Thousands to Battle in Southern California’s Largest Video Game Festival at UC San Diego

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The Winter Game Fest at the University of California, San Diego, one of the largest free video game festivals in Southern California, has grown even bigger––expanding from two days to three from Jan. 13-15. This year, the tournament, which is open to the public, is expected to have more than 2,000 videogame enthusiasts with more games, sponsors, prizes and fun.  

This eighth annual festival has become a growing tradition at UC San Diego and a popular fixture for video gamers in the region. The event is also one of the largest festivals of-its-kind, organized entirely by students.

“Our goal this year is to really get more gamers involved who want to participate in the tournaments and have a great time,” said Josh Stolze, director of the Sixth College Tech Committee.  “We want a record number of gamers who will get the opportunity to win prizes at this free and fun event.” 

This year, the Winter Game Fest, which is open to the public, is expected to have more than 2,000 videogame enthusiasts with more games, sponsors, prizes and fun.

Winter Game Fest 2012 will feature the latest videogame equipment and technology and one of the largest Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. tournaments on the West Coast. Other tournament games include Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty, League of Legends, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Edition and Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition.

Almost 70 TVs, 50 consoles and 100 free-play games, such as Mario Kart and Duck Hunt will be featured in the tournament.

This year’s sponsors, which include Intel, Blizzard, Microsoft, Pop Chips and FanBoyGaming.com, will be giving away $7,000 in prizes, a record amount of prizes for the tournament.

The student-organized festival will be held from noon to 8 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 13 and from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 14-15, in the Price Center ballrooms on the UC San Diego campus.  

The annual Winter Game Fest is organized by students on the Sixth College Tech Committee at UC San Diego’s Sixth College. Sixth College is a part of the university’s unique six-college system, which offers undergraduate students the benefits of a small-campus neighborhood atmosphere within in a large research university.

For more information on the 2012 Winter Game Fest, go to http://sctechcomm.org//.