Thousands of eager fans flocked to midnight events in New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Seattle last night to celebrate the launch of Halo 3, Microsoft's first-person shooter for the Xbox 360.

Is Microsoft's sci-fi actioner more than just a game, with its $50 million dollar budget, Hollywood-style production values and big-time partnerships with mainstream consumer brands? Wired Magazine went so far as to say that Halo 3 is "a cultural touchstone, a Star Wars for the thumbstick generation."

We took that question to fans who showed up at Best Buy in New York City and EB Games in Los Angeles to see what Halo means to them.