Gaming Observations

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At 1:15pm Saturday afternoon, I am currently hanging out at the student gaming center with the pool tables and a line of arcades in front of me. At least nine to twelve players are gathered around 2 gaming arcade machines in front of me. The two main popular ones that are of interest would be the Street Fighter 3rd Strike and the Marvel vs Capcom 2 machines. The gamers are heavily immerse in watching the players and cheering them on. I am observing four players playing on two separate machines. The two players who are on MVC2 are wearing both hooded jackets and baggy jeans with tennis shoes. It seems they were here for quite a while. Backpacks are off to the side of the machines or lying around randomly near them on the ground and some half eaten snacks can be seen on the tables nearby. A quick glance around allowed me to take in the surroundings. There are three pool table games in session occupied by two to four players per table. Three girls are having a drink to the table directly adjacent from my stool across the room. My location is near enough from the arcade machines to allow me to easily view the players and note all of what is going on and far enough to remain hidden and unsuspected of recording the scene. I am recording with my Nokia N95 with Carl Zeiss optics 5 mega pixel lens with creative sounds voice amp. I am wearing a zip up hooded jacket and some baggy cargo pants with a pair of vans allowing me to easily blend in as a normal spectator. Soon after, there are at least six to seven guys spectators for the four players. And also noted at ten minute intervals, the losers rotates out with one of the players lining up to be the new challenger of the victorious. The guys seem to be much louder and animate on the MVC2 ... ... middle of paper ... ...game, he still continues to dominate his opponent within the games. The players who were losing to him are highly agitated as noted due to them cussing out loud and intense profanity is being used directly and indirectly towards said game and player who is winning. After the guy’s fourth win, everyone dispersed and while half the crowd was patting the winner’s back, many of the players left muttering swear words beneath their breath obviously disgruntled by the transpired event. The first interview I conducted was the player who was on the Street Fighter 3rd strike machine where I asked him if he can spare a few minutes to answer some questions for a research study I was conducting. The interview was done at one of the dining tables located conveniently right outside of the student center next to the food stands. The interview time was on Saturday at around 5pm.

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