Wars are a part of life, whether it’s a national war, warring companies, a laser tag war, or a computer game war.
On Eastern Michigan University’s campus, there will be a war Tuesday, Feb. 7 in the Student Center Grand Ballroom from 4-9 p.m. That war goes by the name Blitz Ball.
Legacy Entertainment, the company hosting the game, describes Blitz Ball as, “A cross between paintball (without the paint) and dodge ball.”
Played with Nerf guns provided by Legacy, Blitz Ball has two teams of six students battling for five minutes to see who is left standing.
According to Allison Barkel, the art and entertainment student coordinator of Campus Life, the ballroom will be split in half and Legacy will, “fill the ballroom with inflatable barriers.”
Based off the images on the website, this includes a giant “X” as well as numerous other giant shapes for which participants can use to hide behind for strategic planning.
Legacy Entertainment is a company that specifically directs its services toward college campuses and college-age students. Some examples of other events Legacy hosts include “Bears to Build,” “Black Light Casino” and “A.R.T. Trivia Game.”
Students around campus are excitedly waiting to battle each other in Blitz Ball on Tuesday. One such student is Raven Gardiner, a freshman at EMU, who said, “I can’t wait to fight my boyfriend.”
Blitz Ball is a relatively new game, though it has references in “Final Fantasy” as well as the book “A Separate Peace” by John Knowles.
According to www.novelguide.com, “Blitz Ball” in the context of the novel, is about fighting for a ball, and each player is on his own. In contrast, according to www.ffspirit.net, “Blitz Ball is the popular mini-game of Final Fantasy 10; you can play it and save points once you participate in your first Blitz Ball tournament.” In this video game, Blitz Ball is a five-minute attacking game.
There’s also a connection between the name Blitz Ball and the German attack called a Blitzkrieg. According to http://www.bbc.co.uk’s history of World Wars, the tactic is in response to typical trench warfare where the Germans just pushed forward. This tactic was again used in World War II, but with a bit more of a technological base.
But while Blitz Ball has a history of wars and battling, here on EMU’s campus the game is much more about hitting as many of your friends as possible in a fun and playful environment.
According to Barkel, “They host Blitz Ball at a lot of college campuses. This is the first year doing it at EMU.”
In order to get the most people to come to this first-time event, Campus Life encourages the idea that each game of Blitz Ball is only five minutes long, so students can drop in between classes for a quick game.
“We decided not to have a registration so that students could come between classes or whenever,” Barkel said. Campus Life will be hosting Blitz Ball free of charge.
