The simplicity of older shooters is so much better than the modern experience. Plus the music was so much better and the UI didn't shove stuff in your face.
Facts y I still play my ps3 to this day , I play mw2 on my ps3 with custom firmware and I have a sprx menu installed to I cn adjust graphics and comes with a fov slider
I really don't know why people like you refer to a series like Halo as 'simple'. Halo 3 was one of the most mechanically-rich shooters on the market, bundled with a custom game maker and a level editor. On top of all of that, there was a community hub where you can upload and share your creations to the world. Nothing about the Halo games was 'simple'.
It was an amazing time, a serious core memory. Playing tons of custom games with local friends until 4am every night. Game / the time it came out was just extremely special.
it was one thing to be the last person ever on Halo 2 online when the servers were shutting down, but imagine being the one that brought it back and avenged noble 14
The shared experience of Halo 2 in particular unites a lot of different people from all walks of life. As long as we’re alive, we’ll never let the game die out.
@@KaineTremaineI was there for both and preferred H3. It’s by far the most feature complete game in the franchise. But hey, we’re both bias from nostalgia.
Hearing those gamers that were THERE is wild. I played Halo 2 when it was new and did not have the pleasure to play online. Only played solo. It still feels like I was part of this era. I got to when Halo 3 came out and the 360 was in its prime. Cant help to feel the nostalgia. Cant wait to set my xbox up now...
37yo, can't believe I didn't know about this! This came out my Senior year of HS and all the guys in my grade made senior skip day on release. Remember getting the game and going to friends' house, all of us hoping we wouldn't get in trouble, running cable between 4 systems, shouting at each other through walls, slamming pizza and mtn dew like there was no tomorrow. Had very few dollars from summer work etc so it was a big investment to buy the game, cables, routers, etc...but what an ROI. I just can't explain it. This video did a good job of explaining what it was like at that time. I'm just so happy watching it.
Wow, the guy that says “I’m 35 with a wife and kid…” damn that’s me right there. I’m 36, I have a wife and a 3 year old son. This legit brings back so much nostalgia. Playing Halo 2 online, back in high school. Honestly, Halo 2 was more than just a multiplayer shooter to me and many others, it was also social media before social media. I remember being in custom lobbies with friends, both friends I met on Xbox live and friends I knew in person, just shooting the breeze, talking, no shooting, just messing around and chatting. I even had a couple of girlfriends I met on Xbox live lol those didn’t last. But man, Xbox live during the Halo 2 era was something else. This really has me wanting to buy an old Xbox and doing all of this, just to bring back those memories back to life. Thank you for this great video!
Six years younger than you but that description said it perfectly - it being like a social media before social media. I was just a kid when I first played Halo 2 but that is exactly how it was for me with Halo 3. The amount of people that would join your custom lobbies just to have fun on maps you’d make and shoot the shit. Such good times. Have yet to find a game like that again these days.
I had no idea this was going on and im 100% going to play halo online again. Such good memories playing this with all my friends back in the day. I was older than the others i think i was like 18/19 when halo 2 was released and i remember going to grab a copy with a few friends and we would play it every friday night till the early hours of the morning. Makes me all warm and fuzzy thinking about it now. Thanks for making this video and putting a smile on my face 😊
I was 21. And now I have to check what kinds of mods are on my xbox. I've been afraid to hook it up to the internet. I am far from tech savy and hope it will work.
I’m so glad you got these people to talk about what it was like back then it was the best way to take us back, showing gameplay only does so much. But that, that was nostalgia
39 year old man here from the OG Xbox Modding community. I love seeing y'all youngins (lol) experincing the console that changed my life, and seeing the scene i helped build still THRIVING just makes my heart so happy. Your content is gold, Jeff. Don't ever stop. This is the video that's finally gonna get me to get my modded halo box on Insignia (she's got stellar; and is long overdue for an update). See you in the pit, dude!
Just laid in bed and watched this entirely. Really fucking loved it, damn. Really did something to my brain and put me in the moment of these guys of what it was like to play halo 2 online at the time. My first halo game was halo 3 and I'll never forget going to the the small corner video store to buy it with my older step brother and coming home to play it with him. Amazing video, thank you.
dude being a part of the custom SWAT lobbies, and infection games where you had to switch teams and not use guns on the honor system alone are things i will never forget.
Yeah man I literally had my place flooded by hurricane Helene but I managed to save my Xbox my gaming PC my games where up high so they’re alright I lost my 2014 dodge avenger😢 but I was fortunate to still have a home. Some people were less fortunate I really feel for the people you were affected by this nasty storm. Anyways enough off that bull 💩 This video did bring me joy and put a smile on my face I remember spending my whole summers as kid playing this battle front 2 and Conker live and reloaded for the original Xbox live all GOAT games to play online!!!! Like the people told you in video that played the OG H2 back in the day yeah they were right you could honestly make a friend in a match or two. I remember I made friends back in that game that I still communicate with today. The ones I still talk to today we made promises that we’ll eventually link up together even though we are across the country. Anyways some people you meet with back in the day had there status offline forever 🪦
Dude the “Times have changed” segment of the video makes me tear up. I was there on Nov 9th playing Halo 2 on Xbox Live. I did a bunch of Halo CE LAN parties in random living rooms like these guys so when I say Halo 2 online was a transformative experience, I truly mean it. Halo 2 is the most important game of my life. Great video pal! You did do it justice and I greatly appreciate it! Hard to explain how much this game means to me and others. Halo 2!!!
Halo 2 was absolutely legendary man. Hearing those guys talk about their experiences and remembering all the good times they had on Halo 2 was so heartwarming. I was a little younger than their generation so Halo 3 was where I had the best time and made a ton of friends. I do recognize though that Halo 2 was where it all really started it terms of Halo becoming a real social experience. Halo 2 walked so 3 could run.
Halo 2 came out 20 YEARS AGO?! Wow. Just wow. Lol. I TRULY miss this era of gaming. When it was a fun communal activity not because of online support, but because you could play with 4 to 8 friends all in the same room. Now gaming feels alienating and hollow.
Thank you so much for making this video. I went into this expecting it to be a simple tutorial on getting Insignia running, and it ended up being so much more. I started playing on the Halo classic discord server right back when it was just a few people, and I'm glad to see it's grown - and that you interviewed some of the core people who made it possible.
Thanks so much for this video. Really meant a lot to me. Halo and halo 2 where so important to me. I had LAN party's at my house as well. So many people and so many good times ingrained in my head that I am forever thankful for. Every word those guys spoke about the experience was exactly how I feel. Now I'm 39 with 3 kids, wife, dogs and constantly working. This really brought me back. I may just pull out my old xbox as well.
Never played halo online on the OG xbox. I am really thinking about buying a Xbox just to mod it. I still have all my old og xbox games, but with the series x I thought there is no need for an old Xbox... But this looks fun just for the sake of doing it. Thank you very much for this vid. And thanks to the algorithm suggesting it.
This put a smile on my face 😊. My first pre order my 1st midnight release was Halo 2. Had no clue what i was in for when me and my mom & sister pulled up that night. Freshman year of highschool was peek. Getting xblive for Christmas that year and making my 1st online friend. Nothing will ever be like this! Insignia we thank you! Buying my adapters today!!!
