|
Halo tourney succeeds
By Chris Welch
A student using the pseudonym "Air America" flew over the competition to win the first SCSU Halo Tournament held in the Atwood ballroom Saturday afternoon.
Forty gamers participated in the single elimination contest sponsored by Interfraternal Council. Four XBOX consoles were linked together on projection screens as 16 players at a time attempted to score the most kills in Halo's free-for-all multiplayer game, Slayer.
Halo is a first-person shooter video game set on a planet orbited by a ring. The story follows a cybernetic soldier, known as the Master Chief, through battles against the Covenant alien forces.
Sophomore Jerry Arns, known in the Halo world as Air America, enjoys the challenge of playing Halo against people.
"The game is a philosophy, it's like a chess game where you are constantly trying to outsmart your opponent," Arns said.
After three hours of throwing virtual grenades, shooting pistols and firing plasma rifles, Air America and LV-sonofsam played the championship match in front of an audience of eliminated players.
Air America overcame a 9-3 score to defeat LV-sonofsam 15-14 to win a gift certificate and a controller with a non-playable Halo 2 demo disc.
Since its release in November 2001, Halo has become one of the XBOX's premiere titles.
Last July, Microsoft announced that more than three million copies were sold worldwide.
"When I first bought my XBOX, a friend recommended the game to me. I played against my roommate early on," Arns said. "Soon after, I found other people in Holes Hall who were playing together."
The developers of XBConnect, TGL Microsystems, created a program allowing XBOX users to connect via a computer and broadband internet connection.
Halo's online gaming capability has brought together fans from all around the world to compete against each other.
Some online gamers join clans. In these groups, gamers hone their skills by playing against fellow members and through organized clan battles.
Since August 2003, just over three million games have been played on XBConnect.
The popularity of Halo has also spawned national and international tournaments.
Although not in a clan, Arns competed in a national competition last year in Houston.
After advancing through regional competitions last year, his team placed sixth out of 16.
IFC organizer Kyle Usgaard was happy with the turnout and the tournament.
"It's fun, we're definitely going to do it again," Usgaard said.
The buzz at the tournament and around the Halo community is the release of the sequel, Halo 2.
The game was set to release in 2003, but has been delayed until sometime later this year as developer Bungie Studios tries to perfect the software into a flawless product.
St. Cloud video game retailer Funcoland has 150 copies of Halo 2 already on reserve.
"We expect more reserves as a release date approaches, but the demand is similar to that of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City," said Assistant Manager Aaron Conwell.
|
|
|
|
Privacy Policy Network Advertising Article Syndication
|
|
