Halo 3 broke the single day record for entertainment sales (~$174 Million), this means it has done better than any movie, ever, in its first day. Being the insomniac that I am and running out of things to do at 4am, I have played a few times this past week and thought I would drop some insights here. Many women do not understand why it is such a big deal to men and this might be a worthwhile chance to give props.

If you think about it, a video game console for your husband may be a good thing, it’s cheap, you know exactly where he is, and he gets his “away” time with his buddies without even leaving your home. I do think some guys take the game way too seriously, there must be moderation in all things, but if you had to choose, would you rather have a man who is addicted to Halo 3 or drugs?

Halo 3 is a video game played exclusively on the XBOX 360. When I say “video game” I use that term conditionally, as for many players, it isn’t really a video game. Pac Man is a video game. Space Invaders is a video game. There are two parts to Halo 3, a story line mode, which can be played alone and an online version where players / teams of players play against each other.

Halo 3 can be a video game (and huge waste of time) if no thought is put into it. The story line portion of the game, I thought, was too easy and boring. In this sense, Halo 1 and 2 were much more enjoyable to play.

The on-line options, however, are incredible, better than anything I have ever seen. What I am getting from Halo 3 is:

– It demands an unusual blend of strategy, such as chess; only the combinations are more complex and more endless.
– It requires a skill for touch and placement, particularly in regards to how objects bounce off surfaces, such as Golf or Tennis.
– It requires problem-solving skills such mind puzzles (only in a constantly changing environment.)
– It demands alertness and concentration.
– It requires teamwork and camaraderie like football. (Players can communicate with each other through head sets, even if they are on opposite sides of the world).
– It provides an opportunity for leadership (you have to step into this role though, its cool to take a group of strangers and collectively beat much better individuals).
– It forces you to learn patience and to not to rush in to attack something. Beginners will run in mindlessly into attack, advanced players are extremely patient and never attack out of anger. They usually sit back and wait for the other player to make a strategic error.
– At times it feels like hide and seek.
– Guns, tanks, explosives, laser beams, flamer throwers, missles, vehicles with machine guns attached…am I not listing even half of them.
– It gives you the feeling you are young when you play it. Much like riding a bike does for me. Its surreal.

If you combine all these things together (Football, Chess, Golf, Tennis, Puzzles, Guns)….you have the ultimate male recreational vehicle. This is why men love it so much.

Granted, Halo 3 is not for everyone. I know several men who have tried to play it and just didn’t get into it, yet interestingly these same men enjoy other video games such as NCAA Football or Tiger Woods Golf.

On a side note- I was particularly impressed with how much thought went into the design. Bungie, the company that made Halo 3 did an outstanding job thinking it out. When I first played the online version and realized all the things they did, I thought to myself “I want to be like this for my clients….go out of my way to think of new ways to make their experience with me as awesome as possible….exceed their expectations”.