HALO 3 MIDNIGHT LAUNCH

So hey, a new Halo game came out on September 25th. I lined up at midnight for it again because, as we all know, this game is IMPOSSIBLE to find in stores anytime after that.

Let's just cut to the chase here and show you the best part of the entire night- This guy's car. This car was blasting everyone's favorite Korn songs from junior high all night long. I'm actually going to miss this guy at all the future launches I attend- It just doesn't FEEL right unless you're picking up a new game while listening to P.O.D. sing about the San Diego Chargers.

Cosplay is something that's bound to happen at any large gathering of fans. Here we have a kid cosplaying as a cast member from Newsies. I told him Christian Bale wasn't in Halo 3 and he gave me his spot in line pretty fast.

I met Sparky from the Mega64ums in line, and we both decided, why NOT take a totally unflattering picture of our faces?

Outside the store, they gave out prizes to people who could answer Halo trivia questions. This guy didn't win that lanyard, though, I gave him mine after I won it. The answer to one of the questions was "Tartarus," and I heard this guy call someone "Retartarus," so I felt an obligation to reward such a witty and heartfelt burn.

Laura and Garrett showed up. Here's a picture of them.

And here's the first one I tried to take that Shawn ruined.

This guy spilled a HUGE drink and it sounded like a bomb went off. This was officially the funniest moment of any Halo launch worldwide.

I don't know what transformation Laura went through as the clock hit midnight, but just as soon as the store began letting people in, she warped herself to the boxes of complimentary snacks and began shoveling them into her purse at inhuman speeds. Surely something had to be done.

Shawn didn't help the situation.

They were finally letting us in! We bought the game! Hooray!

And in fine Mega64 tradition, Shawn threw his Halo copy in the trash with a bunch of nasty food and pissed off a lot of wary customers.

The only difference is, this year, that's where Shawn's copy stayed.

My special edition copy of the game felt like the discs had shook loose. I opened it up and found that the game disc itself was fine, but the bonus features disc had somehow defied time and space and flipped itself around inside the packaging, and scratched itself to hell.

But this guy told me it would be okay. And you know what- I believed him.

So all in all, it was a fun night. I think that when we all look back upon the annals of video game history, we will never forget what Ha-