Watching out for UNT gamers
Alejandro Medellin | Staff Writer
Safety concerns associated with gamers toting their devices to and from the University Union have mostly fallen by the wayside, students and UNT officials said.
Gamers bringing their own devices to the Union raises the potential of theft, though no crimes of this nature have been reported as of publication.
“We haven’t had students have any issues bringing their own consoles in, or at least they haven’t come to me about it,” Union director Zane Reif said. He added that administrators haven’t considered consoles being stolen because “it hasn’t been an issue yet.”
The idea of the Syndicate feature was that students could come with their own consoles and plug them into the 45-inch TVs provided. The five stations are each equipped with a table and ample seating room and support HDMI for high resolution gaming. When it first opened, the space was frequently used, but things have slowed down.
“Early when the Student Union first opened, we had a couple of people come here and we had some Smash setups and we played some games here,” said UNT Brothers in Smash president Jason Erdman. Erdman, a computer science senior, heads the club in its sessions as they play variations of “Super Smash Bros.”
Sony’s Playstation 4 and Nintendo’s Wii U are two popular consoles that many students play. Dylan Nadwodny | Staff Photographer
Erdman said one of the most difficult things to do as president of the club is to set up the stations because people have to bring their own consoles. The Brothers in Smash club usually plays in the media library at Chilton Hall now because TVs and consoles are provided there. He said when people bring their own consoles they sometimes leave them there so others can play.
“We’re a pretty well-knit community,” Erdman said. “The Smash community is very friendly and trusting of each other, so we don’t really concern ourselves, like, ‘Oh, is this going to get stolen?’”
He added that he isn’t sure if that same level of trust would be applied at the Syndicate, where areas are more open and members’ consoles are at stake.
Not only are consoles expensive to replace, costing upwards of $400 each, but certain consoles like the Xbox One may be too heavy to carry around campus all day.
“It’s a risk, but I think most people that bring their consoles kind of realize that,” said computer engineering sophomore Joshua Wentt, a member of Brothers in Smash. He mentioned that if consoles were provided at the Syndicate, students would “definitely” come and play.
If more people demanded more gaming consoles, Reif said the university might explore that option, but as of now there are no plans.
“It’s something we’ve looked at,” Reif said. “But the technology in games and what’s hot and new changes so much that I just don’t know if we have the capability to do it right now.”
Erdman said students playing pool in the Syndicate were provided with UNT eagle-emblazoned pool tables, cues, chalk and racks. A quick inspection of the room revealed but one HDMI cable for five TVs because students were expected to bring their own.
“It’d be wise to cover all the demographics,” Wentt. In addition, he said students at Discovery Park have a small choice of consoles as well.
“I’ve honestly considered hosting a tournament in this area if it were possible to rent out consoles,” Erdman said.
Featured Image: Students sit at one of the booths in front of one of five HDTVs on the second floor of the Union Syndicate. Dylan Nadwodny | Staff Photographer
Really my only issue as a gamer is my inability to play League of Legends (a popular f2p computer game). The ports needed are closed and when I contacted IT, they were not very helpful in the avenues I could take to try and get these ports opened to allows LoL players to play the game. Seems like lack of concern for gamers overall is to be expected on campus.