Prelude to Halo Night · 7108 days ago
So then, Sean Southwell [the Black Democratic Bastard] came back down from the university for Thanksgiving. Naturally MKG (MarioKart Group*) had to get together for some serious gaming and whatnot. I decided that we should organize one of our ‘Halo Nights’ so started with the planning. Naturally it would be held over at Julian’s house [seeing as how he’s got the space for it].
This time, I wanted to organize a grand event, really big one. So I said we should have some 12-player action for Halo Night. Now, it’s difficult enough to organize enough to get Jorge and Jasser to come and complete a group of 8, 12 seemed a bit radical. First thing Julian said was that he didn’t even have enough friends to get 12 people. However Josh is the ever-resourceful one [and does know more than twelve people {yay}].
The first issue to resolve was going to be the units or sets. The way Halo [we played Halo 2] works is that one XBox can have one copy of Halo running in it while connected to one TV and allow four players on the split screen to play at any one time. Twelve players means that we would need a minimum of three sets. =\ ...hmmm, got me to thinking about where it was I was to complete these sets. The main issue is that a TV screen needs to be large enough to comfortably accomodate for four players on the split screen, so way I see it, a TV needs to be atleast 27 inches or more to have four people play on it. That was the first issue. The second was linking the systems so that the 12 players can interact and play in one map…together. Simple really, I bought the kit they were selling over at GameStop [which includes the router and four ethernet cables] for which I could connect the systems together. The next issue was that of compiling a list of guests, an issue ‘cause I needed to make a list of people that WON’T BAIL OUT.
For the list, I started making my usual calls to Jorge and Jasser; they were in, whether they cared to be or not. Fortunately, Jasser can expand on this and bring some of his ‘homies’ with him [love the language]. So with Jasser I could count on 2-4 players. Jorge would come and so would Becca, ‘cause she’s a player too, decent one at that. I tried Angie [this is Jorge’s sister people…oi], but she had some two-month-planned party that she couldn’t bail out on, as if she would have anyway what with the booze involved. A most recent addition to the [particularily Josh’s] gaming community is Chris [long-time gamer] and Sarai [novice]; gave them a call. My list was coming together just fine, with a few last minute changes, it turned out to have 14 guests total. Here’s a list of the guests:
Guests
Julian [MKG]
Ruth [MKG]
Sean [MKG]
Josh [MKG]
Jerny
Jorge
Becca
Edgar
Armando
Jasser
Jesus
Fabrizio
Chris
Sarai
The following issue was completed at least three sets/units for the gaming to happen. Naturally, Julian’s set [complete with a copy of Halo 2 I had previously rented for him] was at my disposal. The second set came from me and I transported my TV as I had so many times before, except with ease ‘cause I now drive a Scion xA [hatchback baby]. The third set was brought about by Jasser, which used my copy of Halo 2 as my TV used Sean’s copy. The fourth [I came through with even better] was thankfully provided by Armando complete with TV, XBox, and copy of Halo 2 [and we’re sorry his brother couldn’t join us]. So the night was even better as it turned out we ended up with four units; very comfy. However, at our peak we had 12 players playing at once [the last two guests were late].
And so, with two and half days of organizing and preparing, Halo Night was to be our best yet. Although, I was driving every which place, whether to get players, equipment, or simply food. I started that Saturday with some well needed rest as I had gone to the bank on Friday [so no need for Saturday visit in the morning]. I called up Jules [or he me] and we agreed we’d get over to his house to make preparations at about three or so. Instead, about 12 I called him back and went over to drop off my equipment so as to have one less hassle to deal with. Invited him to join Jerny and me for some lunch and we ended up picking Sean up as well. Figuring out where we were going to eat was tough enough; ended up being some quainte little Cuban restaurant in a corner I wouldn’t have looked toward. After the lunch, I spilled my coffee and had to get a quick change of pants, then Jern needed something, then we picked up Ruth and headed for Julian’s. We started playing some until I started making my rounds and had to leave MKG behind; Jern joined me for all my trips.
And thus began…“Halo Night”
Note: *MarioKart Group consists of four members: Julian, Ruth (grapehead), Sean “Black Democratic Bastard” Southwell, and Josh
— Josh Ricart
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