Amid a mood of near-disbelief that it had come to being after four years of planning, the Valparaiso University community joyfully celebrated the opening of the Center for Games and Interactive Entertainment Tuesday afternoon.
Located in three rooms in the Center for the Arts, the center offers a streaming room, gaming computers, a virtual reality arena with two VR sets, and a couch co-op room with a Play Station 5, Nintendo Switch and an X-Box. “It’s a university-wide center,” said Martin Buinicki, professor of English in the College of Arts and Sciences, who spearheaded the project. “It doesn’t belong to any particular school.”
There are multiple goals at play with the center’s creation, from allowing all departments a formal place to work games into their curriculums, to helping students who want to make gaming a career. The university currently offers a minor in game narrative and design.
“People will ask me, ‘Why does Valparaiso need a center for games?’” Buinicki shared during remarks to a packed house in the center’s largest room. “Some of our earliest artifacts are game pieces.” He told the crowd one of the university’s psychology professors uses the board game LIFE in her lessons.
VU senior and digital media arts major Kit Potter, who is also minoring in gaming narrative and design, told the crowd about some of the gaming classes she’s enjoyed during her time at VU, including English 280, Writing RPGs (Role Playing Games) and Music 190, Video Game Music. “Growing up, having games just sort of helped me develop as a person,” she said. “I didn’t even think taking classes with video games would be an option.”
The center isn’t limited to them either. All games, including tabletop card games, board games, and RPGS are on offer. Joseph Goodman, president and publisher of Goodman Games, has had a relationship with VU since meeting Buinicki at Gen Con, the four-day annual gaming conference in Indianapolis. He’s been Zooming in from California for lectures with Buinicki’s classes for years and says the modern academic attitude toward gaming is a far cry from his youth.
“I had to skip school. I almost flunked out,” said Goodman of how he made time for gaming in college. He donated a complete set of his RPGs such as Dungeon Crawl Classics which are focused in the fantasy and science fiction genres and have just been offered at Barnes & Noble book stores. He said the draw of RPGs is the social element.
“It’s mostly in person,” he said, though some people do play on Zoom. “These people are learning social skills and forming bonds. I’m still friends with people I played games with in high school.”
In front of him, VU senior psychology major Drew Attinger and Purdue University game development and design graduate Sean Smolen are getting to know each other as Smolen creates a character for one of Goodman’s games. “I’m interested in the ways table-top gaming, computer gaming can play into therapy,” Attinger said. Smolen, who graduated in 2021, and a business partner are busy developing two games as freelancers.
Goodman, who says he spent 46 hours a week playing video games in college, eventually leading to a world championship, says these passions can absolutely translate into careers. “You can do this,” he said.
Pete Petrusha, of Lowell, agrees. He designed the tabletop game Chew and has been visiting Buinicki’s classes for the past few years. “I’m trying to show people that there’s a profession, that they can reach for that,” he said. “Everyone’s reaching for the million-dollar thing, the best, biggest thing, but table-top’s really growing.
“I’m hoping that a place like this is a place where I can grow freelancers.”
The center is open from 6 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 4 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The public is welcome and should keep a lookout for tournaments, game jams and seminars to come.
Shelley Jones is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
