Joseph Marchand has been playing games since before he can remember. He even has a tattoo on his forearm from his favourite video game series the Legend of Zelda.
“One Christmas we got an N64, and since then it’s been like an obsession,” Marchand, an Algonquin bartending student, said.
He was one of many students that stopped by on their way to and from class on Nov. 5 to check out the SA’s Video Games Live event held in the student commons.
The event was put together by the SA but the equipment and setup was handled by Ontario-based company We Got Game.
Dave Miller, owner of We Got Game, said this is about the sixth time they have helped put on an event like this at Algonquin.
“We are responsible for setting up the entire event. We have 20 plus TVs with a variety of games on the Xbox One, PS4, and Wii U consoles,” Miller said. “I think this is our sixth year with Algonquin. We average two to three events per year in the past, so we are very familiar with Algonquin and other schools here in Ottawa.”
The set-up that drew the most attention this year by far was the system link. It was comprised of eight gaming chairs connected to eight TVs that were equipped with Xbox One and PS4 consoles. This year the system link had its own wifi allowing students who stopped in to play together in the same games.
Alison Barnes, event coordinator for the SA, explained how this varied from last year’s set-up.
“It’s a great event. This year we were able to bring in our own wifi system so we were able to bring in online gaming. We have Fortnite and the new Call of Duty set up. Last year they were just able to play games but they weren’t able to play online,” Barnes said.
“This year we’re able to incorporate some of those more popular games that people are playing at home and we’re allowing them to play them here. You can come and go as you please, just see them and jump on.”
This new feature attracted many students. The most popular game being played on the system link was Fortnite, a game that has skyrocketed in popularity since its release last year.
Nicholas Dolan, a police foundations student, made it into the top 10 in a round of Fortnite on the system link set up.
“The event is pretty cool. You meet random people, you squad up and it’s just a good time.”