ANN ARBOR, MI - Make your way down to the basement of the Duderstadt Center and you'll find what video game connoisseurs might refer to as PAC-MAN paradise, Mario Bros. mecca, Halo heaven or Mega Man wonderland.

That's where you'll find the University of Michigan's Computer & Video Game Archive, which remains anonymous to many on campus despite its extensive collection of more than 7,000 video, computer and board games from the Atari 2600 to the Xbox One.

UM junior Adithya Ramanathan enjoys the archive's unassuming location on North Campus for a quick hour of FIFA soccer or NBA 2K between classes or before he heads back to Central Campus.

"You want people to know about it, but at the same time, you kind of want to keep it hidden," he joked.

Whether your loyalty rests in computer games like League of Legends and World of Warcraft, throwback classics like Asteroids and BurgerTime or board games like Settlers of Catan, there is literally something for everyone. Ever wanted to play the video game for the hit 1990s TV show "Friends" for PlayStation 2? They've got that one, too.

Although the archive has grown in popularity since opening in 2008, it remains quietly tucked in, surrounded by a nearby library. Fitting, Director David Carter said, due to the fact that the archive started as a library for UM faculty to be able to use as a teaching reference or for research purposes.

The archive has evolved to become an interactive hub of entertainment for students, faculty and the public who are looking to study games for a research project, bring a class to or unwind with an evening Super Smash Bros. tournament.

Carter got approval and eventual funding from the University of Michigan Library System to build up a collection, which allows the archive to keep up with the newest games like Titanfall 2 and Call of Duty Infinite Warfare. It also receives a healthy number of donations to diversify its retro gaming archives, which has helped build it up with consoles from every gaming system imaginable.

"We didn't want to be like other game archives that are sort of locked up and you'd have to request things and prove that you're doing research in order to be able to touch the stuff," Carter said. "We wanted to be much more open to the users in the public. We think there's value in people being able to experience the history of gaming, and it's a great way to promote the place.

"We've had people come up with uses for this place that we hadn't considered," he added.

On a Tuesday afternoon, the archive can go from nearly silent, with a couple of gamers killing some time playing FIFA '17 on PlayStation 4, before picking up with several first-time visitors marveling at an endless wall of titles from ColecoVision to Commodore 64. All you need is a photo ID to have access to the collection.

The archive serves educational and research purposes, Carter noted, which range from the evolution of customizing avatars to projects studying how FIFA has evolved in displaying diversity as a reflection of society.

Instructors hold class sessions in everything from screen arts to art history, while several student researchers have used the Forza racing game series to study texting while driving.

"We also did the work with the English Language Institute with using games to help GSI's improve their skill set in teaching, so that they can pass exams and become certified to be graduate student instructors," Carter said.

Zachary Beck, a recent UM graduate who has worked at the archive since the beginning of the school year, said it has been a dream of sorts to work in a space with games that shaped his childhood.

Being around fellow gamers on a daily basis has made Beck more conscious of how video games exist, not just for the people who play them, but in the larger context of the world.

"I think it reminds me, more than anything, that there's no one kind of person who enjoys playing video games," he said. "I have a very clear idea of my identity as someone who plays video games, but you see a lot of different people from the university community, and a lot of people who aren't even from the university who come and play, because all you need is an ID."

While its busiest hours of the week are easily Friday afternoon into the evening, UM retiree Dianne Paulson brought her nephew Gavin Partridge on Tuesday afternoon because of his longtime love of old-school game systems like the Sega Genesis.

After browsing through the titles for a good 20 minutes, Partridge was immediately impressed at the extensive collection.

"There's a lot of nostalgia," he said. "That's what I like about it. Plus, there are a lot of tabletop games, which is another thing I like about it.

"I grew up a Sega kid, so it's cool to see a lot of their old systems here, because a lot of those systems failed, so they're hard to find," he added. "It's nice to see those again."

Paulson said she enjoyed learning about the some of the history behind the consoles and their controllers from her nephew, making the archive a spot to connect through both playing and conversation about games from the past.

"This is such a good idea to archive both the older and newer games," she said. "My nephew was able to show me the evolution of the controller, from the three-pronged controllers and why it evolved because of the bad design. One of our goals while we're here is to find a game that we can play together."

Recent UM graduate Toma Louis-Goff also was visiting the archive for the first time, despite being a longtime video game enthusiast.

Louis-Goff and his friend Touchstone Johnson thumbed their way through Nintendo, Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64 titles, reminiscing about some of their favorite titles including Fallout 3, Metroid, Contra and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade series.

"I feel like retro games are the easiest to just sit down and play for a session, either before work or to cool things down," he said. "With the newer systems, I feel like you need to dedicate like 60-plus hours to one game. With a job and applying to grad school, I don't really have time for that."

The UM Computer & Video Game Archive is open from noon to 8 p.m. on Monday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Tuesday through Friday. For more information, check out their website.