Rhode Island's gaming convention and the college gaming scene
by Kyle Orland 
{ Feb 28th 2007 at 4:25PM }
When most people think of gaming conventions, they probably think of major national events like the late great E3, industry confabs like the Game Developers Conference, or even vaguely game-related fanfests like Comic-Con. They probably don't think of more local, personal affairs like the University of Rhode Island's annual gaming convention, which was held for the 16th time this weekend on the campus' Memorial Union.
This is perhaps understandable, as the University's student paper explains the event had somewhat limited attendance due to a lack of advertising. But it's also a shame, in a way, that more people couldn't be persuaded to get together for the con's Guitar Hero II, Halo and Gears of War tournaments.
We know college students play games -- hanging out with your buds and playing Madden or Halo all night is practically a rite of passage on most campuses. What we don't understand is why organized gaming clubs so often struggle to attract widespread interest on campuses that might have thriving clubs for everything from paintball to napping. Despite the common casual interest, most students don't seem to see gaming as something to join together over in an organized club setting.
Or maybe our impressions are off. To our college readers out there: what's the gaming scene like on your campus? Is gaming mainly a personal pastime, or do students often get together to play socially? Let us know in the comments thread below.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Rivendale286 @ Feb 28th 2007 4:40PM
The gaming "scene" at my school (University of Virginia) is basically non-existent... You never hear people talking about or mentioning games (well, besides the very rare overheard Madden comment) and I've seen a grand total of 2 people playing portable games (2 DS and 0 PSP sightings IN THREE YEARS)
Jake @ Feb 28th 2007 4:36PM
Many people probably don't see a need to join a club to meet other gamers. They probably already have enough neighbors that play video games.
Brett @ Feb 28th 2007 4:39PM
A lot of the guys on my floor, including myself, play Xbox 360 together on the network, Gears, GRAW, that sort of thing. Lots of fun since we're all within yelling distance. Outside that, I don't know of any clubs in particular, but many floors do similar things, most with xbox.
Mr Khan @ Feb 28th 2007 4:54PM
I always figured gamers just kind of got together, no need for order or organization, and i've always found clans to be arrogant elitists
Go online, find some gamertags, some friend codes, or just talk with people at school/work
No need to organize
Commie Mario @ Feb 28th 2007 6:03PM
haha, we've gots a halo club at our high school. Once a month we get a bunch of the school's TV's and have huge tournys...The principal even comes so we get to frag him, yay
ChewyDogg @ Feb 28th 2007 5:06PM
You can't take bong hits and chug beers at a "convention"...
Miro @ Feb 28th 2007 5:11PM
On my floor, I had the first Wii and now we have 9 (vs. 3 360s, 1 PS3, a few DS Lites, a PSP, 3 N64s, 5 PS2s, 2 Gamecubes, 1 Dreamcast, and 1 SNES).
We sometimes play Halo but Smash Bros. reigns supreme and we pull out Wii Sports or Mario Kart 64 (VC) when the girls come to visit.
SynikaL @ Feb 28th 2007 5:16PM
Rivendale:
I may be wrong, but I think University of Virgina has a solid SSBM competitive scene -- that's if you like that game.
See, this is why Joystiq needs to seriously consider the suggestion I laid out in this thread:
http://www.joystiq.com/2007/02/14/evo2k7-championship-series-line-up-revealed/
A particular game's scene (casual or competitive) is usually pretty grassroots, so a lot of people usually aren't in the know when people are hosting gatherings just a block down from their house. If the gaming community wants any kind of cohesion, media outlets need to support these people and help get the word out.
What have you got to lose? Would it be hit to Joystiq's collective egos to consider a valid suggestion from a lowly reader?
-Kimosabae
Nate @ Feb 28th 2007 5:20PM
"We sometimes play Halo but Smash Bros. reigns supreme and we pull out Wii Sports or Mario Kart 64 (VC) when the girls come to visit."
Maybe you should think about pulling "something else" out when girls come to visit.
;)
DekaGreen @ Mar 1st 2007 2:56AM
Over at our dorm at DeVry University Fremont, there is never a moment where a game isn't being played. Considering that one of the majors here is Game and Simulation Programming (GSP), there's always a LAN going on in someone's room or in the multipurpose room, and there's always someone who has a DS or PSP out...
