The Tournaments Are Now In Full Swing
Though Fragapalooza is primarily a LAN party, some people like the rush of competition and the thrill of victory. Since Fragapalooza tries to represent gaming in all its aspects, the staff hold a few official tournaments every year. This year’s selection of games were voted on and picked by registered vendors, and included the titles Counter Strike: Source, Team Fortress 2, Call of Duty 4, Unreal Tournament 2004, and Warcraft III: Defence of the Ancients.
As for sponsors, Razer helped out a lot with a couple of tournaments. Also our friends over at ZeroSurge provided the power filtering equipment for all the tournament machines. Their surge suppression and power filtering devices are very industrial in design, and really second to none. Though the power provided by the venue was fairly stable, the added protection of the ZeroSurge power filters made for an extremely trouble-free gaming experience.
By the time Friday night rolled around, the tournaments were indeed in full swing. The CoD4 tournament had completed its qualifiers the night before, and TF2 and the other tournaments were being played out both before and after the head shave. This year the Fragapalooza staff introduced something new to the tournament setup; legalized gambling using virtual dollars. On the Fragapalooza home page participants could use a currency called Fragbux to vote on brackets and teams in each tournament. The winners with the most Fragbux could then use them for…stuff. It was the first year this was being done, and there were some errors, so it wasn’t as big as it could be. However next year the bugs should be ironed out, and the many underage participants of Fraga can get their first of lady luck and misfortune before they turn 18.
The Random Contests Continue Into Days Three And Four
The tournaments weren’t the only events in full swing following the head shave. Not shortly after the participant’s heads were made much balder (though not much in some cases), it was time to start the series of random contests and giveaways that would pop up through out the later part of Day 2, and follow into Day 3 and Day 4.
The first random draw to rear it’s head was a new play on an old favourite. At our previous venue, there was an 8 foot high cinder block wall that provided a barrier between the main convention centre and the side halls. It also provided for a great place to hang off of, and thus the Wall Hang endurance test was born. Since no such wall existed at the Northlands Sportex, the staffs had to get creative, and the Wall Sit was the decided progeny of the Wall Hang.
Several hundred participants flooded the main foyer of the Sportex, and placed themselves up against the wall in the fashion illustrated above. After a few minutes, only the two in the picture were left. It was a race between a kid who was barely 10 or 12, and some older kid. The youngin’ showed a lot of heart and dogged determination, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough and he lost. The winner won an NVIDIA video card.
Much later in the night, an epic Fragapalooza tradition took place in the same foyer. The staff paged every willing participant to join in on the huge Rock-Paper-Scissors competition. I unfortunately didn’t get any pictures as I was in the middle of an epic charge on a TF2 server. There were also some “race here and get this” type events posted on the home page. But none of these events could prepare us for the possible carnage seen on Day 3.
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