JAYPLAY
March 1,2001
entertainment news
For comments, contact Erinn R. Barcomb at 864-4810 or email jayplay@kansan.com www.kansan.com/arts
For the love of the game By Luke Wetzel
Local gamers gather together for friendship, total warfare
justin Knupp's basement is a computer war zone.
Seven computer towers and monitors dominate the KU graduate's room in an elaborate setup of hardware and fold-up tables, surrounded by bare walls and boxes. Seven men sit around the tables, waiting for the game to begin. One of them fidgets with a large, boomerang-shaped mouse that gives off a red glow like a car blacklight. Another eats Doritos from a bag in a laundry basket.
"One of us is always having network problems," GR Gordon-Ross says.
At about 1:45 p.m., after 15 minutes of securing connections and transferring files, the first shots ring out.
"I'm in!" Knudd savs.
Gaming friends wait as they install a new game in the network. The computer hardware was set up in the basement of Justin Knupp, Lawrence resident (second from right). Each player brought one or two personal computers. This group has networked computer gaming days about four times a year. Photo by Joshua Richards/KANSAN
Looking at each screen is like looking down the barrel of a machine gun. The seven gamers navigate their characters through labyrinthian corridors, searching for enemies to gun down.
There are always two teams in the game of Counter-Strike; terrorists and counterterrorists.
"Terrorists always win," says Stefan Sawyer, Lawrence resident.
"Yeah, well now I've got the gun I like," says Gordon-Ross, a Kearney, Mo., pharmacy student.
"The thing about Stefan is he always plays as a woman," Gordon-Ross says. "We're kind of worried about him."
"Hey, quit following me!" says Dimos Tzavaris, Mexico, Mo., pharmacy student.
And so the afternoon progresses, the sound of computer gunfire echoing from each set of headphones. Somewhere on the screen, a dog barks.
Local Area Network
This Saturday is one of about four a year when the group of KU students and
Lawrence residents sets up a LAN (or local area network) and fight each other for up to 12 hours at a time. With the pressures of school, girlfriends, wives and even children, the LAN parties can be difficult to schedule. So why make the effort?
"First off, I love the games," Gordon Ross said. "But nothing beats being in the same room, throwing an object at them, yelling at them. When the character says something and everybody laughs. We have a lot of fun."
The group plans to bring gaming to the Lawrence public with an event this spring, Lawrence Frag Fest will be held Saturday, April 28 at a local church. The group expects anywhere from 40 to 100 people to compete in first-person shooter games such as Counter-Strike, Quake III, Half-Life and Unreal Tournament. Information, including prize and registration details, is available at lawrencefragfest.com.
One person who will compete for these bragging rights is Nate Spears, Dallas sophomore. Spears said he started gaming when people from his Grace Pearson Scholarship Hall introduced him to games such as Counter-Strike.
"In high school, I played sports a lot with the kids next door," he said. "Here, no one is that interested in going to throw a football around or kick a soccer ball. I view this as something I do in my free time."
“It’s more fun to play with somebody you know, especially when they’re better than you,” he said. “Most of the time you don’t know and you don’t care. You just want to kill each other.”
"The prize isn't anything," Gordon-Ross said. "It's bragging rights."
Spears said Frag Fest would be a nice change from playing against strangers on the Internet.
Though males appear to constitute most of the gaming population, it isn't a gender-
specific activity.
Liz Montag Omaha sophomore, said she played a couple of times a week in the academic resource center of Douthart Scholarship Hall where she lives.
"There's not actual violence, but you get to shoot things," she said. "I play if there's nobody around and I feel like shooting somebody."
Greg Davis, Spears' roommate and Ottumwa, Iowa, sophomore, said he thought more guys play because they are the ones designing the games.
"I think it's also a matter of peer groups," he said. "It's just harder to find girls that would associate with guys who play games. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy."
Perhaps the most famous woman in the gaming world is also a former KU student. Stevie Case, who was active in Student Senate in her three years at the University, began playing games on the honors floor of her residence hall before joining an off-campus LAN group.
She achieved online fame when she beat John Romero, co-creator of the popular game Doom, in a game he helped design. She now dates Romero and has worked for his game designing company. Since becoming a game designer, Case has been interviewed in Rolling Stone and posed for Playboy.
Spears said Case was a legend among gamers.
"Every geek on the net e-mails her and says, 'Stevie, ditch this Romero guy, I think you're the one for me.'"
Target practice
however, gaming is only a means of recreation, and it's time for this reporter to give it a shot. Gordon-Ross explains the keystrokes and the object of the game: to capture the flag and shoot everyone I see. I move around the caves, steadying my aim when someone crosses my path.
"Hey, look out for the reporter," one of them says. I smile, but I know they have nothing to worry about — I am busy falling off the side of the cliff. Gordon-Ross offers encouragement, but I can tell it's painful for him to watch me put such a dent in his score. Not taking his eyes off the screen, he signals for the headphones back.
"Any advice for a budding gamer?" I ask.
Dimos Tzavaris, Mexico, Mo., graduate student, shoots GR Gordon-Ross, Fort Scott graduate student, in a computer to computer battle, Tzavaris and Gordon-Ross are computer-gaming enthusiasts who join forces to create LANs: local area networks. A LAN enables groups of players to face one another in computer play, as opposed to facing a sterile computer-generated opponent.
Photos by Joshua Richards/KANSAN Photo illustration by Thad Allender/KANSAN
"Practice," he said, squinting in concentration. "Practice, but not at the detriment of your life. All of us have a life outside of this."
Within seconds, he acquires a weapon that shoots what appear to be spiraling saw blades. It's easy to see that Gordon-Ross enjoys these games and that he wants to share this enjoyment with others.
"We want people to come," he said.
"They'll either like it or hate it. You're not going to lug your PC across town for something that's just fun. You'll do it because you love it."
- Edited by Megan Phelps
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