A sanctuary to hang out with friends, make new acquaintances, or just chillax over a game of ping-pong or two: Room 9103 – more commonly known as the game room – is the perfect place for it. Located inside the PUB building, it is one of the major sources of entertainment for SCC students. With a variety of diversions, ranging from pool, foosball, air-hockey and ping-pong tables to a selection of board and card games, this amenity promises entertainment options to your heart’s content. The Student Leadership Center in room 9301 provides access to paddles, pool cues, and air hockey pucks on a first-come-first-served basis.
Inside the room also lies a Nintendo Switch – a video game console – hooked up to a flat-screen TV so that students can play video games such as Mario Kart. Given the popularity of the game and the placement of the console, it was inevitable that an event would eventually occur.
The Mario Kart tournament was held from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., on Nov. 9 inside the game room with pizza provided for all. The competition itself consisted of 15 participants competing for the grand prize of a $25 Amazon gift card.
Even with so much at stake, the competitors seemed unfazed: college students being college students, just enjoying the moment and having a blast. Riley Gammel, a student from Pullman competing in the tournament mentioned how the competition was “casual” and how he was just “having fun.”
After an exciting two hours of Mario Kart battles, Timmy Barela, a student from Seattle, emerged as the tournament’s grand champion. Barela, with a remarkable 15 years of Mario Kart experience under his belt, showcased such exceptional skill that one competitor, Bryan Albizures from Guatemala, voluntarily withdrew from the competition halfway through the final round.
“Timmy was too good,” Albizures stated.
After his victory, The Ebbtide asked Barela how it felt to win the Mario Kart tournament to which he replied, “It feels pretty good.”
Participating in and spectating the competition weren’t the only festivities; the room was filled to the brim with people helping themselves to a game of pool, ping-pong, cards, and other fun activities while the competition was undergoing.
Zach Denney, a student from Seattle shared that his primary reason was just to play a game of ping-pong with his friends. Another student, Jester Chi Long, Shum, from Hong Kong, mentioned that the event resembled more of a “gathering” with the number of people in the room.
Nonetheless, at the end of the day, the event’s goal was to make sure the students had fun. When asked about their opinion of the event, students gave positive feedback.
“Pizza’s good,” Denney said.
When questioned whether they would attend events like this again, Gammel mentioned how “that would be cool.”
Behind the motive of the event itself, Sam Chui Hong, a student from Hong Kong working for Student Life who was running the event stated that “so many students like to play games. Why don’t we have an event [where] students can play games together and enjoy the feeling of winning?” Even though he was on the clock, he mentioned how not being able to play didn’t bother him, he was “happy to see everyone having fun.”
“If they’re happy, I’m happy,” Hong said.
