The Daily Orange

Sometimes, my friends and I go on a picnic to a spot called Beaver Creek. We always bring our submachine guns and fragmentation grenades. One of the guys, Scott, is always running off to find a sniper rifle and another friend, Adam, is always climbing rocks to find a rocket launcher. Me, I go for the plasma rifle. 

In case you didn't figure it out yet, my friends and I live, sleep and breathe the video game giant "Halo."

At midnight on Monday, "Halo 3" for Xbox 360 went on sale to the masses. Combined with the "Heroes" premiere last night, geeks around the world are probably rejoicing by guzzling Mountain Dew, inhaling brownie bites and keeping their roommates or parents awake.  

We should be rejoicing. "Halo" is an astoundingly fun game, a way to make friends and a way to relax after you realize the shocking truth that midterms are lurking on the wings like seventh-grade guys when the slow dance arrives.

But whether you know how to dual wield or not, this game is a big deal for at least one reason: money. 

Released in 2004, "Halo 2" grossed $125 million during the first 24 hours of its release, according to company sales statistics cited in Forbes Magazine.

Microsoft has already stated they expect to crush that number with the game's third installment. Just to be clear, numbers like that are usually reserved for blockbuster movies in the summer, not video game releases in the middle of the school year.

But the times, they are a-changing.

The video game industry is a $7.4 billion goliath that doesn't seem to be slowing down any time soon. Almost everyone I know plays or can play video games.

Now, I don't want to disrespect any female gamers out there, but I believe that gaming is almost a rite of passage for young boys. Somewhere along the line, every little tike learns that Mario saves the princess, Madden gives pointless advice and playing as Odd Job in "GoldenEye" is akin to treason.

I've been gaming since I was wearing my Boston Bruins marshmallow Starter jacket.

Reflecting on my days of "Counterstrike," "Contra" and "Kart" (that's "Mario Kart," for the uninitiated), I realize it's not the games themselves that bring me joy - it's the time you share with friends playing them.

Now, I now that line was cheesy enough to stuff into a mozzarella stick, but it's true. There's something calming about lounging out, getting a 5-5-5 deal from Dominos and playing until your hands get sweaty (which does happen, by the way). 

There is a reason why we love video games so much: control. While it's cool to watch James Bond bring the pain on the silver screen, it's much more fun to control him. In "Halo," you may be controlling the hero, but you never see his face (I hope he has a Mario mustache). This is a calculated decision. 

"If he takes off the helmet, he should be you," said Marty O'Donnell, Halo 3's audio director, in an article in Time magazine.

Just like Mufasa in "The Lion King," the Master Chief from Halo and all the other Luigis and Marios live within us. They are part of our cultural existence. Now let's all strap on our plasma shields and shoot up some Grunts. 

Tim Goessling is a senior television radio and film major and is nice at Halo but ridiculously terrible at Madden.

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