I literally just bought everything - including a refurbished Xbox 1.0 - just to play Halo 2 online again. You have no idea how much I needed and appreciate this video. Halo 2 came out when I was 13/14, I’m 33 now. Halo 2 was so special to me - it got me through a lot and was a place I made a lot of friends - some who aren’t around anymore. I feel like maybe if I walk these maps one more time - I might be able to find some peace with the past and maybe I can find more about who I was as a person and how I was so much happier then. Most of all, I miss who I was and the friends I had - Halo 2 represented that. If there are any other Spartans out there, I’d like to make some friends again - I definitely could use that ✨ If I can find any emotion or feeling of how I felt then…now. This is it. ✨ Thank you so much for all of this to the moon and back ✨❤️ Thank you x100 ❤️
I’ve always wondered why we don’t just agree, like as a generation, to just keep playing classic Halo. We obviously all still love it. This video has over 100k views. I don’t know man. How old is the game of football or basketball? Like let’s just keep playing Halo lol
"It's one or those games where I can be by myself, and just walk around the map" I've spent a couple hundred hours in Halo 2 and Halo 3 respectively and this quote stands out as something I feel about the games too. The atmosphere of both campaign and multiplayer levels are so fantastic that just wandering with the Ambience can be so relaxing. Plus there's videos and community members focused jumps like superbounces (Halo 2 original) and Ghost Jumps and variations (Halo 3 both original and MCC) which can be fun to practice by yourself or in discord calls. The games are just really incredible because the core movement feels so crisp even all these years later. I'd highly recommend anyone who owns these games whether on the original hardware or on MCC try loading campaign or multiplayer up and just try getting out of bounds or messing with glitches. There's often a lot more out of bounds to explore in the maps and levels of these games than you might think.
God, watching this takes me right back to 2005. I wish I still had my old Xbox. I know there are a lot of people who love H3, but for me, Halo 2 will always be MY game. It was the game I just could never get enough of. I still remember getting on immediately every day after school, grinding to get the highest rank possible, and playing clan matches. I remember when it was impressive that we reached level 20 early on in Team Slayer because the ranking system was so difficult. I remember the LAN parties, tournaments at GameClucks, and making friends. I find it kind of funny how nostalgic I am about this game now. Back when I used to play, I recognized its flaws, but now it almost feels perfect to me because the industry has decided to completely discontinue all of the features that made this game so great back then in modern games. I feel like you don’t meet people or make friends anymore in modern games, almost nobody uses a mic. They’ve watered them down and stripped newer games of so many things that were so much fun. Even just seeing the simple and beautiful UI, the friends list, and voice messages, clans.-this game was a work of art, ahead of it's time. I think it's sad that my son will more than likely never get to experience this. I will have to get my hands on an older Xbox. Thank you for covering this.
This is awesome dude. Just hearing about this version using OG xbox. Remember getting the game with my brother in 2004 after school. No joke funnest times of my life then. Hard nostalgia on this one. 8th grade- through sophomore HS. 33 now. Might have to unbox and refurbish the 2 OG consoles I've been holding on to.
I never had the original xbox or halo 2, but I would constantly go over to my friend's house to play. Split screen was so much fun. We would play for hours and I would sleepover just to play some more. Then the Xbox 360 came out and Halo 3. Those were the best times of my life. Just kids with no care in the world bonding over Halo.
amazing times. thank you for uploading this jeff. The inner kid in me is happy again. I grew up through Halo. Halo CE was the first game I had on Xbox and I was HOOKED as an 8 year old. So many memories with this franchise.
I was only 7 years old when halo 2 cameout, but my 2 cousins and a school friend and his older brother, both owned xboxs and halo 1 and 2. I cannot express how much fun it was to play those games everytime. If I had the chance to play halo 1 or 2 or any other game, it wasnt even a debate, it was halo. Then I went to the midnight release for halo 3. I was 12 and nervous and shit around all the older kids. They had a tv on with an opened game, and if you died you gave the controller to another player. I got a kill on my first try and everyone looked at me haha. My dad to this very day, still talks about those midnight releases. I still have my halo 3 dogtag, and my halo reach hat. My dad has a reach hat too and people constantly ask if they can buy it from him
This game was a stable for me growing up. It was my first experience with FPS online multiplayer. It brought my heart so much joy while watching. Thank you for making this.
Thank you so much for making this video! I don’t have any intentions of buying an OG Xbox and playing halo 2 on insignia because life is crazy rn, but it seriously made my heart jump seeing the revival of this game. I was born in ‘97, so I was really young when halo 1 and 2 came out, but my brother was born in 90 so him and my dad got me into video games. We went to GameStop and waited outside all night for the release of halo 1, 2, and 3 - this game series was special in our family! I was addicted to video games before I could even read haha I would need my sister or brother to come over and read the words on the screen to me when there was a pop up. Halo 2 will always have a special place in my heart. That’s where MLG popped off and I was a youngin watching halo 2 montages on the family desk top in the living room. That’s also where I learned about double shotting, BXR and double jumps. Can’t tell you how many hours I spent doing double jumps on lockdown. Halo 2 was special in my opinion because you got glimpses of weapons like the energy sword and it’s also where you learned about the covenant… then in halo 2 during the second mission in the campaign you spawn as the arbiter with an energy sword and have the ability to go invisible! This was NUTS at the time!!!!! Sorry for the essay I just wrote but man I just turned 27. I have a career, house and a soon to be fiance - life is super stressful so seeing stuff like this takes me back to those days where I didn’t have any responsibilities and could play this game with my brother and friends at LAN parties everyday. It’s funny - when I was young, I couldn’t wait to be an adult. Now that I’m an adult, all I think about is going back to those days of being a kid playing halo! Shoutout to the greatest game series of all time and the best community to ever do it. Thanks again for sharing this man great work on the video!! Just earned a new subscriber
This brought memories flooding back and tears to my eyes... Those were simpler times and I'd do anything to relive it. All the friends I had shared those times with are no longer in my life and that really sucks. I remember looking at my friends list a couple years back seeing those inactive and forgotten accounts and it really gets to me. Things change so much. I still have my Xbox in a cupboard and the old CRT so I'm sure to boot up this and get back online. I can't wait.
I remember playing Halo 2 online back in the day when it came out. I didn't have many friends at home to play with so getting online was refreshing and challenging. You had to be GOOD to play back then. I can't get into the modern games like that one guy. I just get creamed. Halo 2 (& 3 for that matter) just felt like the right pace for me. Halo 2 pretty much set the standard for online matchmaking for FPSes that many games still use today. Felt revolutionary at the time. Miss those days. If I still had my OG XBOX, I would definitely consider doing this again. Great video. Brought back memories.
man this video gave me goosebumps. appreciate you putting this video out. I saw another youtuber put out an insignia - H2 video but it seem like alot to get the emulator on the console. this was very informative. and yea man it was a great time. Going to those MLG events were something special. Literally putting a face with a voice after months of training 13- 14 hours a day. and months of talking to this person. the ranking system was top tier. the proximity chat / lobby chatting was top tier, this game was the epotime of strategy and team work. and i wonder if the double shot still works. RRX YY RRX for those who know. or BXR. Im going tonight and buying an og xbox n meeting you guys on here.
