There are princes, heroes and villains that walk among us. They have infinite powers, fight numerous fiends, save princesses, go on quests and often emerge victorious. Their dwelling place is the D.H. Hill Library and their alias is “the Gamers.” The D.H. Hill gamers do not have a specific major, year or any other distinguishing factors, but they come from all walks of life on campus.

Shea McIntee, a Ph.D. Student graduating in 2012, is one of the many gamers at N.C. State. He comes to the library everyday to either play or watch other people play games.

“I stop by daily to see if there is anyone that I know,” McIntee said, “because watching others play games is often just as fun as playing them myself.”

McIntee plays games at D.H. Hill Library for up to 12-14 hours a week. For the most part he likes to play role playing games or action games, like Alpha Protocol, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, and Call of Duty.

“I love playing role playing games mostly,” McIntee said, “because it gives me an escape from my average problems and daily stresses of life. When you play them, it’s like you are in a different world.”   

When asked why he prefers to play at D.H. Hill Library rather than at home, McIntee mentioned camaraderie as his primary motivation.

 ”I like playing at D.H. Hill Library because there are other people around,” McIntee said. “It gives me a reason to be social because between grading papers and doing research, I’m always at home. Going to the library to play keeps me from becoming a hermit in my apartment and also distracts me from my stresses of research.”

Kenneth Howell Jr., a sophomore in international studies, is another diverse individual who plays at the D.H. Hill Library for one to two hours per week. Howell prefers to play action games like Metroid Prime 3, Mario Kart, and Super Smash Bros.

“[The gaming at D.H. Hill] is neat,” Howell said. “It is a way to keep my mind going when I don’t want to think too much about anything.”

However, Howell’s reason for gaming in the library is different from McIntee’s.

“I live on campus,” Howell said, “and I do not have any video game consoles or video games in my room. This is the only place I can actually play video games.”

Matthew Adams, a junior in computer science, is also among the many gamers at D.H. Hill. He comes to the library often, but on average will play games for an average of 2-3 hours a week.

“It is a lot of fun playing [at D.H. Hill],” Adams said, “because there is a community [of other gamers] here. Sometimes it is also fun to watch other people play games as well. I often learn about new games from seeing people in the library play the games first. Plus, I don’t have a game console at home and the TV screens in the library are nice.”

Adams plays action games like Call of Duty: Black Ops, Mirror’s Edge, Legend of Zelda, and Heavy Rain.

“I like a variety of different games,” Adams said, “and I usually prefer single player games.”  

There is not a certain profile for D.H. Hill Library gamers—they are just students who like to come to the library to play. D.H. Hill Library has a unique system, where the students are able to check out games and controllers for 4 hours with their student IDs.

“I would say about half of the games here are donated by [gamers] who have finished playing them,” McIntee said.  ”I have donated a few games here myself.”

Also, according to many D.H. Hill gamers, much of the appeal of playing at the library is the giant flat-screen TVs.  

“N.C. State orders the TVs in stock,” McIntee said. “You can find these televisions in other places on campus as well.”

D.H. Hill Library has game consoles such as the Wii, the Xbox 360, and the Play Station 3. The library keeps a list of games they receive online, so students can know when there are new games available.

“I really like that the library keeps us up-to-date on what they have,” Adams said. “Right now, I am really excited about the new Kinect they got in.”

D.H. Hill Library is a mutual escape for these N.C. State gamers. Despite their many differences, they share in the desire to be around the community of gamers, to get relief from their daily stresses and play whatever they want without buying a console and games. 

So the next time you are in the library, recognize that these people may just be in disguise as gamers, but are actually the princes, heroes and villains they inhabit in their favorite games.