It took months of prodding before my parents allowed me to get the original Halo for XBox. I was about fourteen at the time, a little angsty, a little irritating, growing up in a conservative and religious home where R-rated movies and M-rated video games were usually shunned if not frowned upon.

It took the supportive words of the local GameCrazy general manager to convince my parents that I was okay playing Halo. And that Christmas, I got my copy. That led to hours of multiplayer matches, c...