Man in college when Halo 2 dropped, the lan parties, the friends i met and have to this day, the memories of meeting people in the game and then organizing get togethers....Halo2 and Halo 3 were the peek of gaming for me. Truly amazing games that se the standard.
if you have a laptop with an ethernet port or a pc with a vacant ethernet port you can plug directly into it with the xbox, then bridge the connection from the PC to Xbox through windows giving it internet. Used to connect to my phones mobile hotspot on my laptop via wifi for internet, then bridge the ethernet connection to my Xbox 360 years ago when I had internet troubles & didn't have a 360 wifi dongle
This is amazing! Thank you, Jeff. I never thought I'd be able to experience Xbox Live on the original Xbox again. I can't wait to try this out. Halo 2 will be first but Burnout 3 and Outrun 2 will be next. I was a Freshman in college when Halo 2 came out in the Fall of 2004 and I have such great memories playing this game with my friends in college. I lived in a dorm and we played almost every day for the rest of the school year. Occasionally, we would get a group of about 20 people in the dorms and play LAN matches over the dorm network. At the end of the school year, my campus had a Halo 2 tournament that I played in with my college friends. The game wasn't just enormously fun, it also brought my college friends and I closer together and I will forever cherish the memories I have with my friends with this game. I remember how much anticipation there was for this game. It really was a huge deal. I remember going to the college bookstore and pre-ordering the game. When I picked up the game on release day, I skipped classes for at least 2 days and just played the game all day. It was awesome. I really do miss those days. Things were more simple back then. It's hard to believe it's been almost exactly 20 years. Time flies!
Halo 2 online was such a huge part of my childhood. I was 12 years old, the clans, the friends, the custom games, the modded lobbies, sticking a fork in your XBOX to stop the disc from spinning to only load the DLC maps... Thank you Dad for letting me get XBL in it's prime.
The ending of this video really was just the cherry on top. I too was 6 and on Jetset radio but my older brothers would have played Halo 2. Great to hear those stories.
Man the memories. Made a tear run down my eye lol. Everyday after school we had lan parties at my house. I remember having to get my friends parents to write notes to the bus driver saying it was ok that they were dropped off at my house so we could play. The nostalgia of loading up the game. I would do the same thing you did in the beginning of the video. Just sit there and let the music run for a few minutes. Brings back so many memories. When times were simpler. I’m glad the younger generation is still able to experience what we played and how games were back in the day. To this day there isn’t a single game that plays like these do.
Thanks for the video Jeff, wonderfully shot and presented. Got my Og Xbox back up and running today, modded / new SSD and repaired my dvd drive. Insignia up and running with halo 2 - awesome!
Halo 2 was my life for so long. I still remember my mom letting me skip school for the midnight release then spending the night at my buddy’s house playing all night. When I got Xbox live everything changed. I competed in MLG Orlando 2006 with my first Xbox live friend I met in halo 2 rumble pit in the very first days of my halo 2 online career. My team in halo 2 ultimately scrimmed against many top players and teams including XiT Woundz. I’ve been in multiple pro player montages and now I’m like itching to go buy an Xbox to do this. A few years ago I matched against the Ogre twins in Halo Infinite, the video is on my page. That was such a treat. Halo 2 will always be my most played game of all time. Probably over 10,000 hours. What an incredible nostalgic roller coaster of a ride. Thank you!
Hello, this video randomly showed up on my suggested videos and I wanted to say thank you so much for creating this! I got emotional a few times watching this and I cant' explain how many memories this video brought back. Halo 2 was such a huge game for me personally and I'm going to be sending this video to all the friends I've made over the years via video games to try and get a gang of us back together online again! Thank you so much!
Fantastic video. The interviews were the best part. Very relatable and glad to see that so many people remember the game fondly, it was really a special time to be a gamer
I just do Project Cartographer personally. Got it up and running for the first time last week actually and it was just amazing playing Halo 2 with a mouse and keyboard for the first time ever.
Oh man the nostalgia and memories my childhood was halo ce and halo 2. I have my OG xbox laying around somewhere i definitely should give this a try! Thank you for the trip down memory lane!
Awesome video man! I love that you were humble and interviewed those who grew up with Halo 2. Man what an amazing time that was. Dammit Jeff that was a great video!
This video and the commentary by the halo2 players just takes me back to Doom and Quake/Q2 days when we connected via BBS's or dwango to connect with other people, either locally or nationally to play extreme deathmatch and CTF games. A moment in time I'll remember forever. "The Edge" from Quake 2 is still probably one of the best deathmatch levels in a game, Ever. I'm kinda surprised other FPS games haven't given homage to it. It's just a masterpiece in circular level flow with 3 main levels that all intertwine with amazing weapon and ammo placement. Even the bunny hopping physics glitch was known by the id software team and utilized in the map to grab items. They knew their player base.
The stories about not being able to afford Xbox Live and playing after school with friends perfectly captures the experience. Even little things like having to remember to bring your controller with you (and we were all jealous of that one friend who could connect his third party controller to his Xbox with this new thing called Bluetooth). Thanks for making this video - it brings back some wonderful memories. If I get my hands on an OG Xbox I'll be sure to play some Halo 2 online.
this made me Tear up... Thank you! I missed this game so much I remember when my dad bought me my first Xbox and he bought me Halo 2 It was the best time of my life as a kid growing up to this day i still listen to the Halo 2 soundTrack to take me back in time when everything was great before growing up and facing challenges as an adult. I'm 28 years old now. I love you Dad! thank you for buying me Halo 2!
Yo!! Thank you so much for this. I’ve been watching since your jailbroken PS4 vid, and your videos are always super helpful and positive. Fell in love with H2 long after OG Xbox Live was taken down and I’m genuinely so thankful for the community to have Insignia around now and to have you spreading the word in such a incredibly well made video.
Awesome video! It's crazy to think this is what started everything for me. I went to college in 2002 and a friend showed me halo (CE). We played that game for countless hours and I eventually bought an xbox. That turned into modding xbox's and then modding them for other people (C4RN1's cheater files). We had the hacked french version before Halo 2 was even released in the US. After college I was doing xbox mods and xbox 360 repairs and opened my own computer store. I was a big part of the modding community for over a decade (I still have 12 or so OG xbox's somewhere in my house and all are soft modded with my files). I still have the og mother xbox which gave life to 500+ other xbox's (agent under fire exploit and ftp directly from the xbox). It's just insane to think that one event in my life set me off on this path. I now work for a fortune 50 company in IT and it's pretty safe to say if I didn't play halo with a friend from college I probably wouldn't have been sent down the same path. I might look into setting this up, though I have a halo infinite xbox series x that hasn't been turned on in months so that might be a bit optimistic. Either way thanks for the video, it really brings back those memories.
Missed out on this, I was Playstation user... Still am, but reverted to PC nowadays. It's really nice seeing this, does make me wanna start up collection of these old consoles for sure, even if emulation is already prime time. Amazing video, great job, really does give ya' the nostalgia kick.
If you're in the western hemisphere then you should be able to get a 1.6 OG Xbox for about 20$ with a Controller or two. Or if you have better luck than me then probably more or something rare.
Nah just play Halo MCC on PC. It is crossplay with Xbox and arguably the best remaster from the Xbox One era. It is more populated, you can use a controller or M&K and play on monitor or TV. Especially if you don’t already have a CRT TV or original Xbox and a good controller AND a way to run a wired ethernet connection to it while you play it AND you didn’t have it growing up you won’t miss anything by playing Halo Master Chief Collection. My only recommendation with it is play Halo CE, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST and Halo Reach, you can ignore Halo 4 in the MCC.
This is so frickin awesome! I feel bad for all the people out there who never got to experience the golden age of gaming. The games were better and the community was rad. And a lot of people dont realize how much they were/are missing out on. Hopefully this kind of stuff will make people demand more of the gaming industry, and reach out and connect more with fellow gamers.
I was too young to play Halo 2 online during its glory days, but I was there for Halo 3. I had the game on launch day when I was 6 years old, and the experience the singleplayer alone gave you, man it was fantastic. I never thought I could experience even a sliver of what Halo 2 was like back then, amazing how I can now. They don't make the games like they used to. Back then all it took was a simple voice chat or a private message after a game and you had a friend for life. Halo 2 shaped the modern gaming industry in all the right ways. Thank you for making this video, now its time to take out that dusty xbox.
