The Collis Center gameroom will be home to a fresh batch of video games on July 1, when a new contract with an amusement games vendor begins.
The arcade in the lower level of the Collis replaced the small arcade outside of the Topside convenience store when Collis reopened Winter term after renovations.
The gameroom is closed until the week of July 4, when the new machines will be in place.
The games which will replace the current ones include Judge Dredd pinball, Lethal Enforcers, Raiden II, Dungeon and Dragons, Mortal Kombat II and either Running Gun or the turbo version of Super Streetfighter II, said Karen Kenealy, assistant operations manager of the Collis Center.
Air hockey will also be in the gameroom, and the billiards room will receive a CD jukebox. Additional machines will be added for the Fall term, for a total of 15, according to Kenealy.
"They will be some of the most recent games available on the market," Director of Student Activities Tim Moore said.
Most of the games were ones on the Top 10 list in Replay Magazine's 'Player's Choice,' Kenealy said. The Collis student governing board put up a survey in the gameroom, and many of the games requested were included on this list.
The contract stipulates that of the 15 games at least one or two, at any one time, will be "deluxe games," which include the racecar and motorcycle driving games, she said.
Moore said last December the College sent out requests to vendors in the region for bids to supply amusement games in Collis.
"The revenue that is generated is split between the vendor and the Collis Center," Moore said. "The money that goes to the Center helps to offset some of the operating expenses of Collis."
The new contract is set for one year, but Kenealy said she anticipates the contract will be renewed as long as students and the College are pleased .
Kenealy said she thinks students frequent the Collis gameroom more than the Topside arcade for a variety of reasons.
"In terms of revenue, the Collis Arcade is not comparable to the space in Topside," she said. "We're talking about a higher quality game, and I think they will get a lot more play than the old ones."
"And I think we are able to attract students to the arcade area for a lot of different reasons other than just to eat, as it was with Topside. I think it is a much different clientele."
Kenealy added that an added amenity is the air-conditioning found in the billiards and pool room, unlike in the other rooms of the Center.
"Last week it was of interest to all of us who were sweating in the building," she joked.
