Once upon a time there was a software company called Bungie. I remember them when I was just a youngin' playing whatever game would come my way. The first game I played was Marathon. I remember spending the whole night playing the demo of Marathon, I was deeply addicted very early. Something about their games made them feel real, down to the very last pixel like you were actually watching some lo-res render of a good movie. Their games raised the bar on the Mac platform. Marathon 2 made things more impressive and Marathon: Infinity gave us the tools to make our own Marathon worlds.

The glory years of the fanbase had come upon us then, everyone created their own maps and levels. Everyone submitted to the Story Page. Everyone wrote a "Letter to the Webmaster." Then Myth came, and with it, a new fanbase. They were just as rabid as the Marathoners, fighting tooth and nail for their edited maps and total conversions.

More important was the Bungie that came to MacWorld. They brought massive PowerPC computers and good monitors and sponsored bloodbaths for all to have. I even remember having my ass handed to me by Celer Manus Dei multiple times. I remember playing Myth in its early days as well as an Alpha release of Oni. I remember meeting Doug Zartman and being convinced that there was none cooler than he. I remember grabbing as many stickers as I could, placing them wherever I could. There's still a Marathon Olympics sticker on my old school locker.

As long as I can remember, I have loved what Bungie stood for: killer games, intricate details and massive multiplayer experience. Now they've been sold to a company whose business plan includes: release too early, sell to the popculture masses, and make things as hard as possible to make things actually work. For the Bungie crew, I say "Good luck, and don't compromise your principles." For the Bungie fans, I say "Hope is the key to sanity, keep one to save the other." To Microsoft I say, "Kill Bungie and I'm coming to Redmond with a tank and some C4."

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