KISA’s first e-gaming competition was held from March 9 to 10. Titled SHUT UP n PLAY (SnP), the tournament was composed of three independent competitions. Completely funded and organized by KISA, it was idealized and headed by Ashraf Ali, a master’s degree candidate in Materials Science and Engineering and KISA cabinet member. The competition was open to all KAIST members and prizes were awarded to the winners despite there not being registration fees for the competitors.
Two X-Box football games (EA Sports’ Fifa 11 and Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer 2011) and one PC tactical first-person shooter game (Valve Corporation’s Counter-Strike 1.6) were the categories available. Defense of the Ancients and Blizzard Entertainment’s Starcraft were originally also on the games list for the event, but ended up being cancelled due to a lack of experienced volunteers and unforeseen technical difficulties. It is possible that future events will include more games, depending on the volunteers and facilities available.
Farrukh Oripov, a senior in the Department of Industrial Design, placed first for both football game competitions and won 15,000 Korean Won for each. Team VNkaistars, composed of five Vietnamese students and led by An Phung, won the Counter-Strike competition and a team prize worth 100,000 Korean Won.
Fifa and Pro Evolution matches took place in the common room of Jihye Hall (Building N21), while the Counter-Strike matches were held in the computer room of the Department of Computer Science (E3-1). According to Ali, the original idea was to host the event at either the computer room of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences (N4) or the Creative Learning Building (E11), but the administration of those buildings did not grant authorization of use. “On the other hand, the Department of Computer Science was really helpful not only in providing the space but also through technical support. The lab head was very helpful in providing technical assistance and tuning the machines for the competition,” added Ali.
The SnP e-gaming competition was an answer to KISA President Su Yi Wong’s initiative to promote new events in KAIST. Among the ideas proposed by KISA cabinet members, e-gaming and a barbecue party were chosen to be executed this semester. The barbecue party will be held in May.