This is just a bit of background to the These Stories Are True essay WE PITCH A VIDEO GAME.

David and I started the whole Tank and Sniper thing while playing various first-person shooters like Call of Duty 4 and the Halo games. It was clear in our playing that we had completely different approaches when it came to attack. David, like some sort of ‘roid-raged monkey, would go charging into battle, guns blazing and arms waving around. I swear there were times he had already stomped through an entire level and handed the enemies their faces before the rounds even started.

I, on the other hand, have a more conservative (wussy) approach. I’m the guy on the hilltop picking people off with a sniper rifle or handgun or grenade. I’m a lot better at attacking from a distance than David, who would rather run up and shove the bullets directly into people’s skulls. I have the patience it takes to snipe, where he does not.

Thus was born Tank and Sniper. I don’t remember what game we were playing when we coined it, but it’s been an ongoing joke for some time. We actually started referring to each other by those names. Not over XBox Live or anything…THAT would be absurd. Just across the living room from one another.

“Good job, Tank.”
“Thanks, Sniper.”
“Let’s go get a burrito.”
“Awesome.”

b

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