"Are you lost?" someone asked me when I walked into a Friday night meeting of the Console Gamers X club.I glanced around at the four separate video game competitions occurring-one being projected onto a massive screen hanging down from the ceiling and the others on a television and two computer screens.

"I think I'm in the right place," I said, laughing, as a friend and I searched for a couple of chairs among the 20 students raptly involved in play.

Although my presence was met with surprise, half of which I attribute to my gender and the other to my new face, once I sat down, everyone was welcoming and offered me the chance to play. Other than myself and my friend, one other girl was present; the rest of the gamers were all male.

I tried the new game that had just come out on Playstation 2 called "Soul Calibur 3," a combat game that club members seemed excited to try out. My turn was fairly pathetic; I spent most of it firing off random combinations of buttons hoping that a deadly weapon would fly out. But despite my feeble abilities, I became incredibly engrossed in trying to win and really enjoyed myself.

The Console Gamers X club, or CGX, was created by students who graduated about three and a half years ago. Adam Breiterman '07, the current president of CGX, said that the club's main purpose is to provide a place for students to gather, create social networks, relax and have fun while sharing a common interest in video games.

More recently, however, CGX has found a new focus in becoming a charitable organization. The club raises money through competitions and coffeehouses held throughout the year, which they then donate to the Shriner's Children's hospital in Sacramento, Calif. The hospital specializes in hand reconstruction for children.

"I thought that donating to this cause would be a way for us to give back to the community in a memorable way," Breiterman said.

Breiterman said that the club has about 100 members on the email list, about 35 of whom are regular attendees, and that about 15 to 25 people come to an average meeting.

The meetings often include students from other schools, like the several that I met from the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth and Boston University.

Breiterman said that meetings are especially well-attended during midterms and exam periods, when students come in to unwind.

Club member Olusegun Babaniyi '06, who is a neuroscience major, said that gaming is his favorite way to unwind after a hard week of schoolwork.

"This is the best way for me to relax and have a good time on Fridays," he said.

In the club's beginning stages, most of the games and game systems, which are called "consoles," were owned by the club. But as membership and interest grew, most of the consoles, game controllers and games came to be owned by club members.

Members bring their collections to meetings on a "show and tell" basis and then the club as a whole decides which consoles to purchase. Often a few interested members chip in to buy a new system-which typically ranges from $250- $400-then the club itself purchases the system once the price falls.

Breiterman said the club will likely bring in more "old school" game systems like Nintendo and Sega in the future, a move that he believes will attract a wider membership.

CGX meets on Tuesday and Friday evenings in the Shapiro Campus Center Room 313.