Today: Mar 28, 2024

Students rave about video game releases

Josh LaBellaGeneral Assignment Reporter

Students at Southern Connecticut State University said they play a lot of video games.

“‘Overwatch’ all day, every day,” said Arielle Hurdle, a senior communications major. “It’s all I do.”

Hurdle said she liked the multiplayer shooter for its active community and multi-platform player base.  She also said she had been playing “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,” a new release that many students are currently playing.

“Open-world, when done correctly, is beautiful,” said Hurdle, “and they killed it in “Breath of the Wild.”

John Simeone, a senior accounting major, said “Breath of the Wild” on his Nintendo Switch is taking up all of his time these days.

“I like most things about it,” said Simeone. “I like the aspects of exploration, and for some for some reason I actually care about the NPCs (non-player characters) in the game.”

Simeone said the storyline in “Breath of the Wild” was very open and he can discover it as he goes along.

Video games are one of the most popular forms of entertainment in the United States.

A recent study by Big Fish Games found that over 155 million Americans play video games for three hours a week or more.

Joe Rockwell, a freshman undeclared major, said he is playing “Horizon Zero Dawn,” a new Sony exclusive title about fighting robotic dinosaurs in the distant future. The player’s goal: to find out what happened to the world.

“On top of the graphics which are great I really like the construction of the world, and it has a good story to match,” said Rockwell.  

Another student who said she liked open-world games was Kerstin Moreau, a senior video production major. She said she has been playing “Dragon Age: Inquisition” for the past several months.

“It is really fun so I played the first two games in the series just to make sure I knew the background and then I moved onto this one,” said Moreau. “I also like the dialogue and player customization.”

Gary Scaramella, a junior English major, said he has been playing “Skyrim: Remastered” since it came out at the end of last year.

“I love the open-world ‘Skyrim’ provides,” said Scaramella. “The nature looks beautiful and you have the ability to do anything you want. It is exciting to explore an entire world and find new things that let you immerse yourself into it.”

Scaramella said “Red Dead Redemption 2” comes out later this year, and that is something to look forward to. He said he spent hundreds of hours riding around the old-west with his friends in the first game of the series and he cannot wait to do it again.

According to one gamer, freshman accounting major Chris Caliendo, video games are more fun when they are not impossible to beat. He said he has been playing “Fallout 4” and loves that it is not as dark as the previous games in the series.

“While they could improve the storyline,” said Caliendo, “the gameplay is light and fun. I get to choose how I want to finish the game.”

Tom Peterson, who owns and manages a gaming store called Regency Gaming in Manchester, said that a lot of gamers are coming out to buy the new “Mass Effect: Andromeda.”

“‘Andromeda’ is just one of many open-world games that are coming out this year,” said Peterson. “That style has really become a bestseller in the past couple of years.”

According to Peterson, gamers like the open world because it gives them freedom to live out an imaginary life.

“Some people just really like to immerse themselves headfirst in these games,” said Peterson. “Nothing takes the edge off like living another life.”

Photo Credit: Dylan Haviland – Managing Editor

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