TEXAS E-SPORTS - Texas is trying to attract more gamers of the electronic kind. In Arlington near Dallas, the nation’s largest gaming venue opened this past weekend. And in Houston, the University of Houston Downtown just debuted a brand new “e-sports” center where students can switch from computer based games to consoles like Xbox and Playstation. It’s part a growing trend in Texas to grow interest in gaming. Laura Isensee with Houston Public Media has the story.
When it comes to college sports, junior Richard Rodriguez usually thinks of games like The big three, football, basketball and baseball. But at the new e-Sports Center at U-H Downtown. These games, you play on the screen. Overwatch, League of Legends, Doda.
Rodriguez and other students helped envision the new center. It has 16 stations where players sit in red and black gaming chairs and can switch from computer based games to XBox or Playstation. There’s also a large screen for group games. Jose Vazquez is the assistant director of student activities.
"I think the goal is to give the students a location on campus where they can congregate and build that camaraderie," explained Vasquez. "And build that family and have kind of fellowship among gamers that traditionally you have at cafes or or through tournaments or through leagues."
Vazquez plans to start a varsity gaming team next fall and eventually a degree program in electronic arts and game design. Laura Isensee for Houston Public Radio.
