I am currently doing research for my Communication class, and I would like to know the significance of having an on campus arcade/bowling alley and how it has influenced your experience at your University. I know schools such as UCD and San Jose have arcades such as these. If this is the wrong place to post this, please let me know.
On my community college it has affected me greatly positive. I met many new friends that way, inadvertently sometimes due to the connection of arcades and video game clubs. It got me into the scene of fighting games heavily and also gave me many friends that I am extremely close to even as to now. I started around 2004 in terms of competitively getting into the scene.
Without the arcade i doubt my experience there would be as good as it was, nor as exciting. Personally, it was in a way life changing even if the arcade was not a direct cause of it.
Ohlone College? I lived in Fremont for a while and left before going to Kennedy.
I wish Elk Grove and Cosumnes River College had an arcade or some gaming area of sorts but due to budget cuts, cool shit ain’t gonna happen.
Coming from UCD, I’m gonna have to vote yes.
The UCD MUGA always gave us a place to go between or after classes. And even when we were done, we would go there as a meeting place if anyone wanted to chill anywhere else. We didn’t even have to call each other up, we would just be there.
Thanks for the input, I really want to have a “real” arcade at my University and it is nice to hear stories like these.
Yesterday I left class to go to the restroom and from there I decided to walk halfway across campus and play AE in the arcade for an hour… came back to get my stuff after class ended. Does that count?
In all seriousness though, having the arcade here at SJSU has effected me in a few ways:
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Academically. Like I mentioned, I’ve skipped class before (actually, many times) to play SSFIV:AE and other games. Not enough to do serious damage to my grades, I use discretion. I know others have done the same. :x
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Socially. Like any other arcade, it’s a great place to make friends. I’ve met a lot of people here and got to know them better from seeing them every day at school. At first, most of the people I saw at the school arcade I had seen before either through a friend, or at an event, around school, or at another arcade or something, but I hadn’t really talked to any of them. After seeing these people almost every day for a semester I figured if I’m going to see these people every day in the arcade why not make friends with them? So I started being more outgoing and ended up making some really good friends here. Having the arcade there definitely helps bring people with common interests together and helps the community.
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Skill (this probably isn’t relevant to your research, but here it is). I believe playing for a short period of time frequently helps you out a lot more than playing for a long periods of time only occasionally. Basically, having the arcade at school makes it easy to get a few games in every weekday, rather than only having time to drive to Golfland and other major arcades only once a week. School arcades typically don’t have as skilled players as other arcades do but this is where I took my first step. I think of it as a training ground for new players (since there are a lot more “casual” SFIV players at school than at the Golflands for example).
When I attended SJSU, having the arcade was a good thing. However I only alloted myself 30 min to an hour there a day, then to go back to my studies. Because of that I was pretty scrubby back then. But i think getting in some games in, you get a good breather from stress of exams and stuff in college.
Thank you guys for the help.
Naw i live in the Northern part of Fremont so it was Chabot College for me. That place was awesome, even though the storage room was made into a ramshack arcade, I met many great people there like the group of friends i am in now, Dr B, and heard stuff like GunterJPN used to be playing there and stuff. The place has since shut down but it was SO serious and packed in that lil storage room everytime around lunch.
Hella nostalgia just thinking about it, best years of my life it feels.
What school do you go to?
I go to CSU Stanislaus in Turlock.