37
Bo r l a s i a n 2 0 1 3
In School
24 Hour Gaming Marathon
Computer gaming is somewhat of a prejudiced pass-time.
A gamer is often characterised as indoorsy, pale skinned,
spoilt or violent. So the prospect of a big group of gamers
indulging in this hobby for a whole twenty-four hours may
perhaps bring a furrow to the brow of the more sociably
accepted reader, walker, film watcher, athlete, painter or
musician. Well, in fact, we gamers disagree. Apart from
the fact that we, of course, partake in other activities too,
we believe gaming is a rarely-commended art, and this
is what the Borlase 24-hour Gaming Marathon, for us at
least, was all about: dedicated gamers, coming together to
indulge in some hard-core gaming.
It was three-thirty on the long awaited day. The stage
was set: the school hall. As the last bell rang, gamers
from across the school assembled. At their forefront was
some serious talent and experience. Arrangement of
the necessary consoles and screens was done, a team
effort from everyone who took part. The sheer quantity
and range of consoles was mesmerising, from Nintendo
64s to PS3s, from Wiis to Xbox 360s, dance mats, full
wall projection screens and two metres of games cases.
Mr Dwyer stepped up to the stage in front of a notably
sizable group of excited, chatting Borlasians. The room
went silent (eventually, we were rather over-stimulated)
and we were told of the running for the evening; we would
have a session with another teamon one game, then, once
the time was up, and the winner decided, we would move
on to a new game, a new team. This cycled for several
hours until every team had played every other team,
and every game. Meanwhile, gamers were taking part in
challenges, set by themselves or others; how far can you
get in Mine craft? In Skyrim? Laptops were dotted across
the room, everyone was abuzz, playing some games they
had never even heard of before, Call of Duty, Battlefront,
Mariokart, Fifa, Halo, Streetfighters, Little Big Planet, the
list goes on and on. The odd person went off to sleep,
perhaps out of weakness, more likely out of good sense.
Others resorted to caffeine drinks, food and the teenage
ability to be unthwarted by pitiful tiredness.
It was then, at the end of this leg of the marathon, that
the scores were totted up and the arrangements for the
next stages were made. Those of us whose eyes had
remained open throughout the night went on to the
finals, to face the ultimate gamer-on-gamer challenge.
The best players of each game were selected. Whether
it be car racing, gun shooting or pushing random
buttons, the masters were assembled. The elite, the
gaming gurus in one final virtual battle to the death.
To save you reading an excited summary of the following
events the team that won had it in the bag from the
beginning; a group of gaming gods who destroyed the
opposition with very little sweat. But everyone accepted
their ultimate defeat with very little disappointment,
partly due to the fact that regardless of their final position,
they had legally played video games in the school hall for
a full day. The challengers returned home with a sense of
fulfilment which only those who have achieved three stars
on every level of Angry Birds can understand.
So in summary we all gamed happily ever after, and slept
for the following three days to regain our sadly retired
voices (such is the result of shouting at screens) and got
back to training for next year’s onslaught of day gaming.
It is probably best to mention that the sponsorship
earnings went to a good cause and not just pizza and
croissants for the patriotic Borlasian gaming team.
Seb Wride and Alex Kendall
