The Association of Campus Events (ACE) and Gamers of Kutztown University (GOKU) teamed up on Friday for a night of fun. From free food to video games to prizes, there was something for everyone. Over two hundred KU students came out to enjoy their night in MSU 218 in the company of other gamers, multiple screens and gaming systems from 7 p.m. to midnight.
Alex Burkett, the entertainment coordinator of ACE was in charge of this event.
“We’re having quite a large video game tournament, where we have Halo going on, we have Super Smash Brothers and DDR,” said Burkett. The gaming event reached a broad group of KU students, ranging in different skill level and gaming experience.
Some people came to hang out with friends while others, like KU student Hunter Lomison, came with the hopes of winning the grand prize.
“I decided to come out to play Halo reach,” Lomison said. “I used to play professionally, so I’m going to show all these people what I got.” He competed and was one of the four winners in the Halo 4 vs. 4 tournament. Lomison, along with Jerin Oberdorf and Matthew Ciccone, won a copy of Halo 4 and a three-month Xbox live membership.
In addition to the Halo competition there was a Dance Dance Revolution contest. Benjamin Swearingen received the prize for the DDR category and was awarded a 16GB iPod touch.
The grand prize of the evening, the one everyone had their eye on, was the 32-inch HDTV. This prize was given to the winner of the Super Smash Brothers gaming tournament, Dexter Hubbard.
The free event was made possible by collaboration between the two KU clubs.
“Being ACE, we don’t really have the supplies for all the video games. So we met up with the group GOKU, which is Gamers of Kutztown University, and they supplied the actual equipment for it and we [ACE] got prizes and all the food for it,” said Burkett.
Michael Metz, the secretary of GOKU, also had a big role in this event. His job was to make sure all the different tournament heads had everything under control at their gaming stations. GOKU is a fairly new club to KU and is open to all levels of gamers.
“We’re trying to show that as a club, we cater to any and all types of gamers, and tonight we are really trying to show that with all the [gaming] systems we have,” said Metz.
A member of the GOKU Lauren Kuklis showed her support at the event by manning a station and looking forward to playing Smash Brothers later in the evening.
“I know a lot of people who just sit in their rooms and video game together but don’t necessarily network with everyone else. So you get to meet people who are into the same thing but it’s not necessarily something that’s usually social, but we’re making it social in this event,” said Kuklis.
The success of this event this was made possible through the hard work and team effort of the organizations and club members.
“The energy here is fantastic,” said Metz. The event was an entertaining Friday night out for many KU students and will hopefully turn into an annual event.
By Haley Buanco