Halo 4 – Is It Midnight Yet?

Halo 4 – Is It Midnight Yet?

Halo 4 is only hours away from its midnight release and we are only hours away from our midnight tradition. Picking up Halo at midnight has been something I’ve experienced since Halo 2. There have been other games I’ve picked up during midnight releases, but none which capture the same excitement or emotion as a new Halo title does. For me, midnight releases began with Halo 2 and that tradition will always hold a special meaning to me with the Halo franchise. Sure, give me a midnight release for any major title, but Halo will always own the night. The Halo midnight releases are special from the moment you get in a line with other fans. Or, if you play it smart, you can pick up your copy at a less popular location and arrive 15 minutes past the hour. Either way, you still see those picking up their copy alongside you and you still give them that simple nod because you know the fun, excitement and good times that are ahead for all of you. It’s even more fun when you get home and see your Xbox Live friends all playing the latest Halo title. Well, tonight the fun begins again and your friends list will be full of people playing Halo 4. The fun tradition is about to begin once again!

To all of those heading out for the midnight Halo 4 launch – be safe, have fun and always be sure to high-five your fellow Halo players on the way out as they head home with their copy. Basically, be friendly while you can because you know, once you hit the online gameplay, sportsmanship goes out the window. Keep to the same enjoyable traditions and friendly chatter that you have in the past and make sure the new experience will be good for all, because another Halo title will be on its way soon enough and we’ll be doing this same thing over again.

So, who have had fun and memorable experiences picking up their midnight release? How many have stayed up all night long to play the game? How many have gone home and beaten the game in one sitting? Let’s hear all those good stories!

I’ll tell a story about my first midnight release with Halo 2. For days I kept hearing about how packed it was going to be and how the store would be open until at least 2am to make sure everyone got their copy. Well, to be honest with you, being my first midnight release, I decided not to go stand in line at 12 a.m. Instead, I went at 1am. Back then I did my shopping at EB Games and there was a GameStop nearby. At 1 a.m., that GameStop still had lines around the building, but my EB Games store was already done handing out all their copies. So I went straight in with no lines at all and got my copy of Halo 2. So yeah, it was great thinking about it in that sense, but I missed out on all the fun the people had who waited in lines. When I went in, I talked with the store manager and one of the employees for a little bit and they told me about giveaways and gameplay sessions they had with the game hooked up. It sounded like a lot of fun.

Anyway, I took my copy of Halo 2 and went home passing by the GameStop that still had a huge line. That was pretty entertaining to see how big that line was and that the EB Games location, that wasn’t too far away, had no line.

As I said in the opening, I loved the excitement, the new midnight release tradition that was born and un-wrapping my copy of Halo 2 at 1:30am in the morning. I played that nearly non-stop. I did pause to eat and drink some coffee once the sun came up, but after that, I went right back to it and beat the game.

That’s actually one of those fun feelings about midnight releases as well. Not only the fun of getting home and un-wrapping the game, but playing the game until you finally noticed that the sun came up. It’s a tradition, a Halo tradition and a mighty fun one to be a part of.

Tonight, we see the return of Master Chief…
Tonight, we will meet a new ancient evil…
And tonight, we fight that ancient evil all the way till dawn!

Have fun everyone and cheers to all who pick up their Halo 4 copy tonight at midnight!

Responses

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *