Cal State students battle for ‘Halo 3’

FULLERTON, Calif. – Following the cliff-hanger ending of the Xbox game “Halo 2,” “Halo 3” came out with a bang. \nTo celebrate the release of the end of the trilogy, California State University at Fullerton students fought each other in a bloody, brutal battle. \nThe tensions were high in the Halo 3 tournament at CSUF on Saturday, said Mike Martinez, a competitor in the tournament. The Video Game Design Club and Microsoft came together to create the event. \n“You do get competitive,” Martinez said. “I would hate to say I feel anger but it is an intense feeling.” \nThe tournament was filled with men and women alike, all there to experience the thrill of “capture the flag,” a multiplayer mode in “Halo 3.” \n“As a career I would like to work with a team of designers for video games,” said Jonah Montealegre, the secretary of the VGDC and one of the females participating. \nThe sounds of harsh language when a teammate died and applause when a flag was captured echoed across the hallway. \n“This game is a big deal for us as developers because it is entering (a) new stage of mainstream video game advertisement and it became a household name,” said Jason Jackson, a VGDC member. \nMicrosoft products were awarded during a raffle, including Microsoft Office Ultimate, Home and Student and Zoo Tycoon. \nThe tournament was split between two rooms in the Computer Science building with two screens in each room. The multi-player mode was four against four. \nStudents were split up into teams of red, blue, green, pink and yellow, with the pink and red teams dominating halfway through. The teams took turns resting and visiting each other across the rooms. \nThe numbers of bodies the teams piled up determined the winners or each match, Jackson said. \nThe pink and red teams went head-to-head. The pink team won quickly. In the final round, the four pink teammates had to fight each other in a bloodthirsty battle. \nThe big winner, Shotaro Smith, took home a copy of “Halo 3.” \n“I already have (the game), so I want to give this copy to a friend,” Smith said.