Happy Memorial Day, everybody! We hope you've been able to fit in quite a bit of gaming. To celebrate this day (in addition to honoring our military forces, of course), each of the Official Xbox Magazine's editors has detailed their favorite memory of Microsoft. Now, on with the memories!

FRANCESCA REYES, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF:

I have too many Xbox memories at this point, but if I have to pick one it'd have to be the first Halo: Combat Evolved LAN party I went to at an friend-of-a-friend's house way back in the day. I didn't know anyone there except for the person who invited me and it was a house full of guys who had been playing games together forever. There were multiple TVs scattered all over the house, plugged into every outlet. There was even a giant projector that a few guys were readying to play splitscreen on. I was intimidated to say the least, since it was a house full of strangers and I had never been to a LAN party in my life. 

But once the matches started up, it didn't matter. Whether it was the office favorite of Blood Gulch capture the flag or rockets-only deathmatch on Hang 'Em High or massive Scorpion tank team battles on Sidewinder, we all played like old, ornery friends — shooting each other in the face, cheating by placing Ghosts over the spawn points. By the end of the night, I'd had a blast and they invited me back for more shenanigans at the next get-together. I can honestly say that no other game since has had that effect on group gatherings I've attended. And it's something that cemented my relationship with Xbox. 

COREY COHEN, EXECUTIVE EDITOR:

For me, it was a Rock Band session where all the pieces came together just right. Ryan and I were reviewing the DLC pack of Rush's Moving Pictures album — one of my favorite CDs ever, and tracks I never expected to hear in a game. The TV volume was cranked way up, we were shredding away on guitar and bass — with Rush's bass lines, you really do shred — and the Rock Band Stage Kit was spewing fog and splashy light all over our glorious stage (a small storage room), in perfect time with the music. When we were done, we flung open the door, coughed a bit, then went back to our desks, with smiles that lasted the rest of the day.

RYAN MCCAFFREY, SENIOR EDITOR:

Nothing will ever top the time I got to go with former OXM editor-in-chief Rob Smith to Bungie in late September 2004 to be the first people outside of Bungie and Microsoft to play (and in our case, review) Halo 2. That game had been steadily building up to be the single biggest event in Xbox history, and I could not have been more excited to play it. The one part about it that’s hilarious now — but definitely wasn’t at the time — was the game’s ending. It’s been beaten to death, I know, but in my case I literally thought I’d hit a bug when the credits started rolling after the Tartarus battle. I was certain there had to be one more level — an epic battle on Earth. Lucky for me, I didn’t embarrass myself by getting up and grabbing someone from Bungie to tell them I’d encountered a horrible “bug” (I can only imagine what their reaction would have been). Instead, I just stared at the credits in slack-jawed disbelief. Like I said, it’s fun to laugh about it now…

KEVIN SMITH, FEATURES EDITOR:

I was in college when the first Xbox came out. I remember walking into a buddy's place right after the Xbox dropped, seeing the monstrous black and green console for the first time, and not really understanding what it was. Even it's name begged questions: "What's the 'X' stand for?" Nobody knew, but people seemed to be entranced by a game called Halo. Having already invested in a Dreamcast, I was pretty cynical about the Xbox's chances of survival ("Made by Microsoft? Pfft."), so I shrugged it off and went to a bar. The joke was definitely on me.

ALAINA YEE, MANAGING EDITOR:

When I was finally convinced to get a 360, I was a disillusioned former Nintendo-diehard. Could anything charm me into wanting to pick up a controller again? Well, Assassin’s Creed II did it.  (We’ll overlook the girl-geek eye-candy found in Ezio and just focus on how deeply that game sucked me into Renaissance Italy.) The hook at its very end made me yell a little, but Ubisoft succeeded in ensuring I’ll pick up AC3 on Day 1.

DAVE RUDDEN, WEB EDITOR:

The Xbox memory most dear to my heart was the discovery of Xbox Live Arcade on Xbox 360. The 360 launched as I was finishing my retail career, so I used my employee discount to go on a launch-game-buying bonanza. Picking up eight of the day-one games, I quickly became disenfranchised with previous-generation holdovers like Gun and underwhelming exclusives like Perfect Dark Zero. Fortunately, an amazing $5 gem called Geometry Wars Retro Evolved managed to keep my faith alive as I spent months attempting to climb to the top of my friends list scoreboard and unlocking every last Achievement. Even as my download library has hit triple digits, I’ve yet to find a game that’s been able to match the magic of XBLA’s original and best.

JOSH ABRAMS, INTERN:

My greatest memory of the 360 was when I first fell in love with BioShock. I was a very late bloomer when it came to this franchise. How late? My copy is a Platinum Hits version, which is strange when you meet me now and see how I gush over the game. I was in my local Fry’s warehouse looking for a new cheapish game when I saw BioShock. At that point I hadn’t heard anything extremely positive or negative about BioShock, so I bought it. I got home, turned it on, and got shivers from the opening scene of the plane crash and the first Bathysphere ride. It was love from that point on as I replayed the game on multiple difficulties, collected all the audio diaries, memorized the lore, and maxed out the Achievements.

Have your own Xbox memory that you'd like to share? Sound off in the comments section below, respond to our Facebook post, or reply to us on Twitter!