I was about 6 when halo 2 came around my life. I never got the online experience but my brother and I played it a LOT. Campaign, and VS when we wanted to exert male dominance. We played with our cousins, our older brother and brother in laws... I was an absolute KING at that game. We were the ones that hosted the LAN parties. On my bros birthday once he had a bunch of his buddies over with one of my friends who came over too and we just had pizza and switched the controllers around. We did one game where it was 3v1 against me on foundation and I just absolutely shredded them 50 to like 8. Slayed them with the energy sword, sniper and stickys. I remember we spent so much time trying to find all the hidden skulls in the campaign. Reach was top tier online playing and it was mainly the community that created that, but I remember how I always wanted to play halo 2 online. Anyone trynna square up I already got most of what I need to make this happen for me. Catch me in matchmaking....if you wanna get schooled in a 3v1 :D
awww why did 12:50 hit so hard when Jeff said he " wasnt there " like it makes him upset. New Subscriber here for sure. Appreciate the video all together man!
So glad that this jewel is still commonly talked amongst gamers. Possibly the greatest game ever created? What an awesome video man. So happy that you got to experience a glimps of what Halo truely was/is. The friends I established back in the day playing these games are still a part of my life and I have already hit them up so we can all get back into it. Lets make gaming great again!
Not being dramatic - I teared. I love and miss this game so freaking much. I still have memorabilia all around my gaming office. I miss my Halo 2 friends, I miss the action, I miss the skill I had and my ability to lead the team. I miss the joy this game brought me. I tried playing the Master Chief collection but it wasn't the same. Thank you for this video. I cant wait I cant wait!!!!!!
I hosted several 12+ halo lan parties. I remember guys using our wheelbarrel to haul in their tvs. We had so many people at multiple points on various parties we had multiple lan lobbies running. Really the best nights i ever had. I havent thought about them in several years. I am glad I found this video on my feed because it is bringing back a lot of memories. High school wasnt so bad.
Soooooooooo much nostalgia. This game was everything for me in high school. Made so many friends through this game and still talk to a few of them to this day. Thank you so much for this video. So wish I still had my old XBOX so I could try playing Halo 2 in its original form again.
I had the privilege of playing this the night it launched. It was special. It was magical to be playing this kind of multiplayer on a console. Bungie had a world class online multiplayer solution that frankly most games don't even come close to today. Everything just worked. Really amazing that this has been put back together. It really was an amazing time. We really did carry around our Xboxes and small CRTs so we could play Halo LAN parties. Halo 2 actually didn't take away from that feeling even though we were now playing with people all over the world. It was a different time when people were mostly excited to be able to do this.
Just found your channel and I've been watching a bunch cause I couldn't sleep last night lol. Man this takes me back. I was also 6/7 years old when Halo 2 came out and I remember being so jealous of my friend because his mom took him to the midnight release and he brought the game to school to flex. Last year I found a nice 27" Sony Trinitron for free on Facebook marketplace and it's just been sitting in my room because I haven't had the time to buy all the required things to get a nostalgia corner running. Thanks for this vid, im def gonna mod my old Xbox and try this out! Edit: Also something you should definitely try if you're a Resident Evil fan is playing Resident Evil Outbreak online on a PS2 emulator. There's a few tutorials here and there but they're not as fleshed out as something like this video. Would be a nice video to watch too haha
Why did this video bring tears to my eyes. I never even experienced halo 2 during its golden era. But it does remind me of when my friends and cousins came to play halo3 at my house or at theirs as a kid. Legend man this is a legend.
You are one of the most underrated channels on this website. Production quality is great and you helped me relive part of my childhood - thanks a ton, man. Hope you're having a good week!
I grew up playing PlayStation and didn’t get into halo until Halo 3 but I remember being at my dad’s friends house and seeing the cover of halo too and thinking wow that looks bad ass. I played it and loved it and Joe I get to experience what it would have been like in 2004. Thank you for putting me onto this amazing technology brother.
Yoooo good stuff man, I was on Walshy’s practice squad back in the day for Halo 1! H2 was also amazing, I just dusted off the old box and ordered some of this stuff to get online again. PSB Anaconda here, see you guys online!
This brings back so many memories. Me and my other brothers played game for hours and got really good at it. I love this game and the lan parties were crazy.
This reminds me of what the homebrew community has done for the 3DS after Nintendo ended online support for it and the Wii U. It's super cool seeing the original Xbox Live UI in Halo 2 on the original hardware like this. I might have to pick up an Xbox and mod it now.
I'm about to get into a really tight budget for a couple of months and this really help me playing online without subscribing on monthly payments, and reviving the old games I loved, thank you!
I shed a tear reminiscing over all the memories of my early teenage years, I’m almost 33 now and play halo infinite for fun with my childhood best friend 3-4 times per week about one hour per night
During the halo 2 days, it was so fun reading about a new map that's coming out soon. I used to read all about the new maps on b-net. Studying weapon locations, etc. Then when the map would come out, I'd call off work to play the new map online non-stop. It was so fun. Before Halo 2 came out, the only other online fps I played on xbox was return to castle wolfenstein.
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I love your videos
the real question is can we play it on an emulator
Just letting you know Eons gaming tech has a XBHD. It could be better than pound link cable
The simplicity of older shooters is so much better than the modern experience. Plus the music was so much better and the UI didn't shove stuff in your face.
Facts y I still play my ps3 to this day , I play mw2 on my ps3 with custom firmware and I have a sprx menu installed to I cn adjust graphics and comes with a fov slider
@@BeaSTly_Kiila At least you play on a PS3 because on the 360 none of the bullets would ever hit anyone in Mw2
@@amelioravictoriadionyssia3323 stop the cap PS3 players used to get demolished when I came from Xbox to PS3 they were just garbage players on PS3
@@BeaSTly_Kiila playstation 3 worst playstation.
I really don't know why people like you refer to a series like Halo as 'simple'. Halo 3 was one of the most mechanically-rich shooters on the market, bundled with a custom game maker and a level editor. On top of all of that, there was a community hub where you can upload and share your creations to the world. Nothing about the Halo games was 'simple'.
Thankyou for covering one of my favourite games of all time.
Production value was fantastic too, awesome video.
yoooo its mint blitz whats up
@@LegoMaster_7778it's not
Hey! It's MintBlitz ! haha
Holy Shit, Mint Blitz. Huh.
See name Mintblitz: click like, only after that read his comment :D
it brings a tear to my eye at how special Halo 2 online multiplayer was for everyone. you truly had to be there and experience it for yourself
It was an amazing time, a serious core memory.
Playing tons of custom games with local friends until 4am every night.
Game / the time it came out was just extremely special.
it was one thing to be the last person ever on Halo 2 online when the servers were shutting down, but imagine being the one that brought it back and avenged noble 14
I was 100% there. Midnight launch. Clan overlord on H2
H3 just literally wasn't as good.. wasn't really close either
The shared experience of Halo 2 in particular unites a lot of different people from all walks of life. As long as we’re alive, we’ll never let the game die out.
@@KaineTremaineI was there for both and preferred H3. It’s by far the most feature complete game in the franchise. But hey, we’re both bias from nostalgia.
Hearing those gamers that were THERE is wild. I played Halo 2 when it was new and did not have the pleasure to play online. Only played solo. It still feels like I was part of this era. I got to when Halo 3 came out and the 360 was in its prime. Cant help to feel the nostalgia. Cant wait to set my xbox up now...