... Now, that also means that some students aren't doing their work, but hey, it's their money they're wasting away.
KineticOnline @ Feb 28th 2007 5:30PM
Our college has a games room. There was a massive list of games installed on the machines so if one was free you could just pop in and have a few games with anyone else in the room.
Phil @ Feb 28th 2007 5:33PM
im still in high, and im just wondering how do you guys plug into internet for live and stuff? do you have routers nearby?
Intentless @ Feb 28th 2007 5:38PM
Well Phil. Most colleges have an integrated network where an access point for internet is in the room. Or they have a massive wireless network established... They also tend to have the superfast fiber optics or t1 lines...
StevO @ Feb 28th 2007 5:39PM
Most if not all colleges have wireless now buddy. A lot of dorms have an ethernet jack too.
Mr Khan @ Feb 28th 2007 6:11PM
Good, if most dorms have WiFi, i won't have to worry about lugging my LinkSys router to Middlebury (here's hoping i get accepted), or have to buy a Nintendo USB adapter for my Wii and DS...
Nessus @ Feb 28th 2007 7:36PM
University Of Maryland has it's own Gamer Symphony orchestra(although not very good), and has ladders for several games. SSBM is pretty good here, and there are a couple people here who rank top 10 worldwide.
Brandon @ Feb 28th 2007 9:34PM
many gamers here seem to find each other as well. Most more often then not also play a lot of 360 and have each other on their friends list so there is no need for a club of any kind. I read about that napping club to, I wish someone would create one like that here at IU.
Nino @ Feb 28th 2007 9:06PM
The only thing I've seen at my campus regarding games was an ad on campus requesting a used PSP.
But we have a lame anime club.
EVan scussel @ Feb 28th 2007 9:24PM
What the heck? I graduated from the University of Rhode Island (and less than 16 years ago too!) and I don't ever remember this occuring at the Memorial Union and I probably passed through there just about every day I was an undergrad.
ron @ Feb 28th 2007 10:20PM
Man, I am really dating myself here, but when I lived in the dorms, PS2 had just came out. I had an absolute nerdgasm over the integrated T3 connection (in the dorm). Counterstrike was our game of choice, many a missed class there. Anyway, you may need a router if your gonna be using multiple ethernet ports, because there is usually only 1 jack per person.
John @ Feb 28th 2007 9:36PM
I live in Rhode Island Scituate to be exact.....and I had no freakin clue this goes on. I'd be game (AHEM) if I knew this existed.
ExMachina @ Feb 28th 2007 9:38PM
Rivendale286:
Actually, I'd say that UVA's gaming scene is pretty solid... Smash and Guitar Hero (2) in particular are huge around grounds, but we've also got people playing fighting games like 3rd Strike T5:DR pretty regularly. We also have a gaming festival each semester with at least 4 tournaments.
Hit us up on the forums if you want to find other gamers... we have gatherings almost every weekend.
http://uvagamers.com/
ExMachina @ Feb 28th 2007 9:39PM
^ 3s *and* T5:DR. I seem to have lost a word while typing that.
Siteseer @ Feb 28th 2007 9:45PM
I'm another rhody and did my time at URI and this is the first I've heard about a so-called gaming "convention" at the MU. I do know about the paper and pencil gaming group though, must be the same guys.
Nick Kinney @ Feb 28th 2007 10:44PM
I think #4 hit it right on the head. Me and a bunch of my buddies all used to play Halo and Halo2 with kids in our dorm over system link, but most of the organized gamers on campus were A) overly competitive and B) way too arrogant about how good they were. We had a couple of guys that weren't quite as good as us, but weren't bad by any means, and they wanted to exclude them from the club/clan.
