There's just one thing that can make 12-year-old Andre Vanpoelvoorde travel all the way from Hamburg, Mich. to a college campus to stare at a screen for four hours in a crowded room with gamers from all parts of Michigan.
And that's the 2005 Game Live on Xbox Spring College Tour, which the University Activities Board, or UAB, sponsored on Friday at the Union Ballroom.
UAB spokeswoman and advertising sophomore Tiffany Weber said she wants to draw a different crowd to the weekly UAB meetings and sponsored programs.
"I wanted to reach another different demographic of people that we don't see at our events a lot, so I thought this was a good way to do it," Weber said. "We always want more people to find out about UAB."
The tour, from the California-based Game Live Events video game company, is a marketing tour to present software to about 25 colleges nationwide. The company also creates and produces live software.
The tour includes a 50-screen system players can use to test different games on video game console systems such as PlayStation 2, Xbox and Nintendo GameCube.
Vanpoelvoorde hoped to use the event to prepare him for his future career plans.
"When I grow up, I want to be a video game maker," Vanpoelvoorde said.
He said he wants to create videos to show players how to beat games with commentary from him and a friend.
The arcade night featured a Halo tournament, in which teams of four played each other for the prize of four $100 Best Buy gift certificates. Halo is a first-person shooting game.
"If you like it or you're sorry you missed it, get involved with your student activities board," said Game Live Tour coordinator Bobby Danelski. "It's another source of entertainment."