Right hooks and roundhouse kicks were flying Friday night at a video game tournament in Stamp Student Union’s TerpZone.
When long-time enthusiasts and rookies alike came together to participate in the double elimination tournaments of Street Fighter IV and Tekken 6, students said the violent games spurred nothing but fun and camaraderie among the attendees. But the most powerful court in the country may see these games in a completely different light.
Last month, the Supreme Court began hearing arguments about a controversial California law that seeks to ban the sale and rental of “violent” video games to children under the age of 18. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger first signed the law in 2005, and the legislation was declared unconstitutional last year by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
This is the first video game case to be heard by the nation’s highest court. If upheld, video game retailers could face up to a $1,000 fine for every time they sell a video game featuring “killing, maiming, dismembering, or sexually assaulting an image of a human being” to anyone under the age of 18.
One of the arguments against violent games is that those who play may pick up some of the behavior.
At Friday’s tournament, one competitor threw his controller in anger upon elimination. Andre Adams, the program coordinator for TerpZone, said the player was removed from the building.
“Apparently the guy was a little upset that he lost, so he took the controller, one of our controllers, and threw it, and it broke, and then he was trying to say that he didn’t break it,” Adams said. “We had to eject him from the tournament. … We told him, ‘Hey it’s a free tournament, you can’t come in our place breaking our stuff,'” he added. “He wouldn’t even agree to pay for the controller.”
But most students said the on-screen violence that transpired was all in good fun.
Darnell Griffin, who does not attend this university but won both tournaments, says he was not anticipating victory.
“I didn’t even come here expecting to win,” said Griffin. “I just came to have a good time with everybody.”
Griffin said he’s serious about the game.
“I do play often and I am a competitive player. I travel to different states for tournaments sometimes when I can afford it. I have won a few out of state tournaments,” he said.
He says he’s not as devoted to the game as some, however.
“I’m not one of those players that play all day,” Griffin said. “I just learn stuff about the game and remember it.”
TerpZone hosts video game tournaments on Friday nights throughout the year. Event planners say they save the Street Fighter and Tekken event — their most popular — for last.
“We change the games up from week to week. Sometimes we’ll do NFL Madden or Call of Duty or FIFA,” Adams said. “But this one we always anticipate being really big, so we save it for the last week of the semester.”
news at umdbk dot com
