Yesterday was my birthday and after the days events were coming to an end, the controllers came out. The few friends that know me best knew I was going to be up for games as soon as the non-gamers in the group had dispersed, so they hung around in waiting. Of course the first game we play is Modern Warfare 2; the new Hotness. It took all of 1 split-screen game for us to grow tired of it. Granted we all have the game, and I can't speak for the others, but I have logged over 2 days of online play. Nonetheless... we grew tired. We went down to pairs and started playing the Spec-Ops missions. That lasted for a good 2 games per pair (4 guys total... so 4 games) and again we were searching for more entertainment. So we decide to pop in ODST. Again in pairs we begin to play Firefight. As if I were 17 and had no responsibilities again, we lost track of time. All of us engaged in our game play; sweating palms, unblinking eyes, and roars of excitement. What is it about the Halo games that can keep this type of attention game after game? So it is now no longer my birthday, my Wife has been asleep for some time, the guys are on their way home, and I am up wanting more. Don't know exactly where this is going, but it was on my mind, and if I have learned anything about Blogs and the internet, this really doesn't have to go anywhere in particular. So there it is. 

Yesterday was my birthday and after the days events were coming to an end, the controllers came out. The few friends that know me best knew I was going to be up for games as soon as the non-gamers in the group had dispersed, so they hung around in waiting. Of course the first game we play is Modern Warfare 2; the new Hotness. It took all of 1 split-screen game for us to grow tired of it. Granted we all have the game, and I can't speak for the others, but I have logged over 2 days of online play. Nonetheless... we grew tired. We went down to pairs and started playing the Spec-Ops missions. That lasted for a good 2 games per pair (4 guys total... so 4 games) and again we were searching for more entertainment. So we decide to pop in ODST. Again in pairs we begin to play Firefight. As if I were 17 and had no responsibilities again, we lost track of time. All of us engaged in our game play; sweating palms, unblinking eyes, and roars of excitement. What is it about the Halo games that can keep this type of attention game after game? So it is now no longer my birthday, my Wife has been asleep for some time, the guys are on their way home, and I am up wanting more. Don't know exactly where this is going, but it was on my mind, and if I have learned anything about Blogs and the internet, this really doesn't have to go anywhere in particular. So there it is. 

Yeah, it's impossible to replace halo. It just has that something no other games have...  The more you play the more interesting it gets. Other games are really to remind you of how good halo 3 is, and i'd bet good money on halo 3's population slowly creeping back up in the following months as people return to it.  I recently discovered the joys of social skirmish after taking a break from Social Big Team (It's been full of parties of 8 against which randoms have no chance against since MW2 came out).

Other games have come and gone. But Halo, despite you could say 'dated' gameplay, still has the most beloved spot in my heart. In fact, after 2 years of that, I was hoping Modern Warfare 2 will tide me over till Reach but heck, even that isn't strong enough to keep Halo away from me and I want to go back more than ever before. 
 
Bungie r witches lolz?

They quite possibly could be. I am already noticing that my MW2 game is in its case more than I expected. I have 3 buddies coming over in the morning to watch football and play some Firefight, I am excited.

Yup.  I will never part with my copies of Halo CE, Halo 2, or Halo 3.  Too many great memories and too much fun to be had. 
 
On a side note, I REALLY hope they incorporate some of that amazing music of theirs into the Reach multiplayer.   

I like the icon/name MAN_FLANNEL. makes me laugh

For me nothing can beat the online craziness of Halo. I've played a lot of Battlefield 2 but that game just seems slower and less exciting than Halo. Even though Halo has tanks, banshees, choppers and a ton of other vehicles the maps are still relatively small and that keeps the action intense always, something Battlefield fails at. I've had the most fun playing Halo and even though i'm playing the hell out of MW2 right now (lvl 68) it still doesn't compare to Halo. 
  
I've saved so many game replays of just crazy shit that happens during games.

" Other games have come and gone. But Halo, despite you could say 'dated' gameplay, still has the most beloved spot in my heart. In fact, after 2 years of that, I was hoping Modern Warfare 2 will tide me over till Reach but heck, even that isn't strong enough to keep Halo away from me and I want to go back more than ever before.  Bungie r witches lolz? "

Yeah, my group of friends that I went to high school with and almost all of them still hang out when we get the chance... we used to record our games on VHS that we played via XBConnect back before XBLive was about. We still watch those videos (I converted them to .AVI files) and get a kick out of our strategies. I saw that last week MW2 was top of the charts followed by Halo3... I would be willing to bet that sometime mid next year Halo 3 will be back on top.

" @Zereta said:

" Other games have come and gone. But Halo, despite you could say 'dated' gameplay, still has the most beloved spot in my heart. In fact, after 2 years of that, I was hoping Modern Warfare 2 will tide me over till Reach but heck, even that isn't strong enough to keep Halo away from me and I want to go back more than ever before.  Bungie r witches lolz? "

Halo is just  irreplaceable. When you think about it, it really is completely unlike anything in how it plays. Even then, you have a bazillion differnet playlists and styles to enjoy. And i'm betting that in a couple of months time it will pretty much be back to the same population count it was before MW2.  Also, a lot of people will hate on me for this, but halo 3 is just as close to perfection as multiplayer gets. Apart from Orbital of course. "

" @crunchUK said:

" @Zereta said:

" Other games have come and gone. But Halo, despite you could say 'dated' gameplay, still has the most beloved spot in my heart. In fact, after 2 years of that, I was hoping Modern Warfare 2 will tide me over till Reach but heck, even that isn't strong enough to keep Halo away from me and I want to go back more than ever before.  Bungie r witches lolz? "

Halo is just  irreplaceable. When you think about it, it really is completely unlike anything in how it plays. Even then, you have a bazillion differnet playlists and styles to enjoy. And i'm betting that in a couple of months time it will pretty much be back to the same population count it was before MW2.  Also, a lot of people will hate on me for this, but halo 3 is just as close to perfection as multiplayer gets. Apart from Orbital of course. "

"Halo 3 is just as close to perfection as multiplayer gets."  You don't know how right you are. All the pieces fall together beautifully.  And you're already seeing it. Halo 3's post-MW2 population has been on the rise. People on my friend's list have slowly been moving away from MW2 back to COD4 and Halo 3. "

" @Zereta said:

" @crunchUK said:

" @Zereta said:

" Other games have come and gone. But Halo, despite you could say 'dated' gameplay, still has the most beloved spot in my heart. In fact, after 2 years of that, I was hoping Modern Warfare 2 will tide me over till Reach but heck, even that isn't strong enough to keep Halo away from me and I want to go back more than ever before.  Bungie r witches lolz? "

Halo is just  irreplaceable. When you think about it, it really is completely unlike anything in how it plays. Even then, you have a bazillion differnet playlists and styles to enjoy. And i'm betting that in a couple of months time it will pretty much be back to the same population count it was before MW2.  Also, a lot of people will hate on me for this, but halo 3 is just as close to perfection as multiplayer gets. Apart from Orbital of course. "

"Halo 3 is just as close to perfection as multiplayer gets."  You don't know how right you are. All the pieces fall together beautifully.  And you're already seeing it. Halo 3's post-MW2 population has been on the rise. People on my friend's list have slowly been moving away from MW2 back to COD4 and Halo 3. "

Lol yeah. It happens with every major release "

All the weapons in Halo do something different. Modern warfare on the other hand does not have quite as much depth.

I don't wanna sound like I completely agree with you, as I don't but I know exactly what you're talking about. For instance, the weapon variety (not amount), enemies, cooperative campaign, playlist variety, and gameplay is awesome. I myself have been playing Modern Warfare 2 for days and days and days. I grow tired of that game faster than I think I have on any highly regarded first-person shooter. There's just something missing. 
 
Halo is one of those games that you can come back to and easily get a grip on (no that's what she said here plz...). Counter-Strike used to be that kind of game, but now it's probably halo. The balance is there, the variety is there, the community is sometimes nice, and I simply love killing aliens rather than other humans. That may sound nitpicky, but it's true. I get more satisfaction out of doing it probably because it always feels right..haha. Good topic, hope it doesn't get out of hand.

I, sadly, kind of agree with you Zereta. MW2 is the media monster that Halo once was... so it might stay atop the mountain. The only thing is, I really believe that Halo is a BETTER game, so I am assuming that MW2 is going to have to decline at some point. I am not sure what happens, and it doesn't matter too much  to my opinion on either game. I am just happy that the competition between FPS's is as competitive as it is to bring us games like these. I also REALLY do not want Halo Reach to feel threatened by MW2 and try to take gameplay assets resemble the Infinite Ward series. Stick with Halo, it is tried and true.

I'm in shock that people are saying nice things (and rightly so) about Halo:
A) On the internet 
B) On this forum 
 
And yeah, Halo is amazing and about as close to online shooter perfection as you can get. (Just because no doubt someone will try to call me out on this, I'll state the obvious now - In my opinion).
 
@crunchUK: I don't get your hate for Orbital at all. My hate for Standoff - Heavy is justified though, because it's horrible... horrible.

" I'm in shock that people are saying nice things (and rightly so) about Halo:
A) On the internet 
B) On this forum 
 
And yeah, Halo is amazing and about as close to online shooter perfection as you can get. (Just because no doubt someone will try to call me out on this, I'll state the obvious now - In my opinion).
 
@crunchUK: I don't get your hate for Orbital at all. My hate for Standoff - Heavy is justified though, because it's horrible... horrible. "

I think that Infinity Ward should actually take something away from the Halo series. They should learn from the rankings system that Halo brings to the table. While the online rankings and matchmaking aren't perfect, in any regard, they are far superior to any other system out there. In MW2 and CoD4 for that matter, the games are not that competitive. One team will be stacked with good players and the other not so much. At least Halo seems to attempt to put "good" players against others of the same level. Although some people like to ride the wings of better players just to get their high rank. This isn't even an issue either, because if this is the case, the 4 person team of good players has to play a 3 person team of good players and one noob who is attempting to get his/her rank up by riding the wave. I got a little off track here, but I think one of the reasons that Halo will always (until this is fixed) be better than MW2 is the online rankings.

" I, sadly, kind of agree with you Zereta. MW2 is the media monster that Halo once was... so it might stay atop the mountain. The only thing is, I really believe that Halo is a BETTER game, so I am assuming that MW2 is going to have to decline at some point. I am not sure what happens, and it doesn't matter too much  to my opinion on either game. I am just happy that the competition between FPS's is as competitive as it is to bring us games like these. I also REALLY do not want Halo Reach to feel threatened by MW2 and try to take gameplay assets resemble the Infinite Ward series. Stick with Halo, it is tried and true. "