According to leading entertainment industry research group NPD, “More Americans play video games than go out to the movies.”
NPD launched a huge survey in 2009 with results indicating that, “About two thirds of Americans had played a video game in the past six months. In comparison, only half of people surveyed in the US reported going out to the movies in that same time period.”
Students that belong to this gaming majority may delight in knowing that there’s a great place to get their video game fix at SLCC’s Taylorsville Redwood Campus. Students need only to join the Video Game Club.
SLCC’s Video Game Club meets every Wednesday from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Taylorsville Redwood campus. The club meets on the second floor of the Student Center by the Registration Office.
“The video game club is a great opportunity for unique social networking,” said the club’s adviser, Ashley Sokia. Sokia has been the adviser for the club since February.
As the club adviser, Sokia is charged with ensuring that the club meets and maintains all of its requirements to maintain its club status and be successful. She also does the public relations work for the club, scheduling events and ordering the food for some hungry gamers.
“The game club offers a great opportunity to try new games without having to rent or buy them first,” Sokia said.
With games for Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 often costing upwards of $60, it may not be a bad idea to try it before you buy it.
“Students can come in and try playing games on different gaming systems as well. Doing so can help them pick the system that they truly want,” said Sokia, “There is a five dollar fee for membership. That money goes to pay for new games to play.”
SLCC’s video game club holds tournaments regularly, and they are open to all students for entry. Tournament games include mega-hits like Super Smash Bros., Halo and Call of Duty. Prizes are sometimes given to the winner(s) of these tournaments, along with the bragging rights of being the best.
The video game club doesn’t just sit around and play video games. Last semester, club members performed a community service project, informing parents about the available parental control options pertaining to video games.
The video game club’s goal was to help parents better understand the ESRB (Entertainment Software Ratings Board) ratings system.
“If parents are better informed, they can more easily avoid buying or renting games that are inappropriate for their kids,” said student Patrick Jackson.
“There’s not really a design aspect to this club,” said Sokia, “There is, however, a club here at SLCC called CCGD [College Collaboration of Game Design]. That club delves more into the design aspect of video games.”
A new club president is elected every semester. The current club president, Kjel Higgins, is planning to move to Denver. Sokia said he is already working to start a video game club at his new school.
Sokia said there are normally about six to twelve members attending the meetings on a weekly basis. Weekly attendance to the meetings isn’t required, but it’s certainly encouraged.
“We’d like to get more people involved in the video game club. The more the merrier when it comes to gaming,” said Sokia.
For more information on the video game club, students can contact Ashley Sokia at aksokia@gmail.com, or contact the game club at slccgameclub@gmail.com.
“