GatorLAN F10

The Reitz Union Grand Ballroom filled with computers, video game consoles, big screens and more than 350 gamers Saturday at Gator Gaming's GatorLAN event.

From 4 p.m. to midnight, players of Halo 3, Starcraft II, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and several more were invited to compete in their games of choice for free. PC gamers brought their own computers and many console players brought their own controllers.

Best Buy, 352 Media, Electronic Arts (EA) and Digital Worlds Institute also participated by setting up tables for a tech and gaming expo.

The event was put on by Gator Gaming, a video game organization at University of Florida (UF). The organization has been around for a year, this event being the most successful by far.

Randy Bush, sponsorship lead and one of the founders of Gator Gaming, said he and his friends had LAN parties (gamers gather and compete on their computers) in high school and decided UF should have the same.

GatorLAN F10 is just the first of four LAN events planned by Gator Gaming this year, as there are to be two each semester.

"We're really trying to unify the gaming community of Gainesville and to give people an outlet," Bush said.

Members get into future LAN events for free as well as smaller events put on by the organization.

"We're relying on our members for ideas," Bush said. "We [the organization] are hoping to get bigger, better and more polished."

Bush said the turnout this year was several times better than last year's LAN event, and the results were mainly from word of mouth.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl was by far the most popular event. About 100 gamers signed up for it just that same day. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 followed as the second most popular.

Joshua Hsu, 21, physical therapy major and a member of Gator Gaming, said his favorite game is Super Smash Bros. Melee. Hsu said he travels the world for Melee tournaments competing for money, and is in the top five in Florida.

“You get to know people through games,” Hsu said. “You can get housing anywhere. Everybody knows everybody in the gaming community.”

Melee wasn’t at the event, but he was there to watch the games and cheer on his friends.

“I hope to see Gator Gaming become more successful,” Hsu said. “They’ve made huge progress since last year.”

Ahmed Ghalib, 20, electrical engineering major, waited for the next round of Brawl after winning the first match.

"I’m loving it," Ghalib said.”Whoever did this, I'm very grateful.”

After the Halo 3 tournament, the winners were announced. Friends Jonathan Repper, material science engineering freshman and Nick Hardiam, psychology freshman at Florida State University, came out on top.

The two said their strategy for winning was communication and teamwork along with watching each other’s backs. They have been playing Halo since it came out years ago. Both won an Xbox LIVE Three-Month Gold Subscription Card and a gaming magazine.

Winners of the Modern Warfare 2 tournament received an opportunity to go to a Gainesville firing range and fire a real HK MP5 full auto, one of the guns used in the game.

To learn more about Gator Gaming and their events or to become a member, visit their Web site at gatorgaming.com or e-mail membership@gatorgaming.com.