Livedalen residents competed in a Mario Kart tournament with a twist in Livedalen’s lounge on Sunday, March 9.
The twist to this tournament was that in pairs, students were required to each manipulate one part of the controller. This added difficulty and uniqueness to the well-known video game.
The competition began with 13 teams competing in a series of rounds until about an hour later, when two teams were left competing for the grand prize. This prize consisted of a handmade trophy and a $10 Buffalo Wild Wings gift card for each team member. The winners of the tournament were Tommy Olson and Ricky Satterness.
Livedalen Hall was able to fund this event since it has money specifically to be used for events like this that are put on by the Resident Assistant staff and hall council.
According to Marisa Habel, a Livedalen RA who was highly involved with this event, RAs have to set goals for events they host. Her goal for this event was 20 people. She was pleased to see that 25 people signed up prior to the event, and a total of 26 actually competed. There was even enough interest in the event that some people came to watch the tournament, which brought the actual total to around 30.
Students were encouraged to participate in this event by signs posted around Livedalen Hall, emails about the event and flyers slid under each resident’s door. Teams could sign up at the front desk to ensure a spot in the tournament. Livedalen residents Allison Cassell and Shelby Coulter found out about the event from one of the posters and decided to sign up because they agreed it would be a fun break from homework.
Zoey Schlemper, an RA in Livedalen, came up with the idea for this event. Originally he had planned this as a floor event only. Then, he considered having his floor compete with Habel’s floor. Finally, after discussing the event with Habel, the two decided to expand the event to the entire hall.
In creating this event, Schlemper wanted to be innovative and to have an event with personality rather than be generic, like so many events are in his eyes. Having the two person/one controller twist added a unique flavor to what could have been “people sitting around gaming.”
In addition to adding a creative spin to a classic video game, the two people/one controller aspect of the event created an atmosphere that encouraged communication. Cassell said that having Coulter communicating with her helped keep her calm when she was really frustrated with the game.
The competition created a fun and energetic environment. A lively crowd of competitors “made the tournament enjoyable for not only the players, but for the spectators,” Habel said.
“I love it when the event takes on it’s own momentum,” said Schlemper, who was also pleased with this events energy.
This event provided enjoyment in different ways for many different people. “Some people loved the trophy and prizes, some thought the two person on one controller gimmick was unique, and others just enjoyed the sense of competition,” Schlemper said.
According to Habel, there is already a push for this to continue as an annual event at Livedalen Hall. Although Schlemper will no longer be a part of Livedalen staff next year, other staff members agreed to bring back the event next year.
According to Livedalen hall director Joe Dlugos, if the event gains interest among other halls, Livedalen would “gladly collaborate with any other buildings that wished to have events like this.” One problem Schlemper pointed out is that although doing this event on a larger scale would be great, it may be difficult to get enough game cubes and TVs to accommodate everyone.
Although this event may not expand outside of Livedalen, residents can look forward to another Mario Kart Double Trouble event in the future.
This article was submitted by Anna Erickson, contributing writer.
