Linking multiple Xboxes to play Halo?

[BW]

Hello. I am trying to plan a birthday party for my sons, who want to play
Halo at their party with about a dozen boys, all playing against each other
at the same time. I understand that I will need 3 Xbox systems to do this, a
controller for each of the boys, and 3 televisions (or maybe even computer
monitors would do??) Can you tell me how to go about linking these systems?
I'm completely ignorant on this topic, and every web site I find that talks
about Halo LAN parties is so complex and full of jargon that I can't
understand it at all! Could you point me to a source of basic information
that would tell me how to go about this? Thanks much.

 

[BW]

Oops - I probably should have added that this is for XBox 360 systems.

 

[Joe]

Oops - I probably should have added that this is for XBox 360 systems.

You'll need the following:
3 XBox360s (with HDD)

3 Copies of Halo 3 (or any other FPS that supports "SystemLink". Check
the back of the box for "SystemLink", maybe they might like to play Call
of Duty 4, which is another great shooter game (more blood, but if they
are into Halo 3 I'm sure you've had the violence lecture before))

3 "Monitors", and I recommend reasonably large monitors because there
will be 4 players per screen.

3 Ethernet Cables, one for each XBox, XBox usually comes with a network
cable, so you should be OK here.

1 Ethernet Switch, Can be obtained at Best Buy for less than $20. Ask for
a Switch or a HUB, NOT A ROUTER!

12 Controllers, at least 4 will need to be wireless controllers, but all
the others can be wired if you want to save a little money (XBox360's
only have 3 USB ports built in)

Optional, 12 XBox Live Headsets - Voice chat in Halo can be fun to keep
yelling down, but it's a party, totally optional.

If you want to use VGA/computer monitors make sure you buy some XBox360
VGA Cables to hook up the XBox. Note, a lot of computer monitors do NOT
have speakers so you may need to provide some external speakers, like
some decent computer speakers, the VGA cable should have a little audio
jack where you plug into the monitor for audio.

Plug all 3 XBox 360s into the Ethernet Switch with an Ethernet Network
Cable (any computer ethernet cable will do, they look like phone cables
with slightly bigger plugs)

You'll need 3 copies of Halo 3 (one for each xbox) Also keep in mind that
Halo 1 and 2 will also work in this setup, if you feel like mixing it up.

Turn on all the XBoxes, have one person start up Multiplayer and set the
game to System Link mode and the other two xboxes should be able to
connect to the game. Check the game manual, if you get stuck.

Don't forget to do a dry run before the big day, and make sure you have
adiquate ventalation around the xboxes, spacing between screens so people
don't have to do too much blocking when getting up for chips and soda
refills. Layout is key to a safe/fun LAN gathering.

Alert the neighbors, etc.

 

[Joe]

You'll need the following:
3 XBox360s (with HDD)

3 Copies of Halo 3 (or any other FPS that supports "SystemLink". Check
the back of the box for "SystemLink", maybe they might like to play
Call of Duty 4, which is another great shooter game (more blood, but
if they are into Halo 3 I'm sure you've had the violence lecture
before))

3 "Monitors", and I recommend reasonably large monitors because there
will be 4 players per screen.

3 Ethernet Cables, one for each XBox, XBox usually comes with a
network cable, so you should be OK here.

1 Ethernet Switch, Can be obtained at Best Buy for less than $20. Ask
for a Switch or a HUB, NOT A ROUTER!

12 Controllers, at least 4 will need to be wireless controllers, but
all the others can be wired if you want to save a little money
(XBox360's only have 3 USB ports built in)

Optional, 12 XBox Live Headsets - Voice chat in Halo can be fun to
keep yelling down, but it's a party, totally optional.

If you want to use VGA/computer monitors make sure you buy some
XBox360 VGA Cables to hook up the XBox. Note, a lot of computer
monitors do NOT have speakers so you may need to provide some external
speakers, like some decent computer speakers, the VGA cable should
have a little audio jack where you plug into the monitor for audio.

Plug all 3 XBox 360s into the Ethernet Switch with an Ethernet Network
Cable (any computer ethernet cable will do, they look like phone
cables with slightly bigger plugs)

You'll need 3 copies of Halo 3 (one for each xbox) Also keep in mind
that Halo 1 and 2 will also work in this setup, if you feel like
mixing it up.

Turn on all the XBoxes, have one person start up Multiplayer and set
the game to System Link mode and the other two xboxes should be able
to connect to the game. Check the game manual, if you get stuck.

Don't forget to do a dry run before the big day, and make sure you
have adiquate ventalation around the xboxes, spacing between screens
so people don't have to do too much blocking when getting up for chips
and soda refills. Layout is key to a safe/fun LAN gathering.

Alert the neighbors, etc.

I should add that you can use HDMI cables instead of the XBox monitor
cable if the monitor and the xboxes have them

You can use a 4 port router if you already have one, just plug the 3
xboxes into the LAN ports on the router. If you connect your DSL/Cable
modem to the router then all the xboxes will be online, but unless
everyone brings their xbox live gold accounts to the party, there's not
much reason to do this.