Ridin' Shotgun with Hobodog and QuickD13

“The car's back” is one of the most frequently used phrases when my brother and I play Halo 3. For the neophytes to this blog: my brother lives far away from me, and because of this, we spend more time together, hour for hour, Online than in person.

It might seem frivolous from the outside, but some of our most trenchant and intimate conversations happen over a game of Halo 3.

We've recently been sticking to Big Team Battles, which are 8 on 8 battles on larger maps. We like the bigger battles because the game puts Warthogs on the larger maps. A Warthog is essentially a jeep with a large turret mounted on the back. The brilliance of this vehicle rests in its principle: in order to be an effective killing machine, at least 2 people need to ride the same Warthog. One person must drive, and another person must operate the turret. Each person is at the mercy of the other. The driver is unable to shoot while behind the wheel, and the gunner, without a driver, would be an easy target.

Both the driver and the gunner have limited fields of vision, so to be truly effective, the two players must be in constant communication. And the Warthog isn't invulnerable. A well-placed enemy grenade or a laser can destroy the precious Warthog and its passengers in an instant.

Over the last few weeks, my brother and I have developed a special language to communicate while I drive and he guns. The language must be concise due to a slight Online lag, but detailed enough to explain particular enemy patterns. With some practice, we've learned to predict each other's movements. I know how he shoots, and he knows how I drive. And this has made us successful as teammates.

I've posted some of our post-game statistics below. To the Halo 3 laymen, these are strong stats.





















I know this is not the most impressive skill to have, but with a brother that lives so far away, Online games are our only way to spend time together. It may not seem as such, but to my brother and me, Halo 3 is no more nerdy than other respected activities like playing in a band or being on the same basketball team. All the activities require time commitment, patience, communication, some kind of skill, and, above all, dedication to an idea larger than one's own self. Instead of guitars and basketballs, we bond with jeeps and turrets.

Brothers always love each other, but they don't always like each other. I only have one brother, I feel pretty excited that he and I actually like each other.

Think not of our Halo 3 accomplishments as nerdy; think of these accomplishments as testaments to how much my brother and I have worked to keep our relationship intact even though he moved away almost 10 years ago. The act of playing Halo 3 might be ridiculous, but our skills in the virtual world are rooted in our ability to keep a brother as a best friend.