Club Profile: MC Button Mashers
The “MC Button Mashers” is a new club that focuses on creating a carefree environment for people who enjoy fighting video games.
Club founder, Anthony Macaluso, said that he created this club so that people could play fighting games in a low-pressure environment.
“Fighting games are a competitive genre and are hard to get into,” said Macaluso. “If you go online [to play] you will find people who are way out of your league and it’s not really a fair match-up…I started this club to try and create an environment where people who like fighting games can play them without worrying about skill level.”
Club member Michael Gorres and the other 6 members in the room took turns playing Killer Instinct, a sci-fi themed one-one-one fighting game. The club members watched in silence aside from a few “oohs” and the occasional “nice” while the two combatants battled it out on the classroom’s projection board. Furious button clicks rung through the room as Macaluso won several matches in a row before finally resigning from the controller to chat with club members.
“[I joined the club] to make some friends and play some video games,” Gorres said.
Although the club only became official this past Thursday, Macaluso already has big plans for the future, including open tournaments.
“We are trying to gauge interest [in open tournaments],” said Macaluso. Macaluso said that Tekken, a martial arts-style fighting game, seemed very popular among the club members at the club’s rush.
Outside of any potential tournaments, Macaluso said that the club will meet every Friday from 1 to 4 p.m. in TC 215 at the Rockville campus. The club’s meetings will consist of primarily gaming. Macaluso’s plan for the club’s meetings involves him bringing in his Xbox One to be played on the classroom’s main projection board and then have some members bring in extra monitors to play games on the side.
Macaluso did all of the groundwork to get this club up and running, but he was denied presidency because a majority of his classes are being taken at the Tackoma Park campus. Because of this, Macaluso’s co-founder, Victor Chih, was named President of the club.
Professor Jessica McLaughlin, the club’s faculty advisor, said that every club needs a faculty advisor to oversee the club’s activities and to make sure that the member’s aren’t doing anything against school policy. The “MC Button Mashers’” faculty advisor is Professor McLaughlin. McLaughlin has a fairly full schedule between her classes and her role as faculty advisor for the psychology club, but when her student, Macaluso, asked her to take on this task as well, she couldn’t say no.
“I love video games,” said McLaughlin. “Even though I’m already pretty swamped, I couldn’t say no.”
The “MC Button Mashers” is the ideal club for anybody who enjoys fighting video games, but doesn’t like the pressure of an online arena. “We are here to have fun,” said Macaluso. “We are here to enjoy ourselves and not feel pressured to be hyper-competitive. That’s basically what we are about.”
