Walter E. Howell ’09 and Robert I. Padnick ’09 have developed a new, efficient mode of communication. “I’ve called up Robert before and said, ‘Smash,’ and he says, ‘Done,’ and two minutes later, we’re smashing,” Howell says.

“Smashing,” in this case, doesn’t refer to drinking games or car windows; it’s their code for playing the cartoonish Nintendo 64 multiplayer fighting classic “Super Smash Brothers.” It’s become a phenomenon in Weld Hall—they estimate that some 24 other students “smash” with them regularly and claim they play the game for at least two hours per day, sometimes going until 4 a.m.

In the Harvard community, it seems, such behavior is increasingly seen as a legitimate and accepted form of social interaction.

Howell, who is also a Crimson editor, and Padnick have organized, along with the First-Year Social Committee, an event they dub “The First Annual Freshman Smash Open.” As of last Saturday, some 100 individual competitors and 40 teams of two had signed up for the tournament, though Howell said he hoped to double those numbers with a serious registration push Sunday through Tuesday.

The event aspires to be more than video games. The final rounds will be played March 18 on the big screen in Science Center C, preceded by a banquet at which musical groups are expected to perform “Smash Brothers”-themed pieces.

A VIRTUAL ICEBREAKER

Large-scale gaming isn’t limited to freshmen, either. Last Thursday, another classic Nintendo game was at the center of a Harvard social event. Currier House’s “Mario Kart” study break featured pizza, drinks, and a whole lot of virtual kart-racing action on a 20-foot projection TV.

What’s curious about these events isn’t so much their existence as their focus. Many of the games played, like “Smash Brothers” and “Mario Kart,” are, technologically, dinosaurs, yet still have the ability to draw a large amount of students. That’s because graphics, for most of Harvard’s gamers, aren’t the point; having fun and simply hanging out with friends usually is, and the technology matters only as far as it enhances that experience.

That’s part of the reason Adam R. Miller ’07 bought an XBox before college. “I figured it would be a good way to meet people,” he says. “It was an easy way to break the ice,” as well as an excuse to invite people over. Miller often plays “Halo” with 16 people, using Harvard’s network to link four different XBoxes.

Timothy D. Turner’s ’09 room has likewise become a “hub” for playing “Halo.” “It’s become a kind of tradition…people ask me, ‘Hey, are we playing ‘Halo’ tonight?’” he says.

For Turner, who describes himself as “not a big partying type of person,” video games provide an alternate way of connecting with people. “It just works better for me socially to invite people to play video games,” he says.

That’s not to say every gamer prefers staying in. While Jason B. McCoy ’08 enjoys playing “Halo” with friends, he also turns elsewhere for social activity. “[Video games] would be detrimental to my social life if I let them be,” he says.

Likewise, Howell and Padnick say they usually play “Smash Brothers” after going out. For them, it’s simply the ultimate procrastination tool. “It’s like checking [Facebook.com],” Padnick says.

A BREAK FROM REALITY?

But while video games play roles of varying sizes in students’ lives, they tend to not consume them. Kacey C. Abaraoha ’08 currently spends three or four hours each day playing the Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) “World of Warcraft.” MMORPGs like this and “EverQuest” allow players to create digital characters that interact with those of other players in a fully functioning virtual world.

Players in these games often form coalitions known as “guilds” to help each other complete quests, and Abaraoha is no exception. What’s different, however, is that her guild isn’t a digital coalition with no real-world interaction; it’s a group of four real-life friends from Harvard. MMORPGs it seems can be a bit like instant messenger, but with adventurous quests and economic activity thrown in for good measure. “While we’re playing, we’ll just, like, chat,” she says.

MMORPGs have been known in some cases to take over gamers’ lives, keeping them locked in their rooms for hours on end. But “the fear of not getting something done or not doing well” forces Abaraoha to put her schoolwork first.

She’s not alone in doing so. Turner, who is taking five classes this semester, left his Playstation 2 at home over Christmas break. “I thought I’d be more productive and use my time more wisely if I left it back at home,” he says.

It’s a lesson Christopher H. Green ’08 learned through experience. Last year, he spent some 100 hours playing five or six seasons of “NCAA Football.” While he didn’t shut himself off from other students—he often played “Halo” tournaments with cross-country teammates—he admits slyly that his schoolwork suffered.

“I kind of have a ‘bell-shaped curve’ expectation of my performance over four years,” he says, taking care to not play as much this year.

Still, he enjoys playing “Halo 2” with other friends in Lowell House. In November, Lowell opened a gaming room for students like Green. But according to Green, the space is too small and doesn’t get a lot of use.

Perhaps that’s because gamers for the most part no longer want to lock themselves in alone with their Xboxes. If events like the Smash Open and massive Halo parties continue to bolster gaming’s profile, cartoon combat and futuristic gunfire may join instant messenger’s chirp as sounds of perfectly acceptable-but virtual-social interaction.



—Staff writer Patrick R. Chesnut can be reached at pchesnut@fas.harvard.edu.