Multi-computer parties may become regular events for student gamers at Iowa State, thanks to a new student organization, Gamers of Iowa State.

About 75 students attended the first party on Feb. 1, said Lorenzo Subido, president of the organization, which is also called GoISU. The late-night event was free of charge.

“We definitely want to keep it free,” said Subido, junior in electrical engineering. He said the group hopes to host another event next semester.

The party was co-sponsored by ISU After Dark, a student organization formed two years ago to plan alcohol-free activities, said Sara Schmidgall-Kellogg, ISU After Dark adviser. GoISU planned the party and ISU After Dark provided free food and prizes, she said.

Subido said most of the gamers brought their own computers and connected them on a local area network (LAN) for group games. Others played games on console systems like Playstation 2, and some played Dance Dance Revolution, a dancing video game.

Dwight Dake, GoISU adviser, said the group spent a lot of time planning the party.

“I was pretty impressed with how well organized they were,” he said.

Dake said some of the students had set up similar events in their hometowns. GoISU was formed last semester to organize gaming events on campus, he said.

Subido said students named the group Gamers of Iowa State not only because the acronym was school-spirited, but also because the domain name goisu.org (which is not yet running) was available. He said the group wanted a professional-sounding name, like Iowa State Gamers Association, but had trouble finding an unclaimed domain name.

Meanwhile, lanparty.com is an on-line forum for organizers and fans of local area network parties. It listed over 30 parties being held last Saturday in the United States and Canada.

“LAN parties are full of geeks,” according to the Web site. “These people are experts in technology … they have to be in order to make the thousands and thousands of dollars worth of equipment at a LAN all function as one.”

So far, Subido said, most of GoISU’s members are males.

“More males are drawn to computers,” he said. “It’s not [as] appealing for the female population.” Four or five women attended the first party, Subido said.

Among the games played at the party, Counterstrike was a favorite.

Counterstrike is a first-person shooter game, meaning players “see a gun in front” themselves on the screen, said gamer Nathan Bender, sophomore in liberal arts and sciences. He said Counterstrike is a realistic game with realistic weapons.

For the Counterstrike tournament at the party, Bender said, two five-person teams faced off. One team played terrorists and the other team played counter-terrorists.

The gamers have been playing this game since it was introduced about five years ago, he said. Some Counterstrike teams have been practicing together at Iowa State for more than a year.

“It’s very strategic,” Bender said. “That’s why the game has lasted as long as it has.”

The winning team was not awarded prizes, he said.

“We wanted everybody to have an equal chance to win [the door prizes],” Bender said.

The prizes at Iowa State’s LAN party were computer-related, including blank CDs, headphones and a Game Boy Advance, but the Counterstrike players mostly played for bragging rights, Bender said. “That’s probably the best prize you could give a Counterstrike team,” he said.