No dorm or college pad is complete without the essentials. The lurid posters that you throw up just because your parents can't control you anymore, alongside the carefully selected movie posters that simultaneously show off your elegant sense of cinema and ability to kick it back and enjoy a good action film, the lava lamps and trinkets you use to remember home even though you say they don't really mean anything. The bean bags or futon, the cards against humanity and, of course, the video games.
But do you have the right games to keep your place the place to be?
These are the top seven dorm room video games:
7. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
A classic from the last generation of game consoles, there are few who haven't at least heard of the game. With the right crew, Call of Duty can lend hours of split-screen fun, but let's be honest, that one kid is always better than everyone else.
6. Mario Party
Who hasn't played Mario Party? Well, if you haven't, that doesn't really matter because it's easy to pick up. All ten console games are relatively similar, each focussed around the idea of turning the Mario universe into an interactive, easy to play board game. It's a good game for a night when you don't really want to lend all of your attention to the screen, which can come in handy at those times when there's more going on in the room than just the gaming. Fair warning though, overly competitive players get overly frustrated at the luck aspect of the game.
5. Little Big Planet
Little Big Planet is a lesser known franchise that can keep a group captivated for hours. All three lighthearted games are composed of a series of fast paced, cooperative mini games that tend to follow some general story arch about spreading joy or having fun. It's a low stress, lovable universe with characters whose problems make ours seem a little bit easier, and anyone from any level of gaming expertise can easily jump in and have a good time.
4. Mario Kart
Also known as "Beerio Kart" in some scenarios, Mario Kart is the racing game that will meet all of your needs. The Gamecube version, Mario Kart Double Dash, is arguably the best in the franchise, and usually the game used to play the infamous drunk driving simulator known as "Beerio Kart," where the objective is for each contestant to consume and entire beer before completing the race. As of yet, no one has received a DUI for doing this, though a handful of MIP's have undoubtedly appeared in the hands of those pulled over.
3. Fifa
For some, just the name is enough. Fifa is widely regarded as a dorm room favorite, and is considered the universal go-to dorm room sports game. Now, one may, on occasion, encounter someone claiming that NBA 2K is superior to Fifa, but those people are wrong. Our nation may not enjoy spectating the great sport of soccer, but we do enjoy playing the fast paced, five minute-half, competitive video game that mostly resembles soccer. In fact, fire up a Fifa game in any dorm room, and you're guaranteed to receive friendly challenges from passerby's. Practice up though, because the college Fifa scene can be quite cutthroat.
2. Halo
Halo is a defining franchise of our generation, and a defining element of any dorm room video game collection. No millennial who grew up in the United States hasn't heard of Halo, and nearly all of us have played at some point in our lives. Aside from redefining the first person genre, Halo also brought online split screen multiplayer to the table in a way that no game ever has. Now that the Halo: Master Chief collection has hit the shelves, we can play all four online multiplayers in full split screen with our buddies. If that doesn't excite you, well, to most of us it does.
1. Super Smash Bros. Melee
This is the only game where it is worth taking the time to specify the individual installment. Most players with any knowledge or experience will agree that Melee is the superior of all smash brothers video games. It is the only game, in fact, worth more now in used condition than when it was first released. Some of our generation's older members will try to argue that the N64 version of Smash Bros. is the superior, but the truth is, while great, the N64 game has many glitches, over powered characters (as well as not enough characters) and is less accessible to the casual dorm room community. Super Smash Bros. is a game that takes us back to our first gaming experiences, gathering after school at the house of whoever's parents would let you play the longest, and give you snacks while you did. Smash Bros. is a game that lets us all get together, and remember where we came from, while we brutally crush each other's bones and drop each other into whatever fiery abyss lies beyond the screen.