Fans of such games as “NHL 2019” and “NBA 2K” will be happy to hear that they’ll soon have access to them on campus.
The Saints Gaming varsity esports team has, for the past several months, been staging free-to-students “casual gaming” evenings near its “Nest” base in the Student Centre.
But, in a report to the Student Representative Council (SRC) in mid-September, E-Sports Director Shaun Byrne reported that many students aren’t familiar with (or appreciative of) some of the games played by the varsity team. Also, they’d prefer to be playing them on game system consoles, as opposed to the computers used by Saints Gaming.
So, the SRC accepted Byrne’s recommendation to purchase several PlayStation consoles and a half-dozen widely and commonly played games for use on the “casual gaming” nights.
The SRC expects to pay approximately $3,300 for the new items.
In addition to the casual gaming nights, the SRC may set up the consoles during daytime special events (“nooner” activities).
Stay tuned for announcements about the arrival of the new consoles, and for a rescheduling of casual gaming nights.
OTHER GAMING NEWS
• During the first few weeks of school, approximately 100 students tried out for Saints Gaming’s half-dozen squads (Rocket League, Overwatch, Fortnite, Super Smash Bros., Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and League of Legends), and 36 were chosen for the scholarship-laden positions.
• During its first year of existence, Saints Gaming won a lot of media attention for St. Clair. Internet-live-streams of its involvement in tournaments all over North America recorded 220,000 views per month in 2018.
• The “academic component” of the pioneering varsity initiative will be introduced this January, when the college launches a two-years-long diploma program in eSports Entrepreneurship and Management. As a Scene story in February noted:
The rationale for the program is as follows:
• Synergies with other programming at St. Clair College to create interprofessional education opportunities and pathways;
• Increase student engagement and awareness of the EPICGenesis Centre with promotion and support of entrepreneurship;
• Support and collaboration with the Saints eSports varsity team;
• Unique programming (rare in Ontario and Canada) to assist in making St. Clair a "destination of choice" for domestic students;
• There is a growing demand for this program from the gaming generation, and there will be many future job opportunities in this field.
This program will prepare students to work in the interactive business of eSports, learning the practical business and entrepreneurial skills, and developing comprehensive and foundational knowledge of eSports, including: sports management, communications, leadership, entrepreneurship, business development and social media will be included in the courses of study.
Students will also learn a unique blend of eSports gaming topics, including: the history of eSports, game design, event and team management, broadcast and content creation, hardware and software.
Students will also participate in a variety of relevant, practical learning experiences that will allow them to integrate the knowledge gained throughout the program in the planning, development and execution of eSports experiences and projects.
Graduates will be prepared to pursue a variety of career opportunities, such as team and league managers, marketing and promotion, event management, and as eSports livestream technicians.