True ❤
37yo, can't believe I didn't know about this! This came out my Senior year of HS and all the guys in my grade made senior skip day on release. Remember getting the game and going to friends' house, all of us hoping we wouldn't get in trouble, running cable between 4 systems, shouting at each other through walls, slamming pizza and mtn dew like there was no tomorrow. Had very few dollars from summer work etc so it was a big investment to buy the game, cables, routers, etc...but what an ROI. I just can't explain it. This video did a good job of explaining what it was like at that time. I'm just so happy watching it.
Wow, the guy that says “I’m 35 with a wife and kid…” damn that’s me right there. I’m 36, I have a wife and a 3 year old son. This legit brings back so much nostalgia. Playing Halo 2 online, back in high school. Honestly, Halo 2 was more than just a multiplayer shooter to me and many others, it was also social media before social media. I remember being in custom lobbies with friends, both friends I met on Xbox live and friends I knew in person, just shooting the breeze, talking, no shooting, just messing around and chatting. I even had a couple of girlfriends I met on Xbox live lol those didn’t last. But man, Xbox live during the Halo 2 era was something else. This really has me wanting to buy an old Xbox and doing all of this, just to bring back those memories back to life. Thank you for this great video!
I am 40 currently. I enjoyed playing couch co-op in Syphon Filter for the PlayStation 1 against my brother. That was a fun experience.
did you ever mess around with super bouncing or "glitching" outside of the maps? good times
@@baelm oh of course I did! Super jumping was damn fun
Xbox was best and I am 22 in 2024 and I play my pc games ROG ally
Six years younger than you but that description said it perfectly - it being like a social media before social media. I was just a kid when I first played Halo 2 but that is exactly how it was for me with Halo 3. The amount of people that would join your custom lobbies just to have fun on maps you’d make and shoot the shit. Such good times.
Have yet to find a game like that again these days.
Don't forget to get rid of the clock capacitor guys, especially if have a 1.5 or below revision of the ogbox.
This needs to be boosted to the top
What happens if it's left in?
I don't have access to mine at the moment and I'm worried.
@@Phaddic it leaks corrosive liquid which burns/eats the traces on the motherboard.
Boost for engagement.
This needs to be pinned by Dammit Jeff honestly
Beautiful video. A phenomenal job well done. This video was supremely important for this community.
The ending made me cry.
Amazing video
I had no idea this was going on and im 100% going to play halo online again.
Such good memories playing this with all my friends back in the day.
I was older than the others i think i was like 18/19 when halo 2 was released and i remember going to grab a copy with a few friends and we would play it every friday night till the early hours of the morning.
Makes me all warm and fuzzy thinking about it now.
Thanks for making this video and putting a smile on my face 😊
Getting my Xbox some new capacitors, and I'll be on the Insignia H2 lobbies soon as well!
I was 21. And now I have to check what kinds of mods are on my xbox. I've been afraid to hook it up to the internet. I am far from tech savy and hope it will work.
I’m so glad you got these people to talk about what it was like back then it was the best way to take us back, showing gameplay only does so much. But that, that was nostalgia
39 year old man here from the OG Xbox Modding community.
I love seeing y'all youngins (lol) experincing the console that changed my life, and seeing the scene i helped build still THRIVING just makes my heart so happy. Your content is gold, Jeff. Don't ever stop. This is the video that's finally gonna get me to get my modded halo box on Insignia (she's got stellar; and is long overdue for an update).
See you in the pit, dude!
Just laid in bed and watched this entirely. Really fucking loved it, damn. Really did something to my brain and put me in the moment of these guys of what it was like to play halo 2 online at the time. My first halo game was halo 3 and I'll never forget going to the the small corner video store to buy it with my older step brother and coming home to play it with him. Amazing video, thank you.
dude being a part of the custom SWAT lobbies, and infection games where you had to switch teams and not use guns on the honor system alone are things i will never forget.
Yeah man I literally had my place flooded by hurricane Helene but I managed to save my Xbox my gaming PC my games where up high so they’re alright I lost my 2014 dodge avenger😢 but I was fortunate to still have a home. Some people were less fortunate I really feel for the people you were affected by this nasty storm. Anyways enough off that bull 💩
This video did bring me joy and put a smile on my face I remember spending my whole summers as kid playing this battle front 2 and Conker live and reloaded for the original Xbox live all GOAT games to play online!!!! Like the people told you in video that played the OG H2 back in the day yeah they were right you could honestly make a friend in a match or two. I remember I made friends back in that game that I still communicate with today. The ones I still talk to today we made promises that we’ll eventually link up together even though we are across the country. Anyways some people you meet with back in the day had there status offline forever 🪦
I came here for a tutorial and I left emotionally damaged. Thank you Jeff.
True ❤
"Help preserve the past and power the future" ... Words to live by.
Dude the “Times have changed” segment of the video makes me tear up. I was there on Nov 9th playing Halo 2 on Xbox Live. I did a bunch of Halo CE LAN parties in random living rooms like these guys so when I say Halo 2 online was a transformative experience, I truly mean it. Halo 2 is the most important game of my life.
Great video pal! You did do it justice and I greatly appreciate it! Hard to explain how much this game means to me and others. Halo 2!!!
Halo 2 was absolutely legendary man. Hearing those guys talk about their experiences and remembering all the good times they had on Halo 2 was so heartwarming. I was a little younger than their generation so Halo 3 was where I had the best time and made a ton of friends. I do recognize though that Halo 2 was where it all really started it terms of Halo becoming a real social experience. Halo 2 walked so 3 could run.
Halo 2 came out 20 YEARS AGO?! Wow. Just wow. Lol. I TRULY miss this era of gaming. When it was a fun communal activity not because of online support, but because you could play with 4 to 8 friends all in the same room. Now gaming feels alienating and hollow.
"Couch co-op" needs to come back for modern titles especially with the bigger taste we have now.
True ❤
Yes now days take for ever to install games and u have too wait and update console and u like I am go bed
Thank you so much for making this video. I went into this expecting it to be a simple tutorial on getting Insignia running, and it ended up being so much more.
I started playing on the Halo classic discord server right back when it was just a few people, and I'm glad to see it's grown - and that you interviewed some of the core people who made it possible.
Thanks so much for this video. Really meant a lot to me. Halo and halo 2 where so important to me. I had LAN party's at my house as well. So many people and so many good times ingrained in my head that I am forever thankful for. Every word those guys spoke about the experience was exactly how I feel. Now I'm 39 with 3 kids, wife, dogs and constantly working. This really brought me back. I may just pull out my old xbox as well.
back to back crt's
The Noble 14 would be proud
Agreed
@@AnamonatorYT god damn it we have the same comment
@@Xyto77 yeah I noticed that. I’m sorry if I stole your comment it was an accident
117 likes, I'm not gonna mess that up
Never played halo online on the OG xbox. I am really thinking about buying a Xbox just to mod it. I still have all my old og xbox games, but with the series x I thought there is no need for an old Xbox... But this looks fun just for the sake of doing it.
Thank you very much for this vid. And thanks to the algorithm suggesting it.
Wild that we are so fed up with the current gaming scene that we’re are going back. This is pretty sweet
This put a smile on my face 😊. My first pre order my 1st midnight release was Halo 2. Had no clue what i was in for when me and my mom & sister pulled up that night. Freshman year of highschool was peek. Getting xblive for Christmas that year and making my 1st online friend. Nothing will ever be like this!
Insignia we thank you!
Buying my adapters today!!!
Still remember how great it was to have a LAN party with Halo and Halo 2. I'm so glad to see that someone is still keeping this alive.
I literally just bought everything - including a refurbished Xbox 1.0 - just to play Halo 2 online again.
