X-Fest 3 - a good time had by all

Well, another awesome Halo LAN party is in the books, and I think it's safe to say this was the best one yet.

Some last-minute strategizing by Blackwalt and Coxxorz led to an improved floorplan with better traffic flow. We had space for 7 players in the Red room, and 6 in the Blue room, although a few spots remained vacant (you know who you are!). We even found ourselves in the extraordinary position of having two spare consoles for guests to play on. perhaps next time it will occur to us to also acquire extra copies of Halo to play on them.

Despite being vastly outnumbered by the Home Team, HardW00D's Blue Team performed admirably, repeatedly defeating the Cats and taking home a large share of the prizes. Although this is arguably due to the efforts of Ivank1, who reportedly finished Halo 3 the day it came out. We would like to suggest "OCD" as his clan's new call sign.

On the food front, Coxxorz' legendary Halo Burgers were a hit, once again bringing pleas of mercy from PETA. Suffice it to say there may be fewer species on the planet this week. Curiously, there were far fewer trips to the snack table after these bad boys came out. And more trips to the bathroom.

Overall the night was a huge success. Although the jury is still out whether or not to invite HardW00D and his Blue team back next time for another taste of HOC blood. It remains to be seen how the combined might of the two teams works in tandem against others in Matchmaking. One imagines the enemy attempting to give chase to the randomly fleeing Cats, while Ivank1 snipes them from on high. The mind boggles at the possibilities. Perhaps next time!

Thanks to everyone for coming out, and special thanks to Blackwalt for preparing loot bags with Halo ActionClix figurines.

Click here for photo gallery.