Airan Scruby
Staff Writer
Plays were made. The enthusiastic crowd cheered and lamented as players gained and lost ground against their adversaries. But the gaming that took place in the HAWC on Saturday had little to do with the night’s premier attraction, the basketball game.
The video-gaming extravaganza, sponsored by the Programming Board, allowed students to come together, relax and have fun after a long week of classes.
“Fifty to 75 percent of guys on campus probably play Halo in their dorm rooms,” said Student Activities adviser Justin Schneider, the event organizer. “It’s just a chance for students to meet each other and get outside of their rooms for a while.”
The games featured at the HAWC included games such as the extremely popular Halo 2, as well as vintage games, like Mario and Duckhunt.
The gaming industry has seen much technological advancement, but has moved in a direction of diversity recently, including many venues for play, according to Schneider.
Schneider said that, because many expected technology in gaming to be far ahead of what it is today, the industry has been forced to be extremely creative and versatile for gamers.
They are also reaching a younger audience and becoming a larger part of the lives of gamers.
One key example is Everquest, a virtual world on the Internet in which players live as a character. This character can be fashioned to possess particular traits and can live a relatively full life within the confines of the game.
However, some gamers spend too much time in this virtual world.
There are support groups for addictions to this game, and especially for the spouses of Everquest fanatics, Schneider said. Gamers are sometimes fired from their jobs or refuse to work because it would interfere with their play.
There is a side of gaming that is far more light-hearted, and the most popular games at the HAWC on Saturday were vintage games, which many college-aged gamers remembered from their childhood.
Junior Phil Starkey said believes that vintage is making a comeback.
“Old school is in style right now,” Starkey said.
Starkey said he enjoys many vintage games for a reason that many gamers cite as a factor in their choices when they play: consol. Because many players grew up playing a certain system, they are likely to continue playing games with similar control options and buttons, Starkey said.
While Starkey said he thinks that vintage games are becoming more popular, he also notes the extreme popularity of new gaming options, partially because of improving graphics and because players are getting younger and younger. As each gaming generation raises its standards about the games they like to play, games become more visually stimulating, and more graphic.
Though quite a lot of attention is given to the explicit and violent nature of many modern games, many gamers seem unconcerned about the issue.
“The average gamer is an intelligent person and can understand the difference between fiction and fact,” said Kieran Riordan.
Riordan also has noticed the return to vintage in past months, mostly among older gamers.
“It was their first adventure,” he said. But he was quick to say that because gaming generations are growing up, many are not interested in vintage. While older gamers may be thrilled to play Mario and Duckhunt again, most 14-year-olds today are not impressed.
New games find greater popularity with the younger crowd, and because gamers now range in age from 3 or 4 to 40, diversity is the name of the game in this industry.
Younger generations tend to be more interested in graphics and features, while older players prefer a game with great playability, Riordan said.
Whether you enjoy computer games, X-Box, PS2, vintage games or some other form of play, the field of video gaming is sure to continue exploring new possibilities.
Riordan, Starkey and Schneider all felt that video game play is more diverse than it once was, but all play is moving in a more social direction.
Gone is the stereotype of a video game geek who plays alone all day and never goes outside. Gaming has become a party, with multiple players and social interaction, even in the case of computer gaming.
Gaming is becoming exactly what the event at the HAWC was meant to promote.
“It’s just a social, community building event,” Schneider said.
01-27-2005