Game On!
ASU Gaming Club takes network gaming to a new level
It would be
impossible to mention technology’s presence in society without bringing
up the subject of competitive computer gaming. What was once a single-player
affair now offers people a chance to socialize, interact and team up with
other online gamers from just about anywhere on earth. The Internet is full
of servers that allow gamers to meet up and play an enormous variety of
games with and against each other. As gaming technology advances, the number
of gamers increases, to the point that now you can mention the words “World
of Warcraft” to just about anyone on the street and they’ll
know what you are talking about.
Interest in multiplayer games is so strong in the High Country that ASU
has officially sponsored a club, the Appalachian Gaming Club, to not only
provide gamers a means of meeting people with similar interests, but also
to raise awareness of gamers as a group. The club has successfully persuaded
the University to wire a room in the Student Union to handle up to 140 PCs,
complete with Ethernet connections, so that the club could hold tournaments
on site.
These accommodations are far better than what the club was working with
during their first tournament in April, 2005. The event was held in the
Student Union, and there was much stress over networking issues. The club
was even concerned that the wiring in the room would not be able to provide
the amount of power required to run all of their computers. Later on, one
of their events did knock out the entire circuit, resulting in official
University, fire and police intervention. The improvements that the University
and the Gaming Club have made have created a valuable, and much safer, resource
for local gamers.
The ASU Gaming Club’s contributions to the gaming community extend
beyond the University level. They have six servers with global access open
to anyone looking to play a variety of first-person shooter games (think
Doom and Golden Eye). The servers are popular gaming conduits for the blokes
in the UK, and our neighbors to the north have recognized the club to the
extent that a person from Canada flew in to participate in one of the club’s
recent LAN (Local Area Network) parties. The international recognition is
a testament to how strong the gaming community is here in Boone.
To some members, this sense of community is the true purpose behind the
club. It helps bring together people who have a passion for gaming, who
may otherwise only be playing with distant competitors over the internet.
By putting gamers in the same room for a LAN party, the humans behind the
characters in the game are visible to all involved in the competition.
This human interaction is, at times, utterly hilarious. The Gaming Club’s
Technology Manager, Rob Wilcox, recounted a particularly tasteless story
to me that occurred during a Quake 3 tournament. In this particular game,
each player assigns him or herself a name. When one player is killed by
another, a message appears at the bottom of every computer that is involved
in the match. This evening, someone changed his name to Steve Irwin. Within
a few minutes, another gamer changed their handle to A Stingray. When Steve
Irwin was killed by A Stingray, the entire room erupted into a riot of laughter.
In addition to PC gaming, the ASU LANs also have console games for people to play, including (in the past) a Playstation (left) and Dance Dance Revolution (right)
According to Wilcox, these types of moments are what make the club such a great thing. “Not all of our members are what you would call ‘social butterflies,’ but who cares? This is a place for all gamers to come together; a place where any member can make a difference.”
There are certainly moments where the competition is so steep that an occasional
mouse gets thrown, and some people take the games more seriously than others,
but generally it’s about getting together to have fun with other people
who are just as passionate about gaming.
Wilcox likens the Gaming Club to a club that is enthusiastic about fast
cars: essentially, it is a group of people who share a common interest.
“We are not all weird individuals with no social belonging,”
Wilcox said. “Without social belonging the club wouldn’t exist.
We are like any other group of people, just brought together through a different
medium.”
If you are interested in seeing the Gaming Club in action, there are several
events coming up soon. Most notably is the enormous LAN party scheduled
to be held on April 21. Between 110 and 120 computers will be linked up,
a Nintendo Wii will be hooked up to a projector, and there are even rumors
of the presence of a Playstation 3.
Story by Zeke Bergeron
photos courtesy of ASU Gaming Club
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