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Gaming on a College Budget

Gaming on a College Budget
6/20/2011
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Kayla Herrera

If you are a gamer in college like me, you know how difficult it is to choose between saving money for school and buying that video game that just came out. You know you have to pay for cable and electricity but that video game is so enticing! But trust me, my gaming friends: It’s possible to game successfully and pay the bills!

As you probably know, there are tons of free games online; naturally, some are low-quality but if you dig, you'll find pretty good free games. For a classic, try Tetris Friends; I have become addicted to this site – it’s a nice way to fill what little free time you may have.

If you are looking for something more adventurous, get Steam. Steam is an online gaming platform that I mentioned briefly in my piece about long-distance dating. It runs smoothly, has a large selection of free games and games for purchase, offers demos of new releases and stores your games for you on your computer. The negative part? It's almost too easy to purchase games. It's thrilling to find a game you've been dying to have, click a button and own it but this can be bad news if you’re trying to watch your spending.

There is always the opportunity to get an emulator, which acts as a console and allows you to play older games from Sega Genesis or Nintendo 64 on your computer for free. All you need to do is download the emulator and start searching for games – easy and entertaining.

College gamers don’t have to break the bank; you just have to know how to wiggle your way through the system. The best part is you'll still have enough for groceries!

In addition to being a Scholarships.com virtual intern, Michigan Tech student Kayla Herrera is a media coordinator for the Michigan Tech Youth Programs, a writer for The Daily News in Iron Mountain, Mich., and a writer for Examiner.com. She love a tantalizing, action-packed video game and can't get enough of horror movies (Stephen King's books always have her in their grip, though she prefers the old over the new). Writing is what she has always done, and that is what she is here to do.

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