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Marshall U. Students Learning to Balance Video Games, Life

Posted on: Saturday, 28 January 2006, 06:00 CST

By Andre Jones

By Andre Jones
The Parthenon ( Marshall U. )

(U-WIRE) HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- Video games at Marshall University are big business, draining money and time from schoolwork and even girlfriends. In Haymaker Hall, video games are a way of life for many of the residents, especially on the first and second floors. The sports front has even led to floor programs for the men's section of the dorm. Daniel Blair, Haymaker Hall resident adviser, hosted an NCAA Football 2006 tournament last semester, which brought more people than any other non-mandatory program. Hodges resident Sean Oziegbe, sophomore from New York, frequently visits to play NCAA against the tough competition in Haymaker room 208. "They have the nice big room, TV setup and all the gaming systems," Oziegbe said. "If you want some of the best competition and best gaming experience you have to go to Commons." The gaming craze in the hall has even addicted former non-gamers who came to Marshall with no expectations to play. "I just brought my old PlayStation back after the break," Josh Nunley, sophomore from Lewisburg, said. "After hardly gaming at all I have ended up playing Xbox until one or two in the morning with my roommates. It's addicting." As addicting as most two-player games are on the consoles, another widespread trend within the halls has been computer gaming. Massive multi-player online role-playing games (MMORPGs) have been increasingly popular among Marshall dorm residents. Blizzard's popular MMORPG World of Warcraft has hit millions and after visits between Twin Towers East and the Commons, it seems Marshall students put their share of money into this game also. Gamers can log plenty of hours playing this game with ease as there really is no ending to the game. Chris Masterson, sophomore from Washington, D.C., and Andrew Engle, sophomore from Lewisburg, W.Va., were drawn together by both chance and video games. Masterson and Engle, are two gamers on the same server of World of Warcraft who can frequently be found playing and even working together at some points. Engle, by most standards, would be considered to have mastered the game. His level-60 character named Drue has been nationally recognized on the company's Web site for his amount of kills. One would think the gaming would end after Engle has completed most of the work, but as most gamers -- and girlfriends of gamers -- note, it never ends. "Sometimes it is a fight between myself and video games with him," Engle's girlfriend Kimberly Burcham jokingly said. The essence of video games can be found within the competition, challenge or just plain fun. However, within the dorms video games make communications between strangers very easy. Nelson Barragan, freshman from New York, found video games made his transition from being a stranger at Marshall to being known very easy. "I came up here knowing no one but my roommate and maybe a few others; within the first weeks it was common for random people to just stop by the room chat and end up playing 'NCAA Football' or something," Barragan said. "Video games for the most part made meeting friends easy." Video games also have their negatives on students in some situations. The hobby can be very expensive and time consuming. Shows such as MTV's "True Life" and ESPN's "Madden Nation" have all documented how people can throw away their lives to play video games. Girlfriends, grades and pockets all can suffer if an addiction occurs for people. "Games will get to you quickly, it is easy to say 'Hey, I will only play one game,' and then two hours later that one game turned into many," Masterson said. Plenty of students along with Masterson have at some point faced the decision of homework and studying before video gaming, but students like Engle have found a happy medium. "I have mastered the art of studying and video gaming," Engle said. "I simply leave the game on and have my books there and when a boring part in the game occurs or there is loading time, I am studying; it is nice." The rising price of video games is also a factor in the negative effects of video games. On average, most console video games sell for $50 or more. With hardcore gamers beating games in three or four days, plenty of money can be spent monthly. From school-sponsored tournaments to simple games for bragging rights, the video game craze is not slowing. Homework is not always the choice for fun during the weekday and weekends allowing video games have become a substitute for it. With new systems arriving such as the Xbox 360 and newer versions and expansions of old games, residents can continue to expect to hear the yelling and loud music of video games for a long time to come.

(C) 2006 The Parthenon via U-WIRE

Source: U-WIRE

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