'Hot mods,' the name for intricately customized computers, energy drinks and snacks are staples of LANs, or Local Area Network, computer gaming parties. LANs are an international phenomena and MSU has an active LAN group. MSU photo by Erin Raley.

It is 11 p.m. on a Friday night and the Red Bull is running, the bytes are whirring and the chip temperatures are rising. The darkened SUB ballroom is throbbing with energy, blitzes of light, the sporadic shouts from disparate energized male voices: "Gotchu!" "RedSnow rocks." "Urgggggghhh."

Welcome to the world of the LAN party, one of the hottest phenomena of the young, the male and the electronically sophisticated.

If you haven't heard of LAN (Local Area Network) parties, you probably have no interest in Half Life 2, UT2k4 (Unreal Tournament 2004), X-Box games or mods, which is what gamers call their ultra-customized computer systems. Think hot-rods with hard drives.

And you probably cannot understand why 80 of MSU's most technologically gifted would play computer games from sunset to sunrise, eschewing sleep, healthy food and female company for a never-ending world of fictional battle.

"This is a huge thing internationally," says Todd Howard, president and one of the founders of MSU's burgeoning LAN group, called msuhivemind. "In Las Vegas they have tournaments that draw thousands."

It is also becoming a huge thing at MSU, according to Patty Inskeep, director of MSU Student Activities. While MSU's gaming group started small about three years ago with a handful of computer science students, it exploded this school year after msuhivemind became a registered student organization. The group's LAN parties have grown from 20 to about 80 gamers this year. The next party is scheduled in April.

Howard says that most members of msuhivemind, but not all, are engineering students. Howard is included. A 31-year-old former logger from Kalispell whose love of gaming landed him at MSU, Howard plans to earn a degree in computer science in December and plans a career in the gaming industry.

"We get together and study and we used to joke about having a study hive that would get together and put together the mind," Howard said. "It just fit. A hive mind is everyone connecting as one entity."

Indeed, LAN parties look a lot like a swarming, buzzing hive. Each gamer hauls in his own computer -- some are customized to the tune of several thousands of dollars. The machines are strung together with 2,000-ft. of Ethernet cable, 600-ft. of extension cords, eight network switches and four servers. Inskeep said that supplying power in the SUB is a big issue and the group "had to think of a lot of different things" to provide adequate electricity to the gamers. "They're a very bright group," she said.

The gamers network their machines with others in the room. Gamers are identified only by nicknames, such as "Evol," "Sojrnr" and "Dirty Magic." Each party offers the players a menu of favorite games. In addition, two Microsoft X-Boxes run popular games, such as "Halo 2," on huge screens. Around midnight a few order food. The party breaks up at 6 a.m. There are rules. No controlled substances are allowed. Under-aged gamers have a strict curfew. Strangely, in an activity dedicated to simulated battle, there are no fights.

And while there are no rules about women, the LAN parties have not caught on with MSU's distaff set. The three women at Friday's events were Abby McBride, a history major from Helena and Katie Hanson, a graphic design major from Billings, girlfriends of two of the group's founders and Aylien Lenz, wife of founder Jory Lenz. The three served as hostesses, money-takers and all-around helpers for the event.

"We've had girls before," said McBride, girlfriend of founder Ernie Turner, also of Helena. "But they didn't seem to last too long."

"It is very male-dominated," agrees Sam Bennett of the MSU Alumni Association, the group's faculty adviser and an avid gamer. He added that there are some sites now dedicated to female gamers, such as GameGirlz.

Bennett said that in a short time msuhivemind has become the largest LAN party in the Northern Rockies.

"(The group) is attracting the attention of companies in the gaming industry that cater to gamers." Bennett points out that this is no small accomplishment. Video games are now an $11 billion industry that employs more than 30,000 in the U.S. Several colleges and universities have started programs to train employees for the industry.

Even though the games often have warrior titles such as "WarHammer 40K: Dawn of War" and are largely dedicated to the hunting down and destroying other players, organizers believe mushivemind and the LAN parties a positive activity.

"(LAN parties) provide a tremendous alcohol free, friendship-building event all night long," Inskeep said.

For more information on msuhivemind, go to the group's Web site.

Written by Carol Schmidt and posted 2/10/05.