Category: Media Attention

Networking for fun and games

Computer gamers meet and compete at Locust Point Rec Center

by Mary Helen Sprecher

newsroom@baltimoreguide.com

George Martsoukos is speeding down a boulevard, weaving erratically. He dodges telephone poles, takes a corner on two wheels and slams into a barrier. He continues on, black fumes billowing ominously from under his hood.

Next to him, Sharon Fidler is equally out of control. It’s raining and her car is spinning. “I’m going the wrong way,” she calls, looking alarmed. “Why am I going the wrong way? I am. Look at this.”

She is headed straight for the plate glass window of a women’s clothing store.

Martsoukos glances over. “You want to buy some clothes or something?”

A few seconds later, Fidler’s car explodes in flames. So does that of Mike Nash, a few yards away. Martsoukos is the last man standing–or driving–but not for long. His car goes up in smoke a few minutes later.

It doesn’t matter.… Continue Reading

More...

Original Article here.

Gamers discover the human element of video combat

by Sam Sessa
THE BALTIMORE SUN
November 11, 2004

In the beginning, the Internet was seen as the Great Isolater for video gamers.

While online, they could battle foes as far away as Japan for weeks without ever leaving their homes. Gaming addicts holed up in their rooms for days at a time, never setting foot outside (except maybe to tip the pizza delivery guy). It was a very lonely time.

But as the Internet matures, video gaming is going outdoors – in the form of computer Local Area Network (LAN) and video console parties. Gamers are forming clubs and renting out bars and firehouses in Maryland to throw these bashes. It provides a whole new dimension to the game: the human element.

“There’s nothing like being able to look over a table and yell at someone that you just killed them,” said Bob Keller, of a gaming group called the Maryland LAN Gamers. “Putting a face to a name is really, really neat – especially if they’re your friend.”… Continue Reading

More...