USD gaming culture does not play around with their title
RIO SASTRAPUTERA | THE USD VISTA | CONTRIBUTOR
Photo Courtesy of Rio Sastraputera
League of Legends, Call of Duty, Clash of Clans, Super Smash Bros, and many other different gaming franchises are at the forefront of the minds of gamers all around the world. With a growing video gaming population all around the world who compete in large multi-national televised tournaments with prize pools reaching more than 18 million for The International 2015 for Dota 2. Even at the University of San Diego, the eSports League of Legends team has ventured into several collegiate tournaments and has hosted a USD tournament as well.
There has been a drastic growth in the market for the games as evident by TV advertisements. The eSports League of Legends team has even brought upon TeSPA collegiate tournaments, famous for the Heroes of the Dorm on Jan. 28, 2016.
This great change that has occurred for the video gaming culture has also been quite present at USD. There are some students who would be warring with other clans in Clash of Clans while they are waiting for class to start.
The Couch: Co-Op event on Friday, March 13, 2015 was a celebration of the diversity across the gamers at USD.
Lenny Macias, president of internal affairs for USD eSports, grew up playing adventure games and shares her hopes for gamers on campus.
“I am trying to break the competitive aspect of the gaming community at USD and make it much more of an inclusive area where people come together in an area and do what they love,” Macias said.
According to Macias, USD eSports has traditionally been seen as strictly a League of Legends community and the event on Friday showed that the club has shifted to a focus on developing a closer gaming community.
First year Daniel Kemp, states how a fair amount of people on the team play video games, both casually and obsessively.
“I will actually be hosting a Super Smash Bros tournament soon to come,” Kemp said.
Many different indie multiplayer games on Steam and Xbox 360 games were played by a group of four people each round. In the past, being a gamer may have been looked down upon. However, with the recent growth of the gaming population, it has become a point of differentiation that is highly sought out by people for social gatherings.
Whether it be warring in Clash of Clans on their cellphones right before class starts, the shouts of victory over a Super Smash Bros game in the middle of the night, or the revving of engines as the countdown begins for the start of the Mario Kart race, gaming continues to make a statement. Despite the competitive culture that is displayed on televised tournament and media, gamers at USD are casual gamers who enjoy sharing their love of games with others similar to them and those who share an interest for the game..