The NES had Super Mario Bros. The Genesis had Sonic The Hedgehog. And Microsoft's Xbox? It had Halo. And Halo is awesome. 


I was skeptical of the Xbox. I remember reading a great article in a gaming magazine (remember those?) about how there just wasn't room in the gaming industry for four home consoles. At least one of the Nintendo Gamecube, Playstation 2, Sega Dreamcast and Microsoft's Xbox wasn't going to survive. In hindsight, we all know the - unfortunate - victim of the crowd selves was the Dreamcast, but I would have bet money it would be the Xbox. But, I didn't know that Microsoft had Bungie and a little someone named Master Chief in their back pocket. 


When you think of the Xbox, it's hard not to think of Halo: Combat Evolved. I guess you could think of Halo 2, but whatever. It's the system Master Chief built. I vividly remember playing Halo with my friend Chris and just being blown away by the graphics and the gameplay. Until then, all I knew of first person shooters was Goldeneye, Perfect Dark and DOOM. Halo was incredible. It was like playing a movie. It raised the bar. A lot. 


Some of my best memories of Halo are playing the campaign on Legendary difficulty. Getting my ass handed to me over and over and not caring. The music got you so fired up. Ripping around in Warthogs. The multi-player!! Grunts are one of my favourite villains in a video game to this day. Halo: Combat Evolved is the best. 


My buddy and fellow comedian Ty joined me this week, and we took a long look back at the debut of Master Chief, the arrival of the Xbox, and the gem that is Halo: Combat Evolved. Enjoy!