As the hands clicked toward 11, a small group started forming outside the E-Zone doors.
A cutting-edge facility located on the first floor of the Student Center, E-Zone welcomes anyone who has an EMU student ID to play several types of games—console, computer and non video-related.
Since its opening this semester, E-Zone has been a free-to-play facility, but that is subject to change soon.
Last year, E-Zone was pay-to-play. Users had the option of buying a $10 day pass that allowed them to return as many times as they’d like within the given day to play—a great deal considering the rate per hour was $3.95. For you starving college students, that is roughly 20 packs of ramen. So the question is: Was E-Zone worth that price? Is it now?
Looking around the facility, the first thing you might notice is the pool table, darts and foosball table. Moving around the room, you might then notice the Rock Band setup, complete with a full drum set.
What I noticed first was the Dance Dance Revolution SuperNova machine and more than a dozen flat screen TV’s with a variety of seating options ranging from regular, desk-style chairs to love seats. These seating sections, called “pods,” are a roughly 3-5 square-foot area designed to give each gamer the ability to play his or her choice of game in a comfortable, relaxing environment.
E-Zone boasts nine Xbox 360’s, three PS3’s and three Nintendo Wii’s, each with its own wireless sensor bar beaming signal to the consoles behind the counter. With wireless controllers for each, you have virtually nothing but you and your game to focus on.
Lauren Mickens, student manager of E-Zone, walked through the process of playing at the facility.
“They [the students] decide what they want to play, trade their Eagle ID for a controller and we take care of the rest,” Mickens said.
Because of the behind-the-counter setup, students never even have to touch the game to play. It’s put in the console behind the counter and, through the wireless signal, routed to the designated pod.
If console games are not your thing, E-Zone also boasts eight fully-loaded, PC gaming machines custom-built for the E-Zone. All of the popular games (such as Starcraft 2, World of Warcraft and League of Legends) are already loaded on the PC and ready to play.
“We try to get the newest games as soon as they come out,” Mickens said. “We had Gears of War 3 on release day.”
“We’re hoping for something similar this year, possibly with Modern Warfare 3,” she said.
Users are allowed to sign into their gamer profiles on the consoles, but the systems are only able to hold a limited amount of information. Mickens recommends you put your gamertag on a flash drive to ensure you have full access to your data, especially on games like Modern Warfare where leveling and prestige are associated with your gamer profile.
Right now, the most popular games at the facility are NBA 2K12, Madden 12 and Gears of War 3. Although they have three copies of Gears of War 3, Mickens said students are “definitely fighting over that one.”
Right now E-Zone is seeing about 150 students throughout the day and they are using upwards of 200 gaming hours. Will these numbers change if (or when) E-Zone starts charging to play? It’s hard to say.
Will Lambert, a freshman commuter from Dexter, said he might still come if they charge.
“If it was fifty cents per hour, I’d be willing to shell that out. But not 3.50… $7.00 per day? I can’t afford that, I’m a college student.”
“Last year it was more expensive than we intended. This year we hope to have it significantly cheaper,” Mickens said.
Rob Schurig, a freshman commuter from Westland, said he’s only
here an hour on days he has class.
“It gives me something to do on my break instead of study.”
However, if there is a charge, he probably won’t come at all.
“Actually, it’s probably better for my grades if they do that,” he said jokingly.
Austin Cavanaugh, a senior commuter from Pinckney, agrees with Lambert.
“I don’t see the point if I have to pay for it.” His game of choice is World of Warcraft, which is already a pay-to-play game.
When asked if he would pay $3.95 per hour to continue playing at E-Zone, his response was a resounding, “Hell no.”
