moments of the game was unbelievable - the flames poured through the pipes on the lefthand bulkhead as I struggled to find my way through the cooridors. I ran forward still, with no weapon. . .only to reach a locked door - a dead end. Instead of losing hope, I turned around and hoped right through those flames (I was amazed at the fact that this guy had shields which would take damage and recharge - burning bulkheads? Yeah. More like smoldering smulksheads) Bad quips aside -- I danced down the hall and looked to my left only to find a wounded marine sitting on the ground, I couldnt't help him. . .yet. Running (or haphazardly jogging) through the armory - through gunfights I had never seen in a video game before - plasma scorched the walls, shields flickered and dimmed, bullets pinged off metal girders. And all I could think was "I need weapon". - finally making my way to the bridge is where I saw the scope of the thing which would encompass a huge chunk of my life from that point on -the Halo.

This community is responsible for an amazing amount of experiences that followed that inial shock and awe. It brought people together, with pizza - camping; laning - and LORD knows what else. My point in writing all of this, however dilluded it might be - is that I think it would be pretty awesome to get everyone together foragain an oldschool, halo 1; original xbox, complete with fat controller + pizza (claudes buying) anyone down?!?!!