Tameka L. Hicks 19

As the popularity of the Internet steadily increases, one Carbondale establishment has created a way to maintain business while elevating the interest of Internet junkies.

Carl Sellars, manager of the Computer Warehouse, 710 E. Walnut St., said that more than eight months ago eight Microsoft computers the stored used for Windows 95 and Internet training courses were turned into hardware for computer game fanatics.

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The Computer Warehouse is a sales, service and repair shop that sells computers and computer parts.

With the help of a few co-workers, now a simple click of a joystick button while wearing game-detecting headsets leads to a guided entrance into the world of high-tech computer gaming.

A couple of guys were linked to it (games) at home, Sellars said. We redid the network, and abra kadabra, it became a gaming center.

War Craft, Descent and Mech Warrior are some of the wild and intense computer games that draw an extensive crowd of Internet junkies to the Computer Warehouse for competitive fun, David Murray, parts and service coordinator, said.

Basically, we put this out for the benefit of the consumer, Murray said. Anyone who is into gaming enjoys playing head-to- head, especially in the same room.

Murray said being in the same room allows people to compete without experiencing the lag time that they would if they used the Internet.

The Computer Warehouse sets designated times and prices for the computer gaming network.

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On any night from 6 to 10 p.m. computer games are at full blast costing each person $10 for the first hour and $5 for each additional hour.

Murray describes one of his favorite games, a spaceship combat game called Descent, as he tells a story of one player who had the most fascinating techniques.

This 14-year-old kid was amazing, Murray said. He was just wiping out everybody. And he wasn’t even using a joystick or anything.

But, not every computer junky goes to the Computer Warehouse for fun and games. Some people such as Eric Ortiz, a sophomore in computer engineering from O’Fallon, prefer to enjoy playing games at home.

In his dorm room, Ortiz battles with his roommate Mark Casolari, a sophomore in physiology and pre-med from Louisville, after linking their two computers.

We play at least four or five hours at a time, Ortiz said. Sometimes we won’t even finish it until the next day. If I find a game I like, I guess I consider myself a computer freak.

Ortiz said operations like the Computer Warehouse are beneficial to those who do not have other access besides the Internet.

I’ve been to places like that in St. Louis, and it was nice, he said. I think sometimes they (computer gaming network places) are better because the competition is really good when you’re playing against someone you don’t know.

Watching the outcome of the gaming center is the most fun for Sellars, who plays the game Warcraft II. People from ages 14 to 40 participate in computer gaming. He said the child in everyone comes out with each game.

It’s another toy for the boys, Sellars said. It’s like 13- or 14-year-olds in a 20-something year-old’s body. Some are professors in their early 30s. You have to watch one to see how silly they can be.

Witnessing the unbelievable also is amazing to Sellars, who said the games are all about eye and hand coordination.

The games are to find out who’s the baddest and the best, he said. Here’s where a 5-foot-3 106-pound person can beat someone who is 6-foot-5 and 260 pounds and live to tell about it. It’s competitive without being physical. And no one gets hurt.

Sellars said the gaming center is a good alternative for people who enjoy spending an inexpensive time indoors.

It’s inexpensive compared to joining a bowling league and for those who don’t like the standard party scene, he said. It’s nice for them to have some place to go without having a hang over the next day. Everybody likes games.