It's a cold Saturday evening in November on Janette Drive and a group of 12 young men are huddled together in a dark, dank basement trying to kill each other. But their weapons aren't guns, knives or sticks, they're Xbox joysticks: These men are video gamers and once every other week, for six hours or more, they do battle at Rico's House of Halo.

Two walls of four 26-inch televisions, linked together by four of Rich Thornberry's five Xboxes, turn Thornberry's garage into a gamer's haven.

Halo 2, one of the game console's most popular video games, is the game of choice among the group. The game's plot centers around its hero's never-ending battle against a group of aliens who have a super-weapon called Halo.

Up to 16 players can duke it out in Halo 2's virtual landscape and use an array of military weaponry and alien technology to wipe each other out. On Saturday, 12 young men drove from as far away as Santa Barbara to play Halo 2, socialize with fellow gamers and do a bit of trash talking.

Red and blue flags and lights adorn the garage and separate the red and blue six-man teams. Assorted Halo memorabilia including posters of Halo 2's hero, Master Chief, add to the spirit of the matches.

A cry of "Boo Yow" resonates from across the room as Thornberry and his red team suffer their first loss of the night. Matches inside Rico's House of Halo are quick and furious.

"There's smack talk but it's all in good competition," Thornberry said while gripping his Xbox joystick, trying not to get killed.

Thornberry, who goes by Rico in the game, has been throwing Xbox local area network (LAN) parties for roughly four years, he said. When the first Halo came out it supported LANs and Thornberry said he got further inspired to put together a LAN inside his garage after a big video game competition held in San Francisco that pitted the best Halo players from all over the Bay Area against each other.

Using Bungie.net, a Web site owned by Halo's creators Bungie, Thornberry put the word out about his LAN parties and got players from throughout Napa County and the Bay Area to start coming to his home on Janette Drive.

Scott Lamoreaux, 20, who goes by AutoMage in the game, drove all the way from Santa Barbara to play some Halo 2 with his buddies. When he isn't busy playing the game, he visits family in Fairfield.

"I usually plan my time here around this," he said.

When asked what he liked most about coming to Rico's House of Halo Lamoreaux said, "The freakin' people. It's a lot nicer having all the chatter going on."

Aside from all the good-natured trash talking, teammates use their close proximity to communicate with each other and get each other out of tough spots. The players at Rico's House of Halo seem to share a camaraderie that's often seen in team sports.

"I like the fact that you play with a whole lot of people," said Jason, who preferred not to give his last name, but goes by the name Jack-U-Mofo in the game.

He said it was a name that was given to him by a friend. His blue team said they were the underdogs of the evening and were juiced to have won their first match against Thornberry's red team.

Although the main game played at Thornberry's LAN parties is Halo 2, the gamers have an exotic appetite for video games of all genres. When Thornberry isn't playing Halo, he's on some World of Warcraft on his personal computer. Similarly, each Halo enthusiasts has a favorite non-Halo game.

So how much does it cost to throw a LAN party? Thornberry insists it wasn't expensive. An Xbox retails at $150, Thornberry owns five of them. Each television can cost more than that, but at Rico's House of Halo some of the equipment was donated by house regulars, Thornberry said.

And then there's the cost of buying sodas, snacks and other goodies to keep the fun going. But Thornberry points out that it costs less than going out for a night on the town.

"It's very social," Thornberry said. "I'm a gamer (and) I'm a big fan of multiplayer (games). Everybody here ... can play in a safe environment."