He rates his own skill level at "not bad" but his numerical rating of as high as 40 on Xbox Live means he could decimate a good percentage of casual participants.

Ethan Clawson missed a day of school three years ago when "Halo 2" made its debut. His mother, Mindy, gave him permission, "Because he is an excellent student and never misses," she said. The 17-year-old may not duplicate the day of gaming vacation, but the game remains important enough that he placed a preorder and will definitely engage in both the single-player solo campaign through the game's plot line, as well as engage his friends in competition in group events.

"It's the community play on Xbox Live and awesome storyline" that draw him back to the game. He anticipates playing for a few hours a day, purchasing an online account so he can sharpen his skills, and he hopes to repeat his feat of recording an in-game achievement of "killamanjaro," or killing eight players in four seconds. (Wow!)

But the appeal extends far beyond teens. According to consumer-research firm Scarborough Research (www.scarborough.com), Salt Lake City is the No. 1 U.S. city in percentage of homes with a video-game system. Almost one of every three Salt Lake homes owns at least one video-gaming platform, according to Scarborough. Adult males dominate, but that is changing quickly with such games as "The Sims," which skew strongly toward women.

Games like "Guitar Hero" are joining karaoke in clubs and bars as user-participation entertainment, and hand-held gaming devices and the Wii are widely expanding the audience of hardcore gamers into popular dinner-party entertainment.

John Roach, a 37-year-old mechanical engineer and father of four, is among those looking forward to diving into the game for several hours on several weekends. Microsoft has a bank of excuses online for less understanding bosses, but Roach won't be missing work. He has offered to buy the game so he can participate in a "Halo" party, despite not even owning a 360.

"It is a combination of game play and a good story; I want to know how it ends. It has created a whole universe that you can believe in," he says.

Steve Augade, a treasury manager for a national technology company, most looks forward to the social aspects of the game. "It's very intense and requires learning and adapting. I enjoy the group thing more because I enjoy playing it with friends. There aren't a bunch of (obvious) patterns and you get better and better all the time. And as a guy who loves to blow things up, it's a great way to do it."