ARLINGTON -- A throng of males stood restlessly waiting their turn at one of the controllers.
On the screen were images of a war zone from the point of view of one of the fighters, his gun leading his every step.
Two gamers battled for supremacy, the chance to win a prize and, because it wasn’t midnight yet, they had some time to kill.
More than 70 people waited in line outside the GameStop in South Arlington to be among the first to get their hands on Halo: Reach, the hotly anticipated prequel in the celebrated franchise.
The game, which is played on Microsoft's Xbox, retails for about $60.
The store was one of roughly 4,000 that kept its doors open late Monday, and the gaming tournament was just part of the diversion.
"The DJ is right now setting up so it's about to get all kinds of crunk in here," a woman in charge said. Minutes later, the thrashing buzz of System of the Down, AC/DC and Metallica spilled out of large speakers and blared through the strip mall.
Many of the gamers in line Monday were regular attendees of the store's midnight releases, which occur a few times a year. Several said they had seen larger crowds for other recent releases but not many.
Adam Gottschalk showed up at 3 p.m. to be the first in line.
"Second guy came at 4," he said. "Three through six showed up at 5, and it went on from there."
Gottschalk, 17, of Arlington said he only comes to the midnight releases for Halo games. He plays Halo exclusively when competing in Major League Gaming tournaments.
In order to be ready for a Halo: Reach tournament scheduled for November in Dallas, he and a team of fellow gamers will need to practice every day, he said.
"It’s like 10 percent skill and 90 percent teamwork," Gottschalk said.
A junior in high school, Gottschalk said his dream job after college would be to work for Halo maker Bungie. Halo: Reach is the last Bungie contribution to the franchise. Future Halo games are expected to be developed by a division of Microsoft.
"This is the last Halo for me," Gottschalk said.
Ever since the first Halo game debuted in 2001, the first-person shooter series has been a favorite of gamers. While those in line differed on whether Halo was their favorite gaming series or simply in their top five, most agreed that the franchise couldn’t be beat in the quality of its story, which is set in the future and revolves around a faceless soldier's battle to save humanity.
Jonathon Bowling of Arlington got an early preview of the game by serving as a beta tester.
"Halo: Reach is my favorite video game," said Bowling, 14, who was waiting in line with friends and family.
He said he had been allowed to attend the midnight release of the game on a school night because he had kept his grades up. Nonetheless, he didn’t expect to be up all night trying the game out.
He still had to go to school Tuesday morning.
Howie Potter isn't as committed to his education as Bowling.
The 23-year-old stood near the front of the line holding a 2-liter Dr Pepper. A student at Tarrant County Community College, Potter said he hopes to eventually study video game design.
But right now, the main thing on his mind was that Halo: Reach was finally within reach.
"I have school tomorrow, but I'm not going to go," Potter said. "I hope my mom doesn't read this."
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