Eddie Click, left, of Dearborn Heights, laughs as he puts the finishing touches on his victory over buddy Travis Knox of Manchester in a game of Halo 3 during Saturday's video game tournament held at Washtenaw Community College.

Photos by Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com

As far as the organizers of today’s Washtenaw Community College video game tournament are concerned, noise is beautiful and an insufferable cacophony indicates a huge success.

The idea, explained Amanda Innes, WCC student activities specialist, was to draw as many gamers as possible to compete for cash prizes.

Up to 150 players were expected for the tournament that started at noon in a Morris Lawrence Building seminar room that was strewn with cables, power converters, computer processors and monitors, and several large screens.

WCC's Video Game Club sponsored the tournament in association with the Student Development and Activities Office and the Washtenaw County United Way. Open to students and non-students alike, the tournament was scheduled to conclude at 11 p.m.

Each competitor’s $5 entry fee went into the prize purse. The first competitive event was in Marvel vs. Capcom 3, a fighting game that was released just Tuesday.

“It would be very difficult to be proficient at this game,” said Innes, who helped to organize the video game club in 2009 and has seen it grow to be the largest and most diverse club on campus, with about 70 members.

The club meets each Monday and Thursday from 5 to 9:30 p.m. in a classroom building.

“It’s a really loud room,” she said. “We get a lot of complaints.”

The gamers' din was often drowned out by a DJ’s selections for WCC’s Orchard Radio, the Internet station providing music in the seminar room.

Innes said the benefits to club members far exceed the development of precise drumming and strumming skills in Rock Band or finishing all one’s Marvel vs. Capcom 3 missions in mission mode. Studies show that getting students involved in any type of activity leads to academic success, and club membership enhances the social component as officers are elected and tournament planning proceeds.

“We get a lot of flak because people think we’re just sitting around playing video games, but to these kids (the club) makes a big difference. It adds to their skills for life,” she said.

It's all in the thumbs as a pair of gamers battle it out Saturday in a game of Halo 3.

Freshman Mike Marone, who would be refereeing the Mario Kart competition, said he became club vice president in order to hone his leadership skills. An avid Xbox 360 player who also carries a Nintendo DS console in his back pocket, Marone liked what he saw of the early turnout numbering more than two dozen gamers.

“Our whole idea is, we don’t just want the student players,” he said. “We try to get it out to the community because there’s a very strong geeker-nerd culture. You don’t see it often, but it’s there.”

This was the fifth tournament since the club’s founding, and the United Way helped promote it with radio spots. The club’s Facebook page also contributed to the buzz.

Eventually, as tournaments grow more successful, word of mouth should be the promotional mainstay, Marone said.

Meanwhile, instead of staying late and then going out with others for karaoke, Marone planned to leave after his refereeing duties — but not because of the unbearable racket. Rather, he said he was having trouble with his car’s tail lights and needed to get home before dark.

Ronald Ahrens is a freelance reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach the news desk at 734-623-2530 or at news@annarbor.com.