Since the infancy of computers, people have been trying to develop better interfaces for playing games. The first attempt at a controller was merely a spinning dial on what looked like a television remote. Various companies attempted to improve the methods of controlling video games, leading to the invention of the joystick, d-pad (arrow buttons on a controller) and countless other ridiculous-looking devices.

Before the advent of the Internet, there were video games. Before cell phones and e-mail connected us with friends far and near, the earliest gamers flocked to arcades to play the latest Atari masterpiece with their peers. With a series of zeros and ones, some applied mathematics and some sweet hardware, a subculture was born.

The primary urge of video gaming is to shoot.

In the beginning (1962 to be precise) was Spacewar, a monumental gaming achievement. For the first time in the history of the world, players could shoot at each other on a computer screen. There was thrust, there was rotate, there was hyperspace, and it was good.

Hardcore gamers and part-time button smashers unite! There's a weekend full of events to satisfy even the most persistent gaming addiction. Grab some Bawlz, your lucky controller and don't forget to put on clean socks--it's game time.

Lost in the forrest of acronyms and shorthand that is gamespeak? You're a n00b. It's OK. The Alibi is here to drop a few linguistic breadcrumbs so you can find your way through the cybertrees. Here's a really, really abridged dictionary of the terms serious gamers use, usually when playing online with other nerds:

Competitive gaming. I knew it existed on some level. In high school, my friends had two favorite pastimes: paintball and LAN parties. Both included high-powered equipment, shooting stuff and me screaming like a chick in a slasher movie as I fired aimlessly at my assailant. And then died. A lot. We never had real tournaments; we were in it for the bragging rights. I was just known for my screeching.