Newswise — On Saturday night, while most college students are getting ready for a night out, gamers and their "clans" are preparing for a night in
On many college campuses across the United States, gaming communities find that staying in and playing is much more appealing than going to other social events.
With this knowledge, Michael Allington, assistant director of student technology support at Creighton University's Division of Information Technology (DoIT), and a team of students created Game Fest in 2003.
The Game Fest team found that students who stay in their rooms to play games are not involved in the conventional social activities available on campus. The CU Game Fest brings these students into an open, social environment and allows them to interact with fellow students and I.T. staff members. Students who don't play games on a regular basis have the opportunity to be exposed to technology they wouldn't be exposed to otherwise.
"The first Fest was a pilot to see if it would generate interest on campus," Allington said. "We were only expecting about 100 students to show up, so we knew it was a success when 350 came to play."
It was then that Game Fest got a lucky mushroom and grew. There have been two Game Fests since then, and they have attracted over 1,000 gamers and non-gamers. DoIT hopes this semester's Fest will be just as successful. Game Fest 4.2 2005, will be held in Creighton's Becker Dining Hall on April 2 from 10:15 p.m. to 8 a.m. Allington and his team wanted to create an environment where students can play video games together instead of in their individual rooms.
Game Fest is Creighton's only all night local area network (LAN) party and is also alcohol-free. It is completely student developed and organized, and also sponsored by computer hardware and software vendors along with console developers. This year, Game Fest will feature 50 computers and 10 plasma screen televisions donated by Gateway. Apple is also providing four iMacs and two G5s, and there will be 30-40 spaces for personal computers as well. Gateway has also provided a variety of prizes for tournament winners. Valve has given Game Fest licensing for all 50 computers to run Half Life and Counterstrike. Nebraska Furniture Mart has donated various computer accessories such as speakers, wireless keyboards, etc. for prizes. Microsoft donates Xbox games for prizes and for Fest use.
After presenting at I.T. conferences, like Educause and ACUI, Game Fest attracted a lot of attention. According to Allington, the University of Nebraska-Wesleyan, St. Louis University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Bowling Green State, Marist College, and Bucknell University have expressed interest in the possibility of doing a similar event.
Creighton is an independent, comprehensive university operated by the Jesuits. Creighton has been ranked at or near the top of Midwestern universities in the U.S. News & World Report magazine's "America's Best Colleges" edition for more than a decade.
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