You have no idea how much I needed and appreciate this video. Halo 2 came out when I was 13/14, I’m 33 now. Halo 2 was so special to me - it got me through a lot and was a place I made a lot of friends - some who aren’t around anymore. I feel like maybe if I walk these maps one more time - I might be able to find some peace with the past and maybe I can find more about who I was as a person and how I was so much happier then. Most of all, I miss who I was and the friends I had - Halo 2 represented that.
If there are any other Spartans out there, I’d like to make some friends again - I definitely could use that ✨
If I can find any emotion or feeling of how I felt then…now. This is it. ✨
Thank you so much for all of this to the moon and back ✨❤️
Thank you x100 ❤️
Bxb brother
@@xconnorgrilloxBxR for life
I’ve always wondered why we don’t just agree, like as a generation, to just keep playing classic Halo. We obviously all still love it. This video has over 100k views. I don’t know man. How old is the game of football or basketball? Like let’s just keep playing Halo lol
"It's one or those games where I can be by myself, and just walk around the map"
I've spent a couple hundred hours in Halo 2 and Halo 3 respectively and this quote stands out as something I feel about the games too. The atmosphere of both campaign and multiplayer levels are so fantastic that just wandering with the Ambience can be so relaxing. Plus there's videos and community members focused jumps like superbounces (Halo 2 original) and Ghost Jumps and variations (Halo 3 both original and MCC) which can be fun to practice by yourself or in discord calls. The games are just really incredible because the core movement feels so crisp even all these years later.
I'd highly recommend anyone who owns these games whether on the original hardware or on MCC try loading campaign or multiplayer up and just try getting out of bounds or messing with glitches. There's often a lot more out of bounds to explore in the maps and levels of these games than you might think.
God, watching this takes me right back to 2005. I wish I still had my old Xbox. I know there are a lot of people who love H3, but for me, Halo 2 will always be MY game. It was the game I just could never get enough of. I still remember getting on immediately every day after school, grinding to get the highest rank possible, and playing clan matches. I remember when it was impressive that we reached level 20 early on in Team Slayer because the ranking system was so difficult. I remember the LAN parties, tournaments at GameClucks, and making friends. I find it kind of funny how nostalgic I am about this game now. Back when I used to play, I recognized its flaws, but now it almost feels perfect to me because the industry has decided to completely discontinue all of the features that made this game so great back then in modern games. I feel like you don’t meet people or make friends anymore in modern games, almost nobody uses a mic. They’ve watered them down and stripped newer games of so many things that were so much fun. Even just seeing the simple and beautiful UI, the friends list, and voice messages, clans.-this game was a work of art, ahead of it's time. I think it's sad that my son will more than likely never get to experience this. I will have to get my hands on an older Xbox. Thank you for covering this.
Amazing bro, you’re always one step ahead with your videos
This is awesome dude. Just hearing about this version using OG xbox.
Remember getting the game with my brother in 2004 after school.
No joke funnest times of my life then. Hard nostalgia on this one. 8th grade- through sophomore HS. 33 now.
Might have to unbox and refurbish the 2 OG consoles I've been holding on to.
I never had the original xbox or halo 2, but I would constantly go over to my friend's house to play. Split screen was so much fun. We would play for hours and I would sleepover just to play some more. Then the Xbox 360 came out and Halo 3. Those were the best times of my life. Just kids with no care in the world bonding over Halo.
amazing times. thank you for uploading this jeff. The inner kid in me is happy again. I grew up through Halo. Halo CE was the first game I had on Xbox and I was HOOKED as an 8 year old. So many memories with this franchise.
I was only 7 years old when halo 2 cameout, but my 2 cousins and a school friend and his older brother, both owned xboxs and halo 1 and 2. I cannot express how much fun it was to play those games everytime. If I had the chance to play halo 1 or 2 or any other game, it wasnt even a debate, it was halo. Then I went to the midnight release for halo 3. I was 12 and nervous and shit around all the older kids. They had a tv on with an opened game, and if you died you gave the controller to another player. I got a kill on my first try and everyone looked at me haha. My dad to this very day, still talks about those midnight releases. I still have my halo 3 dogtag, and my halo reach hat. My dad has a reach hat too and people constantly ask if they can buy it from him
This game was a stable for me growing up. It was my first experience with FPS online multiplayer. It brought my heart so much joy while watching. Thank you for making this.
I'm so excited!! You're the man Jeff!
So much nostalgia!!! Loved this.
The nostalgia hits like a truck with this one
No Tac running.. no sliding...no dolphin diving...just straight up killing lobbies
Just nonstop bxr combos
Ahhh Nastalgia in one sentence
Yep just madness with no tac sprint or nothing just straight up fun and madness
@@Highrollinhunter I LIVE FOR THE MADNESS and chaos
@@DiscordLOCYT same here that's why I always loved Halo 2 the best
Thank you so much for making this video! I don’t have any intentions of buying an OG Xbox and playing halo 2 on insignia because life is crazy rn, but it seriously made my heart jump seeing the revival of this game. I was born in ‘97, so I was really young when halo 1 and 2 came out, but my brother was born in 90 so him and my dad got me into video games. We went to GameStop and waited outside all night for the release of halo 1, 2, and 3 - this game series was special in our family! I was addicted to video games before I could even read haha I would need my sister or brother to come over and read the words on the screen to me when there was a pop up. Halo 2 will always have a special place in my heart. That’s where MLG popped off and I was a youngin watching halo 2 montages on the family desk top in the living room. That’s also where I learned about double shotting, BXR and double jumps. Can’t tell you how many hours I spent doing double jumps on lockdown. Halo 2 was special in my opinion because you got glimpses of weapons like the energy sword and it’s also where you learned about the covenant… then in halo 2 during the second mission in the campaign you spawn as the arbiter with an energy sword and have the ability to go invisible! This was NUTS at the time!!!!! Sorry for the essay I just wrote but man I just turned 27. I have a career, house and a soon to be fiance - life is super stressful so seeing stuff like this takes me back to those days where I didn’t have any responsibilities and could play this game with my brother and friends at LAN parties everyday. It’s funny - when I was young, I couldn’t wait to be an adult. Now that I’m an adult, all I think about is going back to those days of being a kid playing halo! Shoutout to the greatest game series of all time and the best community to ever do it. Thanks again for sharing this man great work on the video!! Just earned a new subscriber
This brought memories flooding back and tears to my eyes...
Those were simpler times and I'd do anything to relive it. All the friends I had shared those times with are no longer in my life and that really sucks. I remember looking at my friends list a couple years back seeing those inactive and forgotten accounts and it really gets to me. Things change so much.
I still have my Xbox in a cupboard and the old CRT so I'm sure to boot up this and get back online. I can't wait.
I remember playing Halo 2 online back in the day when it came out. I didn't have many friends at home to play with so getting online was refreshing and challenging. You had to be GOOD to play back then. I can't get into the modern games like that one guy. I just get creamed. Halo 2 (& 3 for that matter) just felt like the right pace for me. Halo 2 pretty much set the standard for online matchmaking for FPSes that many games still use today. Felt revolutionary at the time. Miss those days. If I still had my OG XBOX, I would definitely consider doing this again.
Great video. Brought back memories.
man this video gave me goosebumps. appreciate you putting this video out. I saw another youtuber put out an insignia - H2 video but it seem like alot to get the emulator on the console. this was very informative. and yea man it was a great time. Going to those MLG events were something special. Literally putting a face with a voice after months of training 13- 14 hours a day. and months of talking to this person. the ranking system was top tier. the proximity chat / lobby chatting was top tier, this game was the epotime of strategy and team work. and i wonder if the double shot still works. RRX YY RRX for those who know. or BXR. Im going tonight and buying an og xbox n meeting you guys on here.
