Evening everyone!

Another has come and gone and into week 4 we go so:

Here is what's going on in Gamessoc for the coming week:

- Trad Gaming: As Normal - - Console Gaming: Mario Kart 8 Tournament - - PC Gaming: Currently offline - - Humans vs Zombies: Week 5 -

- - Trad Gaming: Monday Only - - Trad Gaming will be back as usual with our big stack of board, card games and more. So grab a game or pull up a chair and have some fun! Don't forget usually near the end of the night a big game of Werewolves is played where anyone and everyone can join in so if you haven't played it yet I would highly recommend giving it a shot! You can find them on Mondays in XG01 from 6pm-10pm and Wednesdays in XG01 from 5pm - 10pm

- - Console Gaming: As Normal - - Consoles returns again this week and we have a big trolley of TV's, consoles and bags of games and controllers for you to relax (or get really into) after the Wednesday lunch rush! This week on top of this we will also be running a Mario Kart 8 tournament on the Wii U. It costs €2 to sign up and 1st place wins a €20 Gamestop voucher! Signups will take place from 2pm onwards with the tournament expected to start around 3pm. So...think you got what it takes? Even if you don't sign up anyway as it's a lot of fun (It's what I do for most of the tournaments myself.) As per the usual they will be set up on Wednesday from 2pm-5pm in XG01.

- - PC Gaming: Currently offline - - It's that time of year again where we sadly must be patient and wait for the computers to be imaged while not exactly enjoyable is quite necessary. We will let you know ASAP when PC gaming will be back up and running.

- - Humans vs Zombies - - Our annual Humans vs Zombies (HvZ for short) will be taking place during week 5 from the 19th to the 23rd so ready your NERF guns and rolled up socks and try your best to make it through the week! Not sure what exactly HvZ is or how to play? No worries! The full list of rules can be found at the following link here is a quick summary for you! http://games.dcu.ie/hvz/rules.php

The zombie outbreak as made it's way to the DCU campus however thankfully only a few people have been infected...so far that is! You will start the game on the Monday after you sign up and receive your kill pin and HvZ band which you will wear on your arm to show you are currently playing the game as a human. Your goal is to make to Friday 8pm without a zombie managing to make you their next meal! As you go about your college day (even in the zombie apocalypse you still have lectures and assignments, weird right?) you have to be ever vigilant and keep an eye out for zombies because if one of them manages to grab you that's it! Nom! Don't worry you aren't defenseless, remember the NERF guns and socks I mentioned earlier? If you manage to shoot or throw a sock at a zombie they are stunned and can't catch you or anyone else for the next 10 minutes! They can still follow you around though and get you when they are no longer stunned, persistent things aren't they? If a zombie gets you, you must immediately give them your kill pin and an hour later tie the band around your head and bam, your now a zombie! So how does one zombie exactly? Well unfortunately zombies are hungry creatures and if they don't feed or catch a human every 24 hours they starve and are out of the game! That's what the kill pin is for, they login onto the website, enter the pin and they go back to 24 left to feed again! All you have to do is find a human player, grab them before you get stunned, get their kill pin, enter it on the website and continue to hunt!

There are also missions throughout the week which are events that both humans and zombies can partake in and you may be temporarily become human or zombie to balance out the teams for it! Also for the duration of the mission humans caught are not dead and don't become zombies so don't be afraid to play the missions! Missions typically begin at 6pm at the Henry Grattan on campus and one example of last years missions was Escort the VIP. The human team had to guide a defenseless human VIP along a path to the destination within the time limit and would only move if surrounded by human players. The Zombies would do their zombie thing and try to stop and grab the humans "killing" them and stop the VIP from reaching the destination. Some special rules were in effect for the mission: - Zombies were only stunned for 60 seconds and can't move while stunned and can't catch anyone while stunned. - Humans grabbed has to immediately return to the Henry Grattan to "respawn" before heading back out to escort the VIP. Depending on which side won the mission one of the following could happen: - Random humans became zombies or random zombies became human. - The zombies would gain/lose hours left until they starved. The exact details of the mission and reward for the winning side have not been finalized but this should give you a good idea on what to expect and it's so much fun to do as well!

Some last little rules for the event for the safety of you and everyone else playing or not. - No realistic looking weaponry. Weapons must be brightly colored. - Blasters may not be visible inside of academic buildings or jobs on campus. - Players may not use cars or play where there is traffic. - Foam darts must be harmless, and not cause any pain.

- No Play Zones - Some Areas on Campus are "no play zones" where the game is permanently suspended. Dart blasters must be concealed and no players may be stunned or tagged. These areas include:

- Academic buildings - The Library - Bathrooms - The Gym

- Safe Zones -

Some areas are merely 'safe zones', gameplay continues, but humans can not be tagged while they are inside the zone, unless a zombie can reach them with two feet outside of the zone. Humans in the safe zone can tag zombies who they feel may attack them as they leave the zone. Safe zones include:

- Canteens - Campus Residences - The Street - Nubar - Spar - Old Bar

Players found to be breaking any rules, intentionally or not, may be penalized in some way, or asked to leave the game entirely. All players are required to read the rules completely, so ignorance is no excuse.

- Other Rules -

- NEVER blast a non player, this is a bannable offence. - Athletes: Athletes are safe during official practices, but not on the way to or from practice. - Non players must not interfere with the game, in ways such as spying for a player. - A zombie must have both feet outside of a safe zone to tag a human. Humans can stun zombies from inside of a safe-zone. - Zombies may not attempt to damage or steal human weaponry including bullets. - Zombies may not use shields to deflect foam darts or socks. - Missions may change what is considered a safe zone. - Human deaths during missions don't count. - Zombies cannot steal guns or ammo from humans. - Keep your student ID on you at all times, don't argue with security if they have an issue with us running around with nerf guns. - Zombies can run. - Please, don't be a douche.

That's about it and the website where the game will be run from will updated soon with the live game where you can sign up to! http://games.dcu.ie/hvz/index.php

I believe that's everything that's happening this week and I'll see you next time!

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Until next time, Edward Moriarty GamesSoc Secretary 2015/16