I began playing Halo with Halo 3, and I have been forging since Reach was released. As I discussed in another article, no other shooter has gripped me as Halo had done. I learned a lot about map design and game mechanics along the way. I have a very strong love for Halo game play and even more for the creativity that forging offers. So when the Master Chief Collection was announced, you could imagine how excited I was to be able to finally play Halo CE, Halo 2, and Halo 3 on dedicated servers on a new generation platform at 60fps. But of course that wasn't to be.
Luckily a still small voice inside me told me not to buy the Xbox 1 when I got up to the counter to purchase it the week MCC was released. I avoided the massive frustrations that many others experienced, and did not regret my decision to wait. But at the same time I lost an opportunity to enjoy what is arguably the best shooter experience ever, and I blame 343 Industries for this.
While history remembers 343 Industries as the company that promised everything, yet delivered nothing, I will remember them as the guardians that killed Halo. Like Frank O'Connor said, the developers at 343 Industries hated Halo. Since day one they have been systematically transforming Halo into their favorite game - Call of Duty. I know people will take issue with this claim, but to their objections I say, just open your eyes.
Soon after MCC released, over the Thanksgiving holidays, something else occurred. I got an email. I read it and downloaded some software. I visited a youtube video. And I discovered a new hobby with a fresh new passion that is much the same as I found forging Reach. I don't stay up until five in the morning like I did forging Reach, but I do go to bed a lot later a lot more often these nights. In time I hope to spin up a new web site to share my new hobby with the world. Along the way I intend to continue using the gamer tag MrGreenWithAGun across other platforms. I don't see myself on consoles much these days, but rather defecting to the PC Master Race.
As for Halo, I am pushing back from the table now and calling it a night.
Aloha