A UNM-chartered organization, Local Games Lab ABQ seeks to help students become more interested in playing video games and video game programming.
Gianna May, president of Local Games Lab ABQ, said the group offers a support system for video game developers by offering an audience to test out the games and people willing to help in the creation of the games.
“It’s really easy to look at a computer and the idea of programming and run away from it because it takes a lot of extra knowledge and a knowledge base,” May said.
However, there are tools to help with video game programming such as ARIS, RPG Maker and Scratch, she said.
May became interested in video games at an early age because her father encouraged her to play for educational reasons, she said.
During the spring semester May enrolled in a class, Games for Change, which sparked her interest in video game development, and now she is incorporating her knowledge into her studies, she said.
Chris Holden, faculty advisor for Local Games Lab ABQ, said there is a large interest from students and staff at UNM in video game play and programming.
“A lot of faculty are interested in video games, but maybe don’t know where to start,” Holden said. “One of the things I hope a group like this can do is be an informal place where people can get together around games and start dipping toes into the water.”
Local Games Lab ABQ has bi-weekly meetings where people are given the opportunity to get together and talk about games, the future of the group and have visiting local developers speak, he said. The group consists mostly of students with backgrounds in computer science.
“One of the things that I would really like to see happen and be a part in is creating a safe place for novices to come and enjoy games,” Holden said. “Or maybe just need that opportunity for someone else to buy the console, someone else to set up an event, someone else willing to make it a friendly place.”
Freshman Jordan Payton said he enjoyed the group’s most recent video game event because it brought people together who wouldn’t normally interact. The event offered a variety of games, and it was a great way to get to know people and their background through video games, he said.
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Payton said he has enjoyed playing video games since his youth, but has become serious about them in the past five years.
“It’s an interactive art form; its not like a movie where you sit back and let it unfold in front of you, or a book. It has the visual for you, but you inadvertently create the story. It just feels so much more personal.”
Lauren Marvin is the culture editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com. or on Twitter @LaurenMarvin.
