School and games?

For those that have always wished to play video games at school, that dream is a reality at Auburn.

The Student Center opened up the doors for a game room in November 2009 and has seen success ever since. During various hours of each school day many students pile into the game room in the Student Center. All heads focus on one of the six televisions as they watch a friend try to continue a 100-note streak in Rock Band 2. "I come down here pretty much every day between classes," said Calvin Wallace, freshman in history. "It gives everybody something to do between classes to pass the time."

The game room is also a great place to kill time between classes.

"I come down here a couple of times a week," said Weston McDougald, sophomore in software engineering. "I came from Michigan, so I have been able to meet some of my friends in here."

Not everyone has time to stop off at the game room for a quick break.

"I've never actually been in the new game center," said Justin Owensby, second year pharmacy student. "I've heard about it, but I'm too busy studying. I don't really have time to go over there and play."

The game room is an area for certain kinds of students, but they hope to see a larger variety of people coming to enjoy the electronics.

"I do think it has been a success for a small number of students," said Bryan Wilson, the operations supervisor for the Student Center. "We are hoping more random students will begin to come."

Although it seems they are not widely used games are mostly viewed as a success around campus. Students seem to think it is a great attribute to campus. "It's definitely some- thing good for the students," Owensby said. "It's a good place in a central area for students to get together. I think it shows that the University is reaching out to make this a great place for the students by giving them a place to play these games on campus."

There are concerns that these games could be interfering with students' classes.

"At times it can be a distraction, but as long as you keep doing good in your classes, it shouldn't be," McDougald said.

With all of the excuses that students come up with, there is that chance that a student might tell a professor he was late because he was in the middle of Halo 3.

"I think it can be a distraction," Wilson said. "For the most part it has not been. I think closing at 7 was a good thing, that way kids know they can't be in here playing all night."

The game room is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.

"I would think most of the people have their own system, so if they were going to play video games they probably would have anyway," Owensby said.