I’m always looking to meet new people who are into gaming, and who might attend a future gaming party, and I’ve noticed that Game Hits has been attracting a lot of new members lately. Read on, and if the event described below sounds like something you might enjoy, then feel free to e-mail me and perhaps, possibly, you’ll find yourself on the list of the privileged few invited to the next game party.

Pat’s Game Party 2 (PGP2) took place over the course of a Friday and Saturday in early September. The guest list included about every member of Game Hits at the time, several personal friends of mine, and many other friends of friends, cousins, etc.

My friend Todd, whom I had met online while playing the PC game Interstate ’76, was first to arrive, a day early since he had a six hour drive from Tipp City, Ohio, on Thursday. We spent Thursday evening playing a variety of games and setting up power strips, game stations, tables and taping probably somewhere in the neighbor hood of 100 gaming magazine covers to whatever bare wall surfaces we could find around the house.

On Friday, as the official invitation stated, the party would begin whenever the first guests arrived. Jess Ragan showed up around 2:00, with many more following throughout the evening. PC gamers toted their machines into "the dungeon," the back room of my unfinished basement, where tables and chairs lined the walls and network cables snaked across the floor. Computers were set up and hooked into the net, where multiplayer games of Counter-Strike, Unreal Tournament, Diablo 2, Rogue Spear, Quake III Arena, and even some Grand Theft Auto 2 ran non-stop from Friday evening until early Sunday morning. At the peak times of the party, Friday and Saturday night, up to fourteen PCs were connected to the network and the sounds of heated warfare echoed from the darkened dungeon.

Steve and Gregg showed up Friday night with a high-resolution projector, which was promptly hooked to Matt’s Dreamcast in the main basement room. Utilizing a white sheet attached to a wall to create a 5’ x 4’ screen, partygoers were able to play a wide variety of games on the large screen. Capcom vs. SNK, Mario Tennis and Jet Set Radio were favorites. Later we attached my PC to the projector and watch a variety of movie trailers and comedic videos on the screen. And later still, my Saturn was hooked up and we had a 6-man game of Bomberman, one of the best multiplayer games ever made.

For the entire two day span of the party, Seaman ran non-stop on a monitor in the basement, drawing near-constant attention, generally of the abusive type. Eventually, partygoers turned the volume down and Seaman’s cries for heat went unheard, leading to his sad death on Saturday.

Upstairs, there were two Dreamcast stations, PS2 with Armored Core 2, the 16-Bit table with a Genesis and SNES, and the ever-popular Guitar Freaks set up for two-player jamming in the living room. Virtua Tennis was getting much play in the back room, and gamers planning to enter Saturday’s Mario Tennis tournament practiced their skills on another TV.

Gamers in attendance provided a plethora of games which many partygoers had never laid eyes upon, such as Final Fantasy IX, Tony Hawk 2, Armored Core2, Capcom vs. SNK, Power Stone 2 and Jet Set Radio. Because many of the invited are hardcore gamers, they were willing to bring their imported treasures for the joy of all in attendance.

The gaming nirvana slowly wound down early Saturday morning, with gamers camped out on every available surface; floors, sofas, inflatable mattresses lining the basement floor… some even stayed in their chairs and simply caught some Zs between LAN matches of Quake III. It was truly a sight to behold.

Saturday morning started with several gamers standing around the kitchen eating cold cereal and toast, and led directly into a frenzied multiplayer Counter-Strike match in the dungeon. By late afternoon the PC network gaming was back in full swing, Adrian and his brothers had arrived and there were lines to challenge the current Capcom vs. SNK champ.

The party took a pause break as everyone gathered outside for fresh air and to watch the spectacle of several old game systems supplied by Shawn get smashed to bits by a large sledgehammer. Everyone took a turn destroying his or her most hated system – the line to take a shot at the N64 stretched for miles… unfortunately, Brad only attended the party on Friday night, and wasn’t in attendance for the Nintendo bashing festivities. Game systems were charged with heinous acts of gaming negligence, convicted, found guilty and sentenced to death by pounding in the space of minutes. Cries of "we remember Streets of Rage 3" were followed by healthy amount of Genesis destruction. This event was well documented through photography, and can be studied in greater detail by reading "Pat and Adrian’s Ultimate Game Hits," found right here on the Game Hits web site.

After the marathon of destruction, everyone returned to the various gaming stations around the house and the games continued. Tournaments were held on the big screen, with Mario Tennis leading the way. The tourney consisted of doubles matches, best of three sets. Game Hits employee Dayne Jacobs and Pat Friend™ Ambrose Bregg comprised the winning team in the single elimination tournament.

Next came a round robin Marvel vs. Capcom 2 Tournament. After some incredibly long and heated matches, my team of Mega Man, Ryu and Akuma prevailed by setting up a wall of projectiles that was nearly impossible to break through. Adrian claimed the sole victory against me, taking third place with Tim falling into second after a very close tiebreaker match. The party wound down late Saturday night, with some episode of South Park replacing games in the living room and PC gamers packing up and setting out for home and a good night’s sleep. The last few straggler’s left late Sunday morning, and PGP2 had officially come to an end.

Over 50 hot dogs, 11 pizzas, and nearly 200 cans of various soft drinks were consumed, games were in abundance, competition was fierce, and gamer conversations ran for hours.

If you weren’t a guest at the last game party and are saying to yourself right now, "that sounds like a lot of fun, I wish I could go to one of those parties," there’s a pretty good chance that you can. First, I’ve got to meet you in a neutral setting – Game Hits would be an ideal place. Shawn holds Game Nights every so often and he’s always looking for new faces, especially those into multiplayer Armored Core. I try to attend these gaming get togethers as often as possible, and I’ve made a few friends through them. Otherwise, you’ll need another Pat Friend™ to vouch for you – assure me that you’ll be there only for the purpose of taking in the gaming bliss to be had and not to cause trouble… or leave with stuff you didn’t bring with you. The next game party is already being planned – but I only do this once or twice a year. We’re looking at Spring 2001 for the next big event, although I do play host to monthly PC LAN parties, which are generally smallish 5-10 gamer events. We are always on the lookout for new LAN gamers to join up, so if you are interested and have a capable machine, drop me a line and let’s meet up sometime.

Oh yeah, it also helps if you live in the Lansing, Michigan area. Let me know if you are interested in attending a future game party by e-mailing me at: pkreynolds@hotmail.com

Now it’s time to get back to playing whatever it is I’m playing right now. Game on!