In recent years, Northwestern has been introducing the intense world of competitive gaming to the college and has created a well-established Esports team on campus.
The Esports team offers students the opportunity to play Rocket League, Overwatch and Super Smash Bros competitively. Even though gaming is primarily online, the team attends Local Area Network (LAN) tournaments which gives them the chance to compete against other players in person.
The energy of LAN tournaments is what makes Esports thrilling. The dynamic of competitors from all over coming together to do something they enjoy is unbeatable.
This season they have attended one LAN tournament in Mankato, Minnesota where they competed in Rocket League and Super Smash Bros. The first tournament was successful and gave the team a positive outlook on the rest of the season.
All Esports games have different objectives. Rocket League is a 3 person team game where you attempt to score goals by hitting a ball around with your car. When competing the games are five minutes and they play matches to the best of five.
The goal of Super Smash Bros is to knock opponents off a stage with various items and special moves. In this game you can compete one-on-one or for free for all.
Overwatch is not currently in season, but it is a team based first person shooter game with specific objectives.
While success is often measured in wins and losses, the Esports team takes a different perspective. They are currently working on team chemistry as they have many new members this season. Instead of focusing on winning games, they set performance-based goals such as improving on certain skills or creating team synergy.
The Esports team also likes to emphasize team effort. It is much more rewarding to try your hardest and lose than feel like you could have given more.
The team will continue to improve as their season progresses, but they have also set some long-term goals for the year. They have many more LAN tournaments coming up, all leading to playoffs in November.
They are hoping to secure the Great Plains Athletic Confernce (GPAC) LAN tournament this year and strive to get to the top three in their National Esports Colligete League (NECC) league as well.
Looking ahead, the team is excited to see how they have improved from now until the playoffs.
