It’s More Than Just a Game (Club)

Marc Magrini, Staff Reporter

Are people wrong in assuming that Game Club isn’t worth the hype? During Wednesdays at Millennium Brooklyn High School, many students (including this reporter) arrive at Game Club to play with their friends. However, some believe that there’s no point to the club if you don’t like video games.

But is that really true?

Game Club, as its name suggests, is a club filled with games. Unlike what many think, though, there is much more to it than just video games. Game Club is host to a variety of games, including board games, card games, and more.

Mr. Bullington, the teacher in charge of Game Club, notes some of the different games played. “Some students play card-based games like Magic or Yu-Gi-Oh…other students play video games such as Smash Brothers.”

Sure, the club is highly focused on video games, but there are lots of options. And even if video games are a major turn-off, it’s like the old saying goes: don’t knock it till you try it. Bullington mentions that “[Students] play games like Mario Kart…[and] every once in awhile we’ll have Wii Sports or rhythm-based games. It’s whatever the students are interested in.” Racing games, fighting games, and cooperative games are just a small fraction of the types of video games played in Game Club.

Some students might be turned off to the idea of game club under the presumption that it’s very strict and professional. The truth, however, is the opposite. The lead organizer of Game Club is Izzy Roberts, a senior at MBHS. Roberts says, “It’s a big responsibility…I have to work on the posters, the tournaments we’ve been having the past months….If there’s a problem in Game Club, people would come to me to solve it.” With one of their fellow students managing everything, kids at MBHS should feel safe and secure in Game Club. Not to mention, the club has a lot of diversity. “A lot of freshman seem to come every year,” Roberts says and, “In terms of race, it is [also] very diverse.”

Still, for some, the issue might not be the content of Game Club itself. Video games are commonly seen as a guy thing, and not meant for both genders. Even Roberts notes that “most of the population of Game Club is males.” However, not only is this argument reinforcing gender stereotypes, it’s also just plain wrong. According to a statistic done by statista.com, only “53 percent of all gamers were men.” In other words, there are actually quite a few gamers that are female. Gender should not be an issue for playing fun games. The only issue should be whether or not they enjoy the game being played.

Overall, Game Club has a large amount of options for all. While video games are indeed the main focus, there’s a very large variety of them. And even if the video games being played are less-than-enjoyable, there are other types of games that you can find there. If you want to go to game club, the only person holding you back is yourself.