Fallen Comrades

Today, I received the shocking news that another member of my gaming community has passed away. Anthony Galante, also known as Quicksand on Xbox Live, passed away today. He was only 35. I had the pleasure of meeting Anthony last year when I visited Dave C (Wetwork) and Todd (Union Carbine) for a weekend hang-out that I blogged about. Most of the time I played alongside/against Anthony were in Rainbow Six Vegas matches which always ended up being pretty intense as Anthony was a very skilled player. Just this morning, like all other mornings, I logged onto Facebook and saw a message on the right side of the screen suggesting I send Anthony a message since I hadn't communicated with him over FB in some time. I decided to do just that to tell Anthony about getting together for some Resident Evil 4 co-op play, something he and I had previously discussed doing. I am totally devastated by this shocking news. My heartfelt condolences to the Galante family. My thoughts and prayers are with them.

This comes after forum member James (Covak on Xbox Live) passed away on November 19. He was just 30. While I didn't know James as well as Anthony, we played together on occasion and chatted up all things videogames.

Athough they are avatars on my computer/tv screen and voices in my headset, they are also passionate forum members that share the same interests that I do. And even when I don't have anything to add when I visit the forum, I always take great pleasure in reading what the guys had to say and share. James and Anthony will truly be missed.

RIP James

RIP Anthony