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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Those with a love for video games or digital arts and media, and even some professional gamers, came out last Thursday and Friday to the Norman Gym for The Beta gaming tournament.

The tournament was put on by Digital Worlds (DW) Institute, Gator Gaming, the College of Fine Arts and the ADAM (Association of Digital Art and Media) group as part of the Creative B program.

The event was divided into four, single-elimination tournaments: Super Smash Brothers Brawl (Brawl) and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare 2 on the first day and Mario Kart Wii and Halo 3 on the second day.

During the first day, Portal and Half-Life 2, first-person shooter games, were projected on the big screens with Novint Falcon haptic controllers. These controllers allow players to experience sensations such as vibrations, resistance and the recoil of their weapon.

Max "Masky" Ponoroff was at the tournament to defend his Brawl-champion title from the last ADAM-sponsored tournament in March. "Brawl always draws up a crowd and is definitely our most popular game," says Randy Bush, sponsorship lead of Gator Gaming.

Many people in the gaming community play under aliases, such as Masky, leaving their real names and faces unidentified.

"It's fun at tournaments because you finally get to meet the person behind the name," Ponoroff said.

"I definitely prepare for a tournament mentally," Ponoroff said. "I like to get my thoughts straight and, of course, practice a lot, but it's different for everyone."

Ponoroff also prepares by bringing his own controller, which is very common for tournaments, and a water bottle to every event he attends. This time around, he even brought his own small tube-TV and Nintendo Wii.

"Big, fancy screens are good for exhibitions, but not for gaming," Ponoroff said. "Flat-screen TVs have to stretch out the image and it takes time to do this, creating a lag. Good players can definitely notice the difference when playing."

Ponoroff and his opponent, William "G.Love" Hutchinson, agreed to use his tube-TV in the final match of the Brawl tournament, despite all of the provided equipment.

Winning two out of three matches, Ponoroff left as the champion once again and plans on returning the next time around.

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Ponoroff is a professional gamer and  is ranked 8th in the state on the Brawl Power Rankings.

While attendees weren't competing in the tournament, they had the opportunity of playing with the latest technology provided by DW.

The tournament took place in DW's Polymodal Immersive Theater, which is equipped with five, 20-foot tall projection screens and full surround sound to create a really unique experience. There were also eight flat-screen TVs for the tournament itself.

The free tournament was open to anyone and UF students and their friends filled the room.

The tournament definitely served an educational purpose, besides just being an all-out-brawl for video game lovers.

During the break between the first day's tournaments, Pat Pagano, digital media engineer at the College of Fine Arts, provided the audience with information on careers and opportunities in the digital media arts. "We put on tournaments as a fun way to draw attention to the institute and digital media because we want more people to know about our program," said James Oliverio, director of DW and professor of digital arts and sciences. "You never know, maybe those attracted could end up inventing something new for the program, but either way it's good to bring students in for something out of the ordinary and cool during Summer B."

352 Media Group was also in the lobby with a Microsoft Surface table advertising for their intern program, which focuses on Web design and Web programming. The Microsoft Surface is a new multi-touch computer that 352 Media Group has done some developing on for its clients.

"We knew this audience would appreciate the techonology," said Peter VanRysdam, chief marketing officer of 352 Media Group. "We wanted to meet some people and get some exposure because after all, the best people to work for us are students."

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