Students will be taking games seriously with a video-game tournament Saturday in the Reitz Union.
The Gator Gaming club is sponsoring GatorLAN at noon Saturday in the Grand Ballroom. The event’s 12-hour lineup will feature 10 games, including new offerings such as “Hearthstone” alongside old favorites like “Halo 3.”
Competitors will link their computers and consoles together to compete.
“The competition will be high for most games,” said Gator Gaming president Ed Fonseca, a 22-year-old UF digital arts and sciences senior. “We have people from all over Florida come to showcase their skills.”
Bijan Sánchez, a 20-year-old UF aerospace engineering freshman, attended the previous GatorLAN event in January.
He said GatorLAN was much better than other video game events he’s attended.
“There was so much to do,” he said. “I never got bored.”
Josh Campbell, a 21-year-old computer science student, competed in the tournament’s “League of Legends” competition in January.
Campbell said even though the tournament was competitive, “everyone was having a good time, and it was a generally positive atmosphere.”
Fonseca said the club continues to organize GatorLAN because it enjoys the community’s camaraderie.
“We love eSports and want to see the scene grow,” he said.
[A version of this story ran on page 4 on 4/11/2014 under the headline "Gator gamers get gaming going at GatorLan"]
