UCSD Students Sponsor Gaming Extravaganza with Winter Game Fest 2008

Christine Clark | January 14, 2008

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

A student paying full attention to a video game.
(Photo / Richard Choi and Will Parson, Guardian)

Some of the most popular games, such as Halo 3, Starcraft, Counter Strike, Guitar Hero III and Super Smash Brothers were 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 more than 600 students attended. “So many more students showed up than we expected and this year we had 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 determined to organize 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.”

The event featured 20 TVs and nine projectors for the Halo 3, Smash Brothers and Guitar Hero III tournaments. Consoles were available for the Rock Band and Wii Games. There also were several trial stations where sponsors, such as Microsoft and Office Games showcased their latest products.

UCSD students were encouraged to attend the event, but the festival was 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.”