Video Game Club Is Back for Round 2

Students select characters for a Super Smash Bros match. Photo: Shiying Xu and Jiawen Shi

By SHIYING XU and JIAWEN SHI

The crowd watches in anticipation as four players duke it out on the screen. Pressure sets in as the timer counts down.

“Ohh!” the crowd screams in reaction to a marvelous attack. The in-game announcer exclaims, “GAME,” and the audience goes wild.

This is the scene that greets a visitor to the Video Game Club. While the chaos stays up front, as popular co-op games allow students to team up and compete, other groups of students sit quietly in the back of the room playing Uno together.

The club itself is split into two rooms, 315 and 319, to accommodate the number of members. While some students play on their own, others decide what game will be played on the SMARTBoard. Tekken, Mario Kart, and especially Super Smash Bros are among the most popular titles.

“This is not my first time,” said Frantz Adule ‘23. “It was fire back in freshman year.” Adule joined the club because of his passion for video games. “Are you kidding me?” he said. “[People] are playing video games – of course I would join!”

Club members have also met up outside of school. The December before quarantine, club members went together to the Nintendo Store at Rockefeller Plaza.

Apnice Suddue ‘23 first showed up because a friend of hers was in the club. “It’s cool,” she said. “You make friends. You play together, sometimes in small groups, and you compete.”

Fatima Anjum ‘22, president and founder, started the club when she was a sophomore. It wasn’t easy getting approval. She first tried freshman year, and after coming up short, she returned to COSA Larry Kolotkin as a sophomore, writing an essay that sealed the deal.

Mr. Josh Haberman, the club’s advisor for period 10 in room 319, speaks highly of Anjum’s perseverance. “I think it’s great,” he said. “If you have a hobby, you should be able to form a club.”

Back when the club was first founded, it was just one room. Things were “hectic” back then, but then the club “kinda died over quarantine,” Anjum said.

Now it’s back, with a full life bar, and ready for Round 2.

Video Game Club is a place where students can talk openly about their gaming interests without being judged, while enjoying an atmosphere of excitement. So the next time you're free, consider heading over, picking up a controller, and sending Pikachu a flaming hot fireball to the face.