Gaming is not child's play

Hi-Fi

Engineers at Vidya Vikas Institute of Engineering and Technology (VVIET) know the adage, “All work; no play makes Jack a dull boy” too well. That’s the reason why they organised a contest for the best gamers to display their skills against each other.

If you were thinking about more in terms of an indoor game of chess or a board game, then you are totally mistaken. The gamers were more interested in racing each other on ‘NFS Most wanted’, going after terrorists in ‘Counterstrike’, defending your home in ‘Defense of the Ancients’ and Fifa07 featuring your favourite international footballers.

So how did the students who organised this come up with an idea of conducting games? “It’s a tradition in our college,” says Raghavendra, one of the organisers. Earlier, our seniors used to conduct the games and we used to participate, but this year since we are in our final year, we got a chance to host the tournament, he adds. “Students from Computer Science background are mostly interested in gaming, so we keep holding these games,” he says.

For the uninformed about the latest computer games, ‘Counter-Strike’ involves a team of counter-terrorists searching to disable a team of terrorists in several rounds. The team which completes the objectives of the mission or eliminates the other team emerges the winner. Details about a player’s life, weapons are hidden from the opposing team which makes the games even more exciting. “The games involve a lot of tense moments, with team members whispering into their mates’ ears to crack the other team,” says Rakshith, Student president of Computer Science Association. “Since they are connected to each other on the LAN, they can communicate with each other and eliminate the other team,” he says.

Another game is the ‘Defense of the Ancients’ (commonly known as DotA). DotA takes you back to an ancient civilisation where each team is trying to destroy the heavily guarded structures of the opposing team. There are two teams in the game known as Sentinel and Scourge. Each of the teams are defended by towers and heavily guarded members who protect the ‘Ancient’, a building that must be destroyed to win the game.

“Groups gather around the teams leading to some wails of disappointment and some whoops of victory making it really exciting,” says Omar of VVIET. “There is a lot of pressure on the players are there are so many people looking at the games,” he added.

Fifa07 is a game involving 510 teams in 27 leagues and 20 countries with over 10,000 licensed players. With your supporters waving at you and cheering you from behind, it makes you feel like you are playing in the middle of the football stadium.
The NFS Most Wanted includes high-speed chases, where four player race each other in a knock-out format.  Each driver has to prove his driving skills by out thinking the other and escaping from police cars who aim to stop street racing.
Around 100 students from several engineering and degree colleges in the city participated in the gaming contests. Two computer science labs with around 30-35 computers were networked for the players to slug it out against each other.

Team NSFF of Vidya Vardhaka College of Engineering (VVCE) consisting of Abhinandan, Vicky, Pradumna, Adarsh and Rock won the DotA tournament.
Team SBRC of National Institute of Engineering - IT with Abuzer, Fahad, Satik and Wasim were champions of Counter Strike, while Philomena’s Degree College students Utham, Faisal, Tausif, Muiz were the runners-up.

Student of Sri Jayachamrajendra College of Engineering, Shivu Prasad was the winner of NFS Most wanted, while mechanical engineering student, Yogesh of VVIET outranked competition in Fifa07.