Profile of a Halo gamer: Practice, money, and excitement feed the addiction

By Sam Broadbent

November 6, 2007 | With a menacing look in his eye, an unquenchable determination in his heart and a Mountain Dew at his side, Brandon McGary, a.k.a. TheyTookErJobs, begins stalking his prey.

Wearing a few hundred pounds of armor and carrying an assault rifle, he effortlessly creeps around corners and jumps over cars without being detected. Slowly he gets closer and closer to his target, who is unaware of what's to come. Finally, with a powerful blow to the back of the head, his target falls lifelessly to the ground, while an ominous voice echos the word assassination. On to the next victim. . . .

"I still remember the first time I played Halo. My brother was working at EB Games in Provo and I had stopped by to visit. He asked me if I wanted to play the 'best game ever' and of course I said yes. He put Halo in the Xbox and after I completed the first level the addiction was born," McGary said.

Since that time, McGary has been a dedicated player and advocate of Halo and many other online console games.

Being a gamer is not all fun and games. It takes time, practice and most importantly, money.

"For a long time I didn't have my own Xbox console so I had to make friends with those who did," said McGary. "It was hard to become better on someone else's machine so finally I bought my own."

But for McGary the gratification of making this purchase was far from instant. After playing the demo but before buying his own Xbox ($300) he served a two-year mission for the LDS church in Russia. McGary returned home from his mission in 2003 and picked up where he left off as a gamer.

As a student attending Dixie State College, McGary would often turn to his Xbox for entertainment joined by many of his friends.

"Halo parties became almost a weekly occurrence . . . what's better than a bunch of people getting together to eat junk food, stay up late, talk trash and shoot each other?" asked McGary. Most Halo parties went on to the early hours of the morning. McGary admits to rarely going to bed before 3 a.m.

When McGary wasn't playing Halo he pursued what he refers to as other worthy causes. Sports and girls have always been his predominant interests. He is a devoted Jazz fan and is even more loyal to the BYU Cougars. His passion for sports stem from his natural athleticism and a father who works as a sportscaster at a St. George radio station.

"Basketball and girls were always more important than playing video games, but usually those that I played ball with would follow me home and we would end up gaming anyways."

He even got lucky when it came to the ladies and gaming. Later in his college career McGary found a girl who was attractive and played a few video games.

Shortly before Brandon left Dixie State with an associate's degree, he was faced with an obstacle that nearly destroyed his hopes of graduating. Halo 2 was released in late November 2004.

In his own words:

"It was close to finals week and I really needed to study, but my buddies kept calling and calling telling me I needed a break from studying. I finally gave into the peer pressure and abandoned my books for what I thought would be nothing more than an hour. I returned home a brief six hours later having gamed myself into almost a coma. I went to bed and didn't study again until the next evening."

The next night his friends called again and the pattern repeated. McGary did pass his classes that semester, but just barely. The next semester he transferred to Utah State University to pursue a degree in finance.

When McGary began attending USU he hadn't anticipated his identity would be reduced to a comical phrase from a cartoon. But McGary had also never played Xbox live either.

Xbox Live is an online service offered by Microsoft. It connects gamers from around the world and allows them to compete against each other. The only requirements were $50 a year and an identification name or gamer tag to play under.

Shortly after arriving in Logan, McGary began playing Halo 2 on Xbox Live. In this realm, he was no longer Brandon McGary he became TheyTookErJobs. An odd sounding name, but to those who watch South Park it was an amusing phrase.

"I feel I have brought happiness into every game I have played by having such a funny name," said McGary. "Some people even quote the episode while I am playing!"

McGary plays on a consistent basis. He plays a few games almost every day, but when life gets busy he takes a break.

"I played all the time when I first got Xbox Live, but now its not as big a deal to play," said McGary. "It's still fun, but I have a fiancée now who deserves all my time and efforts."

Samantha, his fiancée, who is a self-proclaimed Mario Kart champion, usually watches as McGary plays and sometimes they play video games together. Their game of choice is Lego's Star Wars because it's easy and fun.

With a wedding in December, McGary and his gaming persona, TheyTookErJobs, have yet again been faced with another challenge: the release of Halo 3.

"This game is more addictive than the previous two," said McGary, "The more in game achievements I get the more I can customize my character online and I have spent many hours customizing how TheyTookErJobs looks." In spite of his urges to play McGary has still helped with wedding plans like registering at Bed Bath and Beyond and Target, looking at dresses, and picking out flowers but he admits there were times he wanted to be gaming.

"I still play with him online because he is the best team player I know, but he plays a lot less than he used to," said Deluce, his roommate. McGary's early addiction to gaming hasn't left him, but he has learned to control it instead of being controlled by it.

"I don't see an end to my playing video games, but I do see a reduction in gaming as life gets busier," said McGary.

As a final warning McGary said, "Don't play Halo 3 unless you want to sign away half of your life the video gaming world." You could become the next victim. . . .

MS
MS