Stuff like that just doesn't sit well with me since I play video games to HAVE FUN. I think a lot of people forget why they first picked up a controller. Have fun, do a little friendly (ie not obscene) trash talking when you beat somebody, but don't go crazy over a game.
jr @ Feb 28th 2007 11:13PM
vassar college, poughkeepsie, NY
this weekend we've got the 7th Annual NonCon, a student run gaming/everything-else-in-a-hobbieshop convention. panels, guest speakers, tabletop stuff, vendors... and three days of tournaments, be they Halo 2, DDR, Magic, Smash Bros., Mario Kart, Soul Calibur, whatever. the org that runs it here is more on top of their stuff every year, but advertising is limited to campus publications and the odd free lists that go out with stuff like Asimov's and other con listings.
regardless, if you're in the immediate area, i'd think about coming by for friday night or saturday, both of which tend to have decent attendance for a small event, with lots of people cycling in throughout the day. we're like 2 hours north of NYC.
oh and we have a Halo Club, with some funding and such. niiiiiiiiice.
def PD @ Feb 28th 2007 11:47PM
When I was a freshman ('99) the big games were Counterstrike and Starcraft. Tekken 3, DDR, Crazy Taxi, and MvC2 were also popular at the arcade at the rec. center. No Tourneys, gatherings, or such. It was pretty much isolated to dorms and floors.
Gavin R @ Mar 1st 2007 12:36AM
There def was no advertising for this, as I go to URI. Its crazy to be a regular reader and see your own school make it to here, but yet I didn't find out about it at school...
SynikaL @ Mar 1st 2007 8:36AM
Nice. There's nothing like a post looking to further video game communities being completely ignored and overlooked by any and everyone.
I guess these are just nonsensical and irrelevant fantasias gestating in my head. Carry on, Joystiq.
-Kimosabae
FSK405K @ Mar 1st 2007 9:32AM
My username on Joystiq is a direct plug for my old college days at GWU, a university that was involved with all the new internet research of the late 90's, so we had great internet connections. I arrived in '99, and so did Counter-Strike. Nothing official on campus, but there was a lot of CSing going on. As Urban Terror came out, we started a server named after our dorm, and room, and later we became a clan. At that point we each chose an appropriate letter for clannames. FSK Hall, room 405; I chose K for my first name. Others joined either on campus or by playing on the server, and it's still running today (Urban Terror, not Counter-strike). So, yes, a lot of hall shouting.
JJC @ Mar 1st 2007 9:52AM
I got to RIT and there is a huge gaming scene here. I dont normally participate because there is also a huge amount of douche bags here too. BUT i do play with some of them through live. atleast then i dont have to see them.
GamerTag: Silver Donkey
if you wanna play im down.
Sarah @ Mar 16th 2007 2:24PM
As a member of the URI gaming club for the past four years, I'd like to clear up a little misinformation from this article. In all fairness, the newspaper hasn't mentioned that the last two years' conventions were seen as successes, especially since my freshman year it never happened due to mismanagement. There are many factors as to why the con came off as "unsuccessful" this year, and it is not a lack of gaming on campus (of all types, not just video games) The URI Gaming Club has the highest number of unofficial members of all student organizations (our list of official members is more restrictive, due to liability of games and systems 'walking'), and yet the responsibility for organizing and running URICon has a tendency to fall on the shoulders of primarily one fellow college student, swamped with work and trying to graduate on time like the rest of us. There is also the consideration of planning. URICon went off early this year, barely 3 weeks after returning to classes after winter break, with little time to plan events, and I believe there were at least one if not more related conferences much larger than our humble college-run conference running on the same weekend. Throw in that URI, as a dry campus with usually nothing much happening on weekends, dies with a majority of students returning home to parents (there are a lot of in-staters in Lil' Rhody) or live "down the line" in Narragansett and have no reason to drive up to campus just to do what they could easily do at their houses, oh, and be able to drink while doing it. In addition, the con this year seemed focused on one-shot table-top RPG's and CCG's (non-magic), which grants us a bit of a stigma as the "geeky-type gamers", and I know that many of the gamers on campus have a desire to distance themselves from that, even the X-box club, so much so that they have fought tooth and nail to not be associated with the URI Gaming Club. Granted, being one of the few females in the club, I can vouch for the fact that some are those uber-nerds with poor social skills, but there are some awesome folks in this club who have very diverse interests, including many members of the student senate, and I've learned a lot from all of them. I would encourage you to just walk into a gaming club on your campus and say hi to some of the people there. You'll probably be pleasently surprised at how welcome they are for a new challenger.