2008 Woodie Awards
Outing what's in: Popular culture opinion
Living the dream: Becoming master chief and alpha male
Erich Pilcher
Issue date: 9/27/07 Section: A&E
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You are sitting at home by the warm glow of the television. You see a vision of an apocalyptic alien invasion. These aliens are met by warriors with futuristic armor and beaten by the hordes of the supernatural. Then the screen goes black. A man larger than life appears wearing the same armor and carrying only an assault rifle says simply "Let's do it." The screen fades to black and a futuristic looking number three appears.
The man that appears is a current video game icon and the protagonist of the Halo Series, Master Chief. Ever since the first epic Halo was released in 2002 Master Chief has become the next videogame icon. To some he has even eclipsed greats such as Mario, Zelda and Sonic but secretly I believe there is more here than meets the eye.
Take a look at video game enthusiasts, affectionately known as gamers. Halo, released in 2002, and Halo 2, released in 2005, were a fresh wake up call. They provided gamers with new ways to kill the hordes of aliens trying to rule the galaxy.
From crushing their skulls with a gun, to shooting at them long range and just punching their lights out gave gamers character depth that had never been seen before. Couple these revolutions with the enhanced multi-player game play and it gave everyone the ability to be Master Chief. Through slick marketing and his never say die attitude Master Chief became the videogame alpha male.
We are in the age of males working toward achieving "tough guy" status. With UFC, the World's Strongest Man competition and male-targeted television stations (i.e. Spike TV) all gaining popularity, men are searching for that alpha male. So, why can't the alpha male be Master Chief?
For those who do not understand let me explain. Imagine you are Master Chief. You walk around all day with the most advanced weaponry and you kill aliens who are trying to destroy earth so your violence is justified. Then you get to have a computer-animated woman hit on you and wants to serve your every need.
After killing all these aliens, you go out to the local brewery in the galaxy. Everyone loves you for killing the aliens and saving the world so they buy you drinks. As the night winds down someone runs their mouth and a fight ensues. You, as Master Chief, have re-generative armor so you can beat him down and not even feel a thing.
But sadly, now that Halo 3 is released, this is the end of the videogame alpha male. According to Microsoft there will not be another Halo. But the fact remains we can still all dream of being the videogame alpha male that is Master Chief. For the dream is just a power button away.
The man that appears is a current video game icon and the protagonist of the Halo Series, Master Chief. Ever since the first epic Halo was released in 2002 Master Chief has become the next videogame icon. To some he has even eclipsed greats such as Mario, Zelda and Sonic but secretly I believe there is more here than meets the eye.
Take a look at video game enthusiasts, affectionately known as gamers. Halo, released in 2002, and Halo 2, released in 2005, were a fresh wake up call. They provided gamers with new ways to kill the hordes of aliens trying to rule the galaxy.
From crushing their skulls with a gun, to shooting at them long range and just punching their lights out gave gamers character depth that had never been seen before. Couple these revolutions with the enhanced multi-player game play and it gave everyone the ability to be Master Chief. Through slick marketing and his never say die attitude Master Chief became the videogame alpha male.
We are in the age of males working toward achieving "tough guy" status. With UFC, the World's Strongest Man competition and male-targeted television stations (i.e. Spike TV) all gaining popularity, men are searching for that alpha male. So, why can't the alpha male be Master Chief?
For those who do not understand let me explain. Imagine you are Master Chief. You walk around all day with the most advanced weaponry and you kill aliens who are trying to destroy earth so your violence is justified. Then you get to have a computer-animated woman hit on you and wants to serve your every need.
After killing all these aliens, you go out to the local brewery in the galaxy. Everyone loves you for killing the aliens and saving the world so they buy you drinks. As the night winds down someone runs their mouth and a fight ensues. You, as Master Chief, have re-generative armor so you can beat him down and not even feel a thing.
But sadly, now that Halo 3 is released, this is the end of the videogame alpha male. According to Microsoft there will not be another Halo. But the fact remains we can still all dream of being the videogame alpha male that is Master Chief. For the dream is just a power button away.
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