At ASU, sunshine, iPods and Razrs

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Game PCs, not surprisingly, are a hit among ASU gamers, who are fond of "Halo 2" and massively multiplayer games like "World of Warcraft" and "EverQuest," which psychology freshman Jennifer Johnson said was "addictive, but it'll steal your soul."

"Second Life," a 3D virtual world built and owned by residents, however, has yet to establish much of a fan base at the school. Many I spoke with frowned upon it as being too "weird" and said it cost too much to purchase virtual land and other digital goods.

Spotting the freshmen
And how quickly fads come and go in the game world. You could hear a pin drop when I asked if anyone still liked "Dance Dance Revolution," a music video game that was introduced to Japanese video arcades in 1998 and experienced a resurgence in recent years as Xbox, GameCube and PlayStation 2 created their own versions.

"Now that I look back on that I think, 'Did I really do that?'" said Joe Gamez, a junior studying business management. "I wish I would've videotaped it."

Game systems like Xbox and Nintendo are big, especially with computer science sophomore Matthew Bader, who said he owns "every Nintendo system ever made." And a good deal of the games too.

He was fiddling with a Universal Power Bank he had hooked to his LifeBook when I caught up to him in the air-conditioned basement eatery of the student union. Bader was doing some maintenance on his computer and wasn't on the Net because the campus-wide wireless service that made Tempe famous, (sort of) was spotty in some lower and upper levels.

Multifunctional gadgets found homes in a number of pockets on ASU's campus. Students from budding corporate tycoons to landlocked surfer dudes are crazy for their Sidekicks, Slvrs, BlackBerrys and Motorola Qs.

Computer science sophomore Ben Hainline uses his RIM BlackBerry 8700G to "organize his life." He tutors high school math students and is constantly checking his e-mail to stay in touch with them.

In fact, gadgets on the ASU campus are so widespread, one surefire way to sniff out a freshman in this gadget oasis is to scope out the accessories. While students of all ages love their toys, it seems the freshmen are more apt to wear them as fashion statements.

Lots of freshmen males, for example, cover their iPods in everything from bright green and blue plastic cases to black leather with skull and crossbones. And any young ASU woman worth her tan, it appears, is going to doll up her gadgets in flowers and tie-dye and gab on her choice of a pale- or hot-pink Razr phone.

But what does all this mean for interpersonal communication?

Well, that's apparently where Facebook comes in. When bored during class, students said they often check their Facebook accounts to see what their friends have planned for the weekend.

And amid the iPods, BlackBerrys Sidekicks and MP3 phones, social networking seems to be keeping the lines of communication open.

Psychology senior Sarah Ralstom put it best when she said, "If you don't have a Facebook account, you're not human."

Nicole Girard spent her summer as a CNET News.com intern.