Like many 21 year olds, Evanston resident Andrew Desposito likes a good video game.

But this weekend, Desposito was hit with a hard dose of reality.

His brand new copy of the Microsoft Xbox game “Halo 2” — whose release last week drew out-the-door lines at area video game stores — was stolen from his car Sunday night.

“Everything in the car was just thrown around,” said Desposito, whose backpack also was taken from his black Mercury. “I was just pissed off that (the game) was gone. But I already went out and bought another one.”

The incident was one of three weekend burglaries of video games and video game systems, which police say was caused by carelessness rather than the cult-like following of “Halo 2.”

Sometime between Friday afternoon and Saturday night, an Xbox, 30 video games — including “Halo 2” — and a laptop were stolen from McCormick sophomore John Hanauer’s apartment on Simpson Avenue.

On Sunday night, Weinberg junior Bradley Napper called police to report that someone took his PlayStation 2, 15 video games and various other items from his apartment on Ridge Avenue.

In both residential burglaries, someone entered through the window while the residents were away, said Cmdr. Joe Bellino of the Evanston Police Department.

Hanauer told police he had locked his bedroom window, but Napper’s apartment window and Desposito’s car doors were unlocked when the burglaries occurred, Bellino said.

“Anything worth having is worth protecting,” Bellino said. “If you leave it in an unlocked vehicle or an unlocked home, you’re making it easier for an item to be lost.”

Almost all of the burglaries handled by EPD involve unlocked doors, he added.

Although Bellino said he was not aware of the “Halo 2” following, Alyson Miller, an assistant manager at EB Games, 920 Church St., said she is “not at all” surprised to hear that people are stealing the game.

The store has sold 500 to 600 copies since the game’s Nov. 9 release, she said.

“That’s way higher than any other game release,” she said. “It’s been crazy.”

Hanauer said he was one of the many who stood in line at midnight to get his copy of “Halo 2” last Tuesday. But, he said, losing his computer was worse than losing the game.

“My laptop had a bunch of stuff on its hard drive that I can never get back,” he said. “And it was worth at least $2,000.”

Desposito said he is not a video game fanatic, but he does love a good game of Halo. Instead of thinking about the burglary, he is putting a new copy of “Halo 2” to good use.

“I had a tournament last night,” he said.

Reach Marissa Conrad at [email protected].