BOSM is a fest with more than just on-field sporting events. The BOSM English Press had a small chat with Shrey Shah, the coordinator of the Gaming Club regarding their work during the fest. Gaming Club will be conducting ‘Ignition’ – a LAN gaming event in this year’s edition of BOSM.

Ignition will be held on all days of BOSM, in Old SAC, starting at two in the afternoon, and lasting till midnight. Participants may take part in games like Counter Strike (CS), DOTA, FIFA and Blur. Regarding CS never getting old, Shrey said – ‘The latest games with better graphics demand higher system requirements, which are not available to everyone. CS, on the other hand, can run on almost any laptop. This is why CS is so popular.’

The club is expecting a major breakthrough this year, by hoping to make profits for the first time. Until last year, they used to invite a vendor from Jaipur, who took care of all the necessary gaming setup. With SS sponsoring BOSM, the club has made good use of the opportunity by asking them to provide around ten laptops. ‘We have cut down on costs. Hence, we will be providing better prizes, which will hopefully increase participation’, said Shrey.

The club does not face any technical issues as such during Ignition. It connects the individual systems using a standard LAN switch. So, the game-play experience is standardized. ‘No participant can get a technical advantage over the other. The gaming setup provided by us and the connections between them ensure that no one has an unfair advantage over the other’, Shrey asserted.

The club does not have much pre-BOSM work to do; they just work on Day Zero to arrange tables, set up laptops, and make connections. Shrey expressed his displeasure regarding classes being conducted during BOSM. He said – ‘That is a major problem. We need to schedule the events according to the preference of participants. Even if one member of the team of five is not available, we have to reschedule. This is also what we will work on during Day Zero.’

The club has been receiving significant assistance from the CoSSAc and RecNAcc. The latter has been especially helpful in providing them with fans, coolers and all other facilities required for conducting the event smoothly.

Commenting on the gaming console vs. PC debate, he says – ‘There are games that can be enjoyed thoroughly only when played on consoles. For those games, my choice would be to play on a PC as it gives a better experience overall.’

According to Shrey, the relatively new Gaming Club has not been receiving much support and appreciation. The perception of gaming hampering academics could be the reason behind this. ‘Gaming has no effect on academics. For once in your life, try gaming and look at how it helps ease out stress and frustration’, he remarked.