The new Center for Games and Interactive Entertainment officially opened on February 4 and serves as a home for various gaming resources, equipment, and spaces for student relaxation. It will also be utilized by professors to incorporate gaming into their students’ learning.
Valparaiso University has recently opened its new Center for Games and Interactive Entertainment. The center officially opened on February 4. It features video gaming equipment and resources for board games and roleplaying games, and will serve as an area to help students learn and network with individuals in the gaming industry, as well as be a space that students can come to relax.
According to an article on Valparaiso University’s website, Martin Buinicki, Ph.D., who serves as a professor of English and the Richard P. Baepler Distinguished Professor in the Humanities, explained that the idea for a center like this one was initially met with some skepticism before people were truly able to understand the extent of the possibilities it would offer. He is quoted as saying, “People can have a very narrow definition of what a game is. Because of that, it took a little bit of time to explain that this was not just more time to put people in front of computers, or more time to play Monopoly.” He continued, “The center will be a place where students of any major from across campus can go, both to play games and to learn more about designing and making them. The game industry has become so vast and so exciting that you don’t necessarily have to be in any one program to be interested in game design.”
Funding for the center came in part from a grant the university received in 2023. Additionally, Joseph Goodman, founder and CEO of Goodman Games, which is a roleplaying game company, has donated books and accessories to furnish the center. Goodman was present at the grand opening for the center, and remarked that the existence of the Center for Games and Interactive Entertainment brings about exciting potential for students, the gaming industry, and the community.
“It’s really cool to me that a university is making this part of its offerings, where a kid like I was can do this as a formal, structured program, and make it part of the education processes. And now that I do this professionally, I have to hire people. I view games as jobs, and having kids come out of programs like the ones here with credentials makes it easier for people like me to find them,” said Goodman.
Within the Center for Games and Interactive Entertainment, there will be many specific areas dedicated to certain types of gaming, including a virtual reality area, a computer lab complete with several types of game consoles, and a board game library. There will be spaces for students to play cooperative video games, a live streaming studio, and rulebooks for various tabletop games. The genres of games found in both the digital and physical offerings ranges from fantasy to history to science and more.
Buinicki believes that the Center for Games and Interactive Entertainment will serve additional purposes that will benefit the community, such as allowing local businesses and merchants to sell their gaming-related goods at popup events for popular games like Pokemon or Magic: The Gathering.
Richard Sévère, who serves as the associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and as a professor of English, said, “The possibilities of getting the community involved is vital for our institution to understand what the industry needs. We are thinking about how we can prepare our students to meet that need. Those collaborations are going to be so dynamic and important.”
The Center for Games and Interactive Entertainment will also be a valuable resource for professors and instructors who want to somehow incorporate gaming into their class curriculums. Across several departments at the university, professors are already using games and interactive media to tie into their lessons. Additionally, there are plans in motion to use the Center as a resource for K-12 teachers who similarly want to use games in their courses.
For more information about Valparaiso University, visit the school’s website.