By Charlie Hudgins
Fall 2023
“Every age has its storytelling form, and video gaming is a huge part of our culture. You can ignore or embrace video games and imbue them with the best artistic quality. People are enthralled with video games in the same way as other people love the cinema or theater” (“Andy Serkis”).
The first video game was made in 1958 by Physicist William Higinbotham (Tretkoff, 2008). It was a simple tennis game, like the classic video game Pong (Tretkoff, 2008). However, today video games look vastly different and have entered our society as a form of sports competition. According to the National Association of Collegiate Esports, more than 170 colleges have varsity Esport programs (“About NAC Esports,” 2023). Oklahoma State University has shown great interest in Esports. This quote is directly from the Oklahoma State website about the OSU Esports arena “It’s a gamer’s paradise featuring 40+ high-powered PCS NVIDIA 2080s with 240 and 144 hz monitors, Alienware peripherals, a Twitch station, green screen, production lights and more. We also offer virtual reality gaming in the arena with Meta Quest 2 VR and HP Reverb G2 VR headsets” (“OSU Esports Arena,” 2021). In addition, OSU has ESport varsity teams for games such as “Rocket League,” “Overwatch,” and “Call of Duty” (“OSU Esports Arena,” 2021). However, you don’t have to be on a varsity team to enjoy this facility. The OSU Esports arena is open to all students; it is however pay to play for three dollars you can get one hour of game time, ten dollars for five hours, twenty dollars for ten hours, and one hundred and seventy-five dollars for 100 hours (“OSU Esports Arena,” 2021). Overall, from this information, we can see that Esports has had a very large effect on the Oklahoma State campus for all students interested in video games.
With the rise of Esports in college we must ask ourselves what kind of effect has this had on students, and is this effect positive or negative? One major positives Esports has had on college campuses is the skills it provides for students. According to the New England College of New Hampshire, E-Sports provides students with “leadership, communication, perseverance, and determination” (“Esports,” 2022). These attributes are very important and are similar to what other more traditional sports provide for students. However, some negative attributes come along with E-Sports. According to a study done on Norwegian adolescents, the researchers came up with the results that an addiction to video games can cause depression (Brunborg et al., 2014). From this information we can see that spending too much time on video games could have negative effects.
In addition, another positive of Esports is that it provides a form of friendly competition for those looking for an escape from traditional sports. Oklahoma State has a variety of different Esport teams for games such as “Rocket League” (“OSU Esports Arena,” 2021). For this section I interviewed Cole Greenwood who is a Junior Varsity Esport player at Oklahoma State. The question I asked Cole was “What positive impact has Esports had on your time at OSU?” Cole responded with “I am in the Gamers of OSU and in this club, there are many different Discord servers for a variety of E-sports. I am in the OKST Rocket League Discord server. Rocket League is a video game where basically you play soccer driving around in a rocket-powered car. In August, I tried out for the OKST Rocket League Esport team and made it onto the junior varsity team. Being on this team has introduced me to some cool people. Two of whom are my teammates ChilledLivin and Zebra. We just have fun playing Rocket League with each other. I also enjoy playing private matches with other people in the Rocket League discord” (Greenwood, 2023). In addition, we see from Oklahoma State that all students, not just varsity team members can use the Esports arena. My roommate Gage Yell is a freshman computer science major who regularly visits the Esports arena. I asked Gage “What is your favorite thing about OSU having an Esports arena open to all students?” Gage responded with “I think it is honestly just a great way to kill sometime before class. A lot of times they will host free events which allows me and others to socialize with people who are interested in the same things as me” (Yell, 2023). Overall, from Gage and Cole, we see that Esports has had a very strong impact on campus life. Just like regular sports though, Esports comes with its injuries. According to the Harvard Health Publishing gamers can develop a variety of different inflammatory injuries mostly in the hands (Grinspoon, 2023). In addition, gaming has been linked to the cause of health problems such as obesity (Grinspoon, 2023).
From this information, we see the upsides and downsides of Esports. This leads back to the question does “Esports have a positive or negative effect on students?” In my opinion, I believe that Esports overall are leaving a positive impact. First, we see that Esports are helping students to gain soft skills such as leadership. Secondly, from the interviews, we see that Esports have helped people to find their place on a college campus. In addition to the Esports arena, OSU provides students with a recreational workout center called the Colvin. I personally quite enjoy the Colvin as it provides treadmills, weightlifting, indoor track, and a variety of different activities. Similar to what Gage said about Esports I believe the Colvin is a great way to kill some time. The argument could be made that Esports is a waste of time for students. However, I believe the same could be said about the Colvin Center. While the Colvin does provide students with health and wellness it is still similar to the Esports arena in that it is just a fun resource that all students can enjoy. Overall, I believe that Esports is a very valuable and entertaining resource that colleges can provide for students.
In conclusion, Esports is becoming extremely popular. While there might be some downsides, we must remember the positives of Esports. The most important one is that Esports provides students with a way to meet other people similar to themselves. Video games may not be pleasing to some and that is ok. However, everyone should be able to enjoy a leisure activity outside of the classroom. Overall, I think that OSU is providing many valuable skills and resources to students by having an Esports arena.
Works Cited
“About NAC Esports.” NAC Esports, 14 Aug. 2023, nacesports.org/about/. Accessed 10 Nov. 2023.
“Andy Serkis – Every Age Has Its Storytelling Form, And…” BrainyQuote, http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/andy_serkis_628295. Accessed 10 Nov. 2023.
“Esports.” New England College, 9 Aug. 2022, http://www.nec.edu/esports. Accessed 10 Nov. 2023.
“OSU Esports Arena – Oklahoma State University.” OSU Esports Arena, Oklahoma State University, 13 July 2021, esports.okstate.edu/arena.html. Accessed 10 Nov. 2023.
Brunborg, Geir Scott, et al. “Is Video Gaming, or Video Game Addiction, Associated with Depression, Academic Achievement, Heavy Episodic Drinking, or Conduct Problems?” AKJournals, Akadémiai Kiadó, co-published with Springer Science+Business Media B.V., Formerly Kluwer Academic Publishers B.V., 3 Feb. 2014, akjournals.com/view/journals/2006/3/1/article-p27.xml?body=pdf-26836. Accessed 10 Nov. 2023.
Greenwood, Cole. Interview. Conducted by Charlie Hudgins. 06 Nov. 2023.
Grinspoon, Peter. “The Health Effects of Too Much Gaming.” Harvard Health, 22 Dec. 2020, http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-health-effects-of-too-much-gaming-2020122221645. Accessed 10 Nov. 2023.
Tretkoff, Ernie. “October 1958: Physicist Invents First Video Game.” American Physical Society, Oct. 2008, http://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/200810/physicshistory.cfm#:~:text=In%20October%201958%2C%20Physicist%20William,Brookhaven%20National%20Laboratory%20open%20house. Accessed 10 Nov. 2023.
Yell, Gage. Interview. Conducted by Charlie Hudgins. 08 Nov. 2023.
archiveoklahoma.com 