Man in college when Halo 2 dropped, the lan parties, the friends i met and have to this day, the memories of meeting people in the game and then organizing get togethers....Halo2 and Halo 3 were the peek of gaming for me. Truly amazing games that se the standard.
if you have a laptop with an ethernet port or a pc with a vacant ethernet port you can plug directly into it with the xbox,
then bridge the connection from the PC to Xbox through windows giving it internet.
Used to connect to my phones mobile hotspot on my laptop via wifi for internet, then bridge the ethernet connection to my Xbox 360 years ago when I had internet troubles & didn't have a 360 wifi dongle
This is amazing! Thank you, Jeff. I never thought I'd be able to experience Xbox Live on the original Xbox again. I can't wait to try this out. Halo 2 will be first but Burnout 3 and Outrun 2 will be next. I was a Freshman in college when Halo 2 came out in the Fall of 2004 and I have such great memories playing this game with my friends in college. I lived in a dorm and we played almost every day for the rest of the school year. Occasionally, we would get a group of about 20 people in the dorms and play LAN matches over the dorm network. At the end of the school year, my campus had a Halo 2 tournament that I played in with my college friends. The game wasn't just enormously fun, it also brought my college friends and I closer together and I will forever cherish the memories I have with my friends with this game. I remember how much anticipation there was for this game. It really was a huge deal. I remember going to the college bookstore and pre-ordering the game. When I picked up the game on release day, I skipped classes for at least 2 days and just played the game all day. It was awesome. I really do miss those days. Things were more simple back then. It's hard to believe it's been almost exactly 20 years. Time flies!
This was the first game that I played multiplayer online. Very nostalgic for me. Thankyou young man.
man i remember doing glitches with friends for hours and hours, thank god this game is alive again
Halo 2 online was such a huge part of my childhood. I was 12 years old, the clans, the friends, the custom games, the modded lobbies, sticking a fork in your XBOX to stop the disc from spinning to only load the DLC maps...
Thank you Dad for letting me get XBL in it's prime.
Solid video and message thank you for making this! Been a Halo fan since 2002 when I was 16 and got my first Xbox to do LAN parties with Halo CE.
Thanks for spreading the word about this. We need more people on insignia
The ending of this video really was just the cherry on top. I too was 6 and on Jetset radio but my older brothers would have played Halo 2. Great to hear those stories.
The nostalgia is overwhelming right now. Jeff, Thank you, man. It was nice remembering the h2 days with the boys.
Man the memories. Made a tear run down my eye lol. Everyday after school we had lan parties at my house. I remember having to get my friends parents to write notes to the bus driver saying it was ok that they were dropped off at my house so we could play. The nostalgia of loading up the game. I would do the same thing you did in the beginning of the video. Just sit there and let the music run for a few minutes. Brings back so many memories. When times were simpler. I’m glad the younger generation is still able to experience what we played and how games were back in the day. To this day there isn’t a single game that plays like these do.
Thanks for the video Jeff, wonderfully shot and presented. Got my Og Xbox back up and running today, modded / new SSD and repaired my dvd drive. Insignia up and running with halo 2 - awesome!
Halo 2 was my life for so long. I still remember my mom letting me skip school for the midnight release then spending the night at my buddy’s house playing all night. When I got Xbox live everything changed.
I competed in MLG Orlando 2006 with my first Xbox live friend I met in halo 2 rumble pit in the very first days of my halo 2 online career. My team in halo 2 ultimately scrimmed against many top players and teams including XiT Woundz. I’ve been in multiple pro player montages and now I’m like itching to go buy an Xbox to do this.
A few years ago I matched against the Ogre twins in Halo Infinite, the video is on my page. That was such a treat. Halo 2 will always be my most played game of all time. Probably over 10,000 hours.
What an incredible nostalgic roller coaster of a ride. Thank you!
Hello, this video randomly showed up on my suggested videos and I wanted to say thank you so much for creating this! I got emotional a few times watching this and I cant' explain how many memories this video brought back. Halo 2 was such a huge game for me personally and I'm going to be sending this video to all the friends I've made over the years via video games to try and get a gang of us back together online again! Thank you so much!
Thanks for sharing this. I still my Xbox with S controller and original copy of Halo and Halo 2.
You'd look raw with your hair back in a samurai top knot.
Fantastic video. The interviews were the best part. Very relatable and glad to see that so many people remember the game fondly, it was really a special time to be a gamer
brother dont scare me with the 20 years later shit
I just do Project Cartographer personally. Got it up and running for the first time last week actually and it was just amazing playing Halo 2 with a mouse and keyboard for the first time ever.
It can play mods too
i think og halo 2 and project cartographer are good games
man this video was incredible ive just bought everything to mod my own and hop online thank you. reconnecting with my childhood. the golden years.
Oh man the nostalgia and memories my childhood was halo ce and halo 2. I have my OG xbox laying around somewhere i definitely should give this a try! Thank you for the trip down memory lane!
see the notes about the clock capacitor in other comments.
Awesome video man! I love that you were humble and interviewed those who grew up with Halo 2. Man what an amazing time that was. Dammit Jeff that was a great video!
This video and the commentary by the halo2 players just takes me back to Doom and Quake/Q2 days when we connected via BBS's or dwango to connect with other people, either locally or nationally to play extreme deathmatch and CTF games. A moment in time I'll remember forever. "The Edge" from Quake 2 is still probably one of the best deathmatch levels in a game, Ever. I'm kinda surprised other FPS games haven't given homage to it. It's just a masterpiece in circular level flow with 3 main levels that all intertwine with amazing weapon and ammo placement. Even the bunny hopping physics glitch was known by the id software team and utilized in the map to grab items. They knew their player base.
The stories about not being able to afford Xbox Live and playing after school with friends perfectly captures the experience. Even little things like having to remember to bring your controller with you (and we were all jealous of that one friend who could connect his third party controller to his Xbox with this new thing called Bluetooth). Thanks for making this video - it brings back some wonderful memories. If I get my hands on an OG Xbox I'll be sure to play some Halo 2 online.
Hearing the Halo music really brought me back. I remember playing with friends and hearing them try to pronounce "SMG" as smidge.
Wow what a trip down memory lane. So much nostalgia for Halo 2 and how that game changed online gaming
this made me Tear up... Thank you! I missed this game so much I remember when my dad bought me my first Xbox and he bought me Halo 2 It was the best time of my life as a kid growing up to this day i still listen to the Halo 2 soundTrack to take me back in time when everything was great before growing up and facing challenges as an adult. I'm 28 years old now. I love you Dad! thank you for buying me Halo 2!
Yo!! Thank you so much for this.
I’ve been watching since your jailbroken PS4 vid, and your videos are always super helpful and positive. Fell in love with H2 long after OG Xbox Live was taken down and I’m genuinely so thankful for the community to have Insignia around now and to have you spreading the word in such a incredibly well made video.
Awesome video!
It's crazy to think this is what started everything for me. I went to college in 2002 and a friend showed me halo (CE). We played that game for countless hours and I eventually bought an xbox. That turned into modding xbox's and then modding them for other people (C4RN1's cheater files). We had the hacked french version before Halo 2 was even released in the US. After college I was doing xbox mods and xbox 360 repairs and opened my own computer store.
I was a big part of the modding community for over a decade (I still have 12 or so OG xbox's somewhere in my house and all are soft modded with my files). I still have the og mother xbox which gave life to 500+ other xbox's (agent under fire exploit and ftp directly from the xbox). It's just insane to think that one event in my life set me off on this path.
