The Vanderbilt Computer Society will host a LAN party in Sarratt Friday at 6 p.m., and will give away prizes such as an Xbox 360, an iPod Nano and a Nintendo DS Lite.

The event, which is co-sponsored by VenUE, Peabody College and Information Technology Service’s Digital Life, gets its name from the computer networking term “Local Area Network” and can be described as a temporary gathering of people and computers for the purpose of playing multi-player computer games.

The party will feature multiple video game tournaments, including Halo 2 and Dance Dance Revolution competitions. Contestants are encouraged to bring their own computers, but a variety of other games are offered for those without PCs.

LAN parties aren’t simply a chance to compete, however.

John Ahlbin, graduate adviser of the Computer Society, said that for those who want to stay away from the contests, plenty of other games will be around.

“The learning curve has been taken into account to attract as many people as possible,” he said.

The tournaments are more of a draw for ambitious gamers, rather than the focal point of the event, said Brian Turnbull, vice president of the Computer Society.

“You can do everything at a LAN party in your own room on the Internet, but it’s a completely different experience when you’re all in the same room playing against each other,” he said. “You can beat someone in the game and holler across the room at them. There’s a lot more interaction there.”

Aaron Thompson, a freshman member of the Computer Society, said that the purpose of a LAN party is simply to get together and have fun.

“It's a marathon of over-caffeinated electronic action,” he said. “I know I’ll have a blast regardless of the competition.”

Computer Society President Jason Roberts said that one of the aims of ITS’s Digital Life is to “support legal alternatives for music, software and movies.”

The event’s game selection reflects the attitude that electronic media should be respected, he said.

“We try to pick games that are cheap enough to encourage people to bring legal copies.”

In addition to the games, free food and drinks will be provided. Full tournament times and details are available at www.vandylan.com.