Introduction
As a gamer, I have spent countless hours playing my Wii, DS, PS2,
X Box 360 and World of Warcraft (MMORPG). It depends on the week which
game I am most addicted to, but everyday I participate in some sort of
game playing. I am not alone in this activity. There are many of us gamers
out there and we come in many different types. There are the console
gamers who prefer to play games on their tv, there are the wireless gamers
who carry their handheld gaming systems everywhere they go and then there
are the computer gamers. Most people find themselves somewhere in between
the three. I am a mixture of them all.
As a librarian, I can see the growing need to attract teens into the library,
and while all teens aren’t gamers, many of them are. I think gaming
is a great opportunity to reach out to teens and get them into the library.
There are many different ways to approach this, but I will talk about a
few of the ways that appeal to my gamer side.
Game Nights
Buy one of the new consoles (Wii, PS3, X Box 360) and a game or two
and hold a game night in the library. Popular game nights have included
DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) and Wii Sports. It is good to get multiplayer
games so that many can participate and even hold a contest to see who
is the best.
Game/Guide Collections
Having a collection of games on the shelf is a great idea. Many of
the libraries that have game collections allow the same rental period
as DVDs. This gives patrons the chance to preview a game before buying
it, and saves them the rental fee, but it also gets them into the library
where you can work your marketing magic and can persuade them to check
out your other services.
Collecting the game guides that come out is another great resource you
can offer your patrons. These guides give hints and clues to the games
and come out the same time as the game. However, these are often hard to
find a couple of months after the game is released. Having a strong collection
of these guides would greatly help your console gamers.
High End Gaming Computers
If you have the money, putting a couple of high-end gaming computers
in your teen area might not be a bad idea. You can buy the biggest computer
game titles and load them on for your patrons. Many of these games require
a subscription service, and your patrons would have to make and pay for
their own account, but could use your computer to play.
Resources
There are some great resources out there that can help you decide
what to buy. A subscription to Electronic Gaming Monthly and Game Pro
magazines would not only help you decide which games would best suit
your library, but would also be a nice addition to your periodicals as
well. Nintendo, Sony,
and Xbox all have their own
websites announcing and reviewing new games on their systems. EB
Games has a great website that covers all systems and computer games.
The website allows users to comment on the game so you can really
get a good idea of the game from the user’s point of view.
Glossary
DS – Handheld system
by Nintendo with touch screen
Gamecube – Console by Nintendo
PS2 – Console by Sony very popular
PS3 – Newest console by Sony, with BlueRaid
Player
PSP – Handheld system by Sony, has MP3 player
X Box 360 – Newest console from Microsoft
Wii – Console by Nintendo that employs very
active gaming
MMORPG – Multi-Massive Online Role Playing Game – These
games have subscription fees and are played in an online environment
with thousands of other people.
World of Warcraft – One
of the most popular MMORPGs available for both the PC and the Mac.
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