Hardcore gamers and gamer “n00bs” come together to play video games and celebrate their common interest at DU e-Sports Club, DU’s gaming club, which applied to be licensed as a student organization last week.
DU e-Sports has access to a computer lab in John Greene Hall full of computers in which members are permitted to download games. The room is also equipped with a projector that can be connected to member-provided Xbox 360s.
“We are a mix between people who enjoy gaming with friends and people who compete for money,” said Ian Price, the president of DU e-Sports.
Price, a sophomore from Louisville, Colo., identifies himself as a “hardcore gamer,” playing video games about 70 to 80 hours per week.
Despite the huge diversity of gamer-types, DU e-Sports is open to anyone interested in playing video games with others, even people who play small “app” games and online flash games.
Competitive gaming tournaments are formally known as e-Sports, hence the club’s name. This week a couple members will be competing in a tournament for League of Legends, a popular online strategy game with team-based action in real time.
DU e-Sports member Jesse Smothermon, a junior from Honolulu studying Psychology, identifies himself as a “casual gamer,” playing video games anywhere from 12 to 14 hours per week.
Smothermon said gaming is a way to stay in contact with his brother and his friends in Hawaii.
“I also commentate while playing games, which is just adding a personal dialogue of background info and humor to a video of yourself playing and then posting it to YouTube, so gaming is just more fuel for my commentary,” said Smothermon.
Emily Wheeler, a first-year Spanish and Psychology student from Aurora, Colo., though not a member of DU e-Sports, identifies herself as a very light gamer, mostly playing games on her iPhone in her free time.
“I feel like gaming is not very publicized. If someone asks you about your weekend, you tell them what you went out to do,” said Wheeler. “I don’t see photos of people gaming on Facebook. It’s a hidden culture.”
Price encourages people to think of gaming as comparable to a sport, instead of its popular stereotype as a solitary activity.
“There’s a lot of friendly competition. A pickup game of basketball is just like sitting down with a group of friends to play a game of Halo,” said Price.
DU e-Sports meets on Saturdays from 1-5 p.m. in Room 318 in John Greene Hall. For more information, contact Ian Price at ian.price@du.edu.
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