UCSD Students Sponsor Gaming Extravaganza with Winter Game Fest 2008

January 8, 2008

By Christine Clark

UC San Diego’s fourth annual Winter Game Fest will take place Jan. 12 – 13 in the Price Center Ballroom and it is expected to have the largest turnout ever. The student-organized video game festival is free and open to the public and will feature professional video game tournaments, non-competitive Wii games and prizes.

Winter Game Fest 2007

Some of the most popular games, such as Halo 3, Starcraft, Counter Strike, Guitar Hero III and Super Smash Brothers will be featured at the event.

The event was founded and organized by the Sixth College Technology Committee in 2005. The first and second Winter Games Fests were exclusive to Sixth College students; however, last year the event was open to the whole campus and over 600 students attended. “So many more students showed up than we expected and this year is expected to have the biggest turnout ever because we have spread the event over two days,” said Amrit Sareen, Sixth College Technology Committee Commissioner.

Sareen was instrumental in organizing the 2008 Winter Game Fest. He said the committee has been committed to organizing the fest for technology loving students. “Gamers are usually ahead of the computer hardware and technology curve,” Sareen said. “At the fest they can check out the latest equipment.”

Winter Game Fest 2007

The event will feature 20 TVs and nine projectors for the Halo 3, Smash Brothers and Guitar Hero III tournaments and there will be consoles for the Rock Band and Wii Games. There also will be several trial stations where sponsors, such as Microsoft and Office Games will showcase their latest products.

UCSD students are encouraged to attend the event, but the festival is open to the public. Sareen said even non-video game players would have fun at the festival. “Non-gamers can enjoy the many free games and they can watch their friends battle it out competitively,” Sareen said. “They also can try and win some raffle prizes or just sit and enjoy the final matches broadcast live on the big screen.”

Media Contact: Christine Clark, 858-534-7618