Leo handed over his cash, the heavy clink of the disc inside the case sounding like a winning slot machine. He sprinted to his beat-up sedan, the Best Buy sign glowing in his rearview mirror.

The fluorescent hum of the Best Buy on a Tuesday night was the soundtrack to Leo’s mission. He had forty dollars in crumpled bills and a hole in his heart that could only be filled by a green plastic case.

"Finding what you need?" a blue-shirted employee asked, appearing like a ghost from the shadows of the refrigerator aisle.

There it was. Tucked behind a cracked copy of Madden 06 sat Gears of War . The cover art—Marcus Fenix looking like a walking tank—promised a world of gritty survival.