I played the first three games with a friend on his console as they came out. Years later when I got my 360 it came with a copy of Reach. I wasn’t expecting much because the same friend (who managed an EB at the time) always hated ODST and I thought how good could it be.
It’s what really got me into the lore. The way you could unlock armour through achievements and waypoint, and the terminals in CEA giving you codes for credits in Reach - that’s what reallt got me hooked.
Halo CE on original Xbox.
We used to set up LAN parties at work after hours. There were three TV’s at work - and I’d lug my (two person lift) 68cm CRT TV from home.
Fun times.
68 cm?
I still vividly remember the first time we ran cables through my buddies house to play Halo on different floors.
Just under 30".
I couldn’t justify the cost of an 80cm one.
Halo CE thankfully. I cannot imagine people starting Halo with any of the 343 made games. The magic from the Bungie era is unrivaled.
I’ve just never seen TVs measured in centimeters and we use the metric system where I live.
I was also imagining that being much smaller for some reason but I’ve always been terrible at spacial estimates.
One inch is about 2.5cm.
That thing must of weighed close to 50kg.
1kg = 2.2 pounds?
My first experience with Xbox was going to a friend’s house where they had an Xbox and Halo Combat Evolved with my first ever memory coming from the level The Maw where I was crawling through the maintenance tunnels and a Sentinel popped out of the opening on the bottom where I then unloaded on it with my Assault Rifle.
Soon after, I got my own Xbox and Halo.
Played a lot of co-op with my brother.
I was six years old when I was first introduced to the beauty of the black-&-green box.
My mother started dating an Air Force Technical Sergeant. And he introduced me to the beatiful worlds contained within the game box.
Morrowind
Crimson Skies
But most importantly
HALO COMBAT EVOLVED
Halo CE, my brother got the game from a friend for a week, I played it a lot. Years later we got a 360 and I started playing from Halo 3 backwards to CE again.
But a poll in the forum won’t show you the average consumer. It will show you the numbers for “hadcore” fans that spent so much of their free time with the game, they do not just play it, they also watch content and discuss the game.
Yep - 2.2 lbs per kg.
I also always remember 1600 metres to a mile.
Halo Combat Evolved was the game that got me interested in Modding Halo Combat Evolved Maps! 
PEACE! 
This is a weird topic for me lol. The first Halo i played was Halo 4 customs and a bit of campaign at a friends house wayyyy back, but the first Halo I ever played solo was CE with a 360 i borrowed from my uncle, but the first Halo i ever finished was Reach through MCC when I got an Xbox One S handed down from my uncle as he got a Series X (different uncle). My dad prefers PlayStation so he usually plays that, thats why I only got an Xbox in 2020.
I think im just gonna vote Halo 4
Based on this poll, looks like the majority of players left who care about Halo Infinite are old schools who started on CE.
Where’s your broader audience now 343?
OG since ‘04 here, played some blood gultch at a bday bash and I was hooked.
XB Connect baby. I used to go to huge LAN parties with my Duke.
I put CE as the first game I played, but truthfully it was Halo 3. I played the hell out of the CE PC demo. I played that so much that I could run through Silent Cartographer on legendary without taking damage. That’s why I put CE as my first game. It was my introduction to the series and when Halo 3 came out I got myself a 360, a copy of 3 and dived right in for what is one of the best games I’ve ever played. Both the campaign and multiplayer for 3 holds some of my favorite moments of the series. Reach is such an incredibly close 2nd that the two are almost tied for my favorite Halo game.
First Halo i ever played was H2.
One of my friends showed me the game after school and while i did not really think much about it at first i absolutely loved the flood. I remember reading in the newspaper back when i was 10-11 years old that reach was going to be bungie last Halo game and that made me pretty sad at the time (even kept it as a poster in my room). Back in 2013 i learned that a new studio took the franchise and another Halo game came out without even knowing it (H4), so i tried it out and needless to say i was left disappointed. Completely left the franchise for few years after that
Halo CE on the Mac.
Yes I’m that old…
I played CE in the MCC, but that seems like cheating.