I now work for a fortune 50 company in IT and it's pretty safe to say if I didn't play halo with a friend from college I probably wouldn't have been sent down the same path. I might look into setting this up, though I have a halo infinite xbox series x that hasn't been turned on in months so that might be a bit optimistic. Either way thanks for the video, it really brings back those memories.
Missed out on this, I was Playstation user... Still am, but reverted to PC nowadays. It's really nice seeing this, does make me wanna start up collection of these old consoles for sure, even if emulation is already prime time. Amazing video, great job, really does give ya' the nostalgia kick.
If you're in the western hemisphere then you should be able to get a 1.6 OG Xbox for about 20$ with a Controller or two. Or if you have better luck than me then probably more or something rare.
Nah just play Halo MCC on PC. It is crossplay with Xbox and arguably the best remaster from the Xbox One era. It is more populated, you can use a controller or M&K and play on monitor or TV. Especially if you don’t already have a CRT TV or original Xbox and a good controller AND a way to run a wired ethernet connection to it while you play it AND you didn’t have it growing up you won’t miss anything by playing Halo Master Chief Collection. My only recommendation with it is play Halo CE, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST and Halo Reach, you can ignore Halo 4 in the MCC.
Have you tried halo 2 proyect cartographer?
Man I literally teared up at this video.
Thank you
This is so frickin awesome! I feel bad for all the people out there who never got to experience the golden age of gaming. The games were better and the community was rad. And a lot of people dont realize how much they were/are missing out on. Hopefully this kind of stuff will make people demand more of the gaming industry, and reach out and connect more with fellow gamers.
I was too young to play Halo 2 online during its glory days, but I was there for Halo 3. I had the game on launch day when I was 6 years old, and the experience the singleplayer alone gave you, man it was fantastic. I never thought I could experience even a sliver of what Halo 2 was like back then, amazing how I can now.
They don't make the games like they used to. Back then all it took was a simple voice chat or a private message after a game and you had a friend for life. Halo 2 shaped the modern gaming industry in all the right ways. Thank you for making this video, now its time to take out that dusty xbox.
Hope this brings more insignia players
amazing video jeff! I wish I got to experience what it felt like first hand to play halo 2 back in those days
I was about 6 when halo 2 came around my life. I never got the online experience but my brother and I played it a LOT. Campaign, and VS when we wanted to exert male dominance. We played with our cousins, our older brother and brother in laws... I was an absolute KING at that game. We were the ones that hosted the LAN parties. On my bros birthday once he had a bunch of his buddies over with one of my friends who came over too and we just had pizza and switched the controllers around. We did one game where it was 3v1 against me on foundation and I just absolutely shredded them 50 to like 8. Slayed them with the energy sword, sniper and stickys. I remember we spent so much time trying to find all the hidden skulls in the campaign. Reach was top tier online playing and it was mainly the community that created that, but I remember how I always wanted to play halo 2 online. Anyone trynna square up I already got most of what I need to make this happen for me. Catch me in matchmaking....if you wanna get schooled in a 3v1 :D
awww why did 12:50 hit so hard when Jeff said he " wasnt there " like it makes him upset.
New Subscriber here for sure.
Appreciate the video all together man!
So glad that this jewel is still commonly talked amongst gamers. Possibly the greatest game ever created? What an awesome video man. So happy that you got to experience a glimps of what Halo truely was/is. The friends I established back in the day playing these games are still a part of my life and I have already hit them up so we can all get back into it. Lets make gaming great again!
This game is soo nostalgic for me 😭😭😭😭
Not being dramatic - I teared. I love and miss this game so freaking much. I still have memorabilia all around my gaming office. I miss my Halo 2 friends, I miss the action, I miss the skill I had and my ability to lead the team. I miss the joy this game brought me. I tried playing the Master Chief collection but it wasn't the same. Thank you for this video. I cant wait I cant wait!!!!!!
I hosted several 12+ halo lan parties. I remember guys using our wheelbarrel to haul in their tvs. We had so many people at multiple points on various parties we had multiple lan lobbies running. Really the best nights i ever had. I havent thought about them in several years. I am glad I found this video on my feed because it is bringing back a lot of memories. High school wasnt so bad.
Soooooooooo much nostalgia. This game was everything for me in high school. Made so many friends through this game and still talk to a few of them to this day. Thank you so much for this video. So wish I still had my old XBOX so I could try playing Halo 2 in its original form again.
I had the privilege of playing this the night it launched. It was special. It was magical to be playing this kind of multiplayer on a console. Bungie had a world class online multiplayer solution that frankly most games don't even come close to today. Everything just worked. Really amazing that this has been put back together. It really was an amazing time. We really did carry around our Xboxes and small CRTs so we could play Halo LAN parties. Halo 2 actually didn't take away from that feeling even though we were now playing with people all over the world. It was a different time when people were mostly excited to be able to do this.
Just found your channel and I've been watching a bunch cause I couldn't sleep last night lol. Man this takes me back. I was also 6/7 years old when Halo 2 came out and I remember being so jealous of my friend because his mom took him to the midnight release and he brought the game to school to flex. Last year I found a nice 27" Sony Trinitron for free on Facebook marketplace and it's just been sitting in my room because I haven't had the time to buy all the required things to get a nostalgia corner running. Thanks for this vid, im def gonna mod my old Xbox and try this out!
Edit: Also something you should definitely try if you're a Resident Evil fan is playing Resident Evil Outbreak online on a PS2 emulator. There's a few tutorials here and there but they're not as fleshed out as something like this video. Would be a nice video to watch too haha
Why did this video bring tears to my eyes. I never even experienced halo 2 during its golden era. But it does remind me of when my friends and cousins came to play halo3 at my house or at theirs as a kid. Legend man this is a legend.
You are one of the most underrated channels on this website. Production quality is great and you helped me relive part of my childhood - thanks a ton, man. Hope you're having a good week!
This video made me cry. Thanks man I needed this.
I grew up playing PlayStation and didn’t get into halo until Halo 3 but I remember being at my dad’s friends house and seeing the cover of halo too and thinking wow that looks bad ass. I played it and loved it and Joe I get to experience what it would have been like in 2004. Thank you for putting me onto this amazing technology brother.
Day one of asking Jeff to do a video on moding the Wii U
Yoooo good stuff man, I was on Walshy’s practice squad back in the day for Halo 1! H2 was also amazing, I just dusted off the old box and ordered some of this stuff to get online again. PSB Anaconda here, see you guys online!
This brings back so many memories. Me and my other brothers played game for hours and got really good at it. I love this game and the lan parties were crazy.
“I just always come to this game whenever I need to feel happy”. same thing bro, same thing
This reminds me of what the homebrew community has done for the 3DS after Nintendo ended online support for it and the Wii U. It's super cool seeing the original Xbox Live UI in Halo 2 on the original hardware like this. I might have to pick up an Xbox and mod it now.
Pretendo It's a gift for Nintendo fans
I'm about to get into a really tight budget for a couple of months and this really help me playing online without subscribing on monthly payments, and reviving the old games I loved, thank you!
I shed a tear reminiscing over all the memories of my early teenage years, I’m almost 33 now and play halo infinite for fun with my childhood best friend 3-4 times per week about one hour per night
During the halo 2 days, it was so fun reading about a new map that's coming out soon. I used to read all about the new maps on b-net. Studying weapon locations, etc. Then when the map would come out, I'd call off work to play the new map online non-stop. It was so fun. Before Halo 2 came out, the only other online fps I played on xbox was return to castle wolfenstein.
@10:07, every single hair on my neck & forearms stood straight up.
i havent heard this particular melody in years.
thank you