Slashdot Mirror
Champlain College Offers Degree in Computer Game Design
sp00 writes "Computer-game-loving teens and industry professionals take note: a new Electronic Game and Interactive Development degree at Champlain College in Vermont has been unveiled. The career-oriented college will offer a bachelor's degree in this field starting in the fall, and it's the first degree of its kind in the region." While academic programs for game development aren't new, they're still far from being a standard course offering. It's cool to see that they're catching on.
Seriously, while gaming can teach serious algorithms and such, it is specific enough to be harmful to all the wannabes who graduate and find that game companies have already been saturated by their classmates. Not only that, game companies are relatively rare and in relatively few cities. There just isn't that much flexibility, and the popular notion that everyone should uproot their families and move to where the money is is naive, IMO. If I grew up in Kentucky or Maine or whatever, why should I want to move to San Jose or Houston? I've heard that game companies don't pay well (supply and demand), so those plane tickets back to mama aren't going to be cheap.
Honestly, I think Game Design degree prospects would probably be better of going into Nursing or Accounting (established relatively well-paying always-in-demand professions in every city on the planet).
Vote in November. You won't regret it.
For those looking for other programs, the Art Institute offers a Bachelor of Science in Game Art & Design. Full Sail, in Florida, also offers a BS program.
"Some things have to be believed to be seen." - Ralph Hodgson
Well, it would theoretically be better than something like computer science, right?
"Yes, now you too can earn a worthless degree in a narrow field working countless hours getting no sleep. For your first job you say? NO! That's just for your demo reel!"
These degrees are for people to have no motivation to learn on their own time, which by the way is something every game campany looks for.
You want to be an artist? Get an art degree. Programmer? Comp Sci. Designer? English, Business, or Management are good fields.
Don't be a fool, GET YOUR DAMN SCHOOL!
-B
...is that they sort of leaked the information about this in mid-April, when the college selection process is supposed to be nearly done. As a result, we're thrown into another round of decision turmoil, with a deposit at one university and an acceptance at Champlain.
It sounds as if Champlain is working with industry on this program, and will certainly do all they can to help their first graduating classes get placed. But aren't game jobs pretty much game-to-game, like the Star Trek: Elite Force 2 folks who got laid off at Raven right after the game went gold?
How generally versatile will a game design degree be, anyway. I suspect careful choice of electives will be the key.
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
You want to learn about game design???
m
http://www.gamedev.net
http://www.gamasutra.co
http://www.cgtalk.com
Have fun, I just saved you $100k.
-B
The worst thing that can happen is that a whole new subfield of Computer Science based on game design emerges that tries to quantify everything with theory and abstract principles.
It's really sad to see what universities and colleges are turning into. I was a major in Contemporary Music at a college in Illinois for two years. It didn't take long to find out that the only reason that they have the degree is:
a) Get people into college that don't want to be in college because it's no fun
b) Get people away from other colleges w/o fun degrees
The problem is... the effects of the previous are:
a) People who shouldn't be in college (especially a private one where I was) show up, don't want to be in class and pretty much make a separate class for themselves (the people who just don't care or want to be here)
b) Nobody likes them because they're just there for fun
c) They pay a lot for something that is completely worthless (except for the Liberal Arts stuff that they weren't paying attention to)
d) There is no merit to the degree and the school is knowingly setting 99% of the students up for failure.
e) They tend to become popular (like sports) and take away from the truly academic leanings of the school.
f) The best and most creative get the jobs, period. It's not like teaching, where you have to have a degree to do it.
This computer games thing is exactly the same situation. People will come to it to... Gasp... have fun... not learn... not become part of the institution... they then hurt the institution overall by lowering expectations, education levels, success rates after school, etc... but they are a big draw.
I say... leave these things to trade schools and bring back to colleges and universities the things that make our schools the best in the world... EDUCATION!
Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor
I guess what I'm getting at is those are established fields offered in most universities, game design is not. However things in those fields are applicable to game design.
And on another note, last night I was in a live internet radio discussion with a creative designer in an upcomming mmo (couple years off still). And as much as I like fantasy settings, it seems like that's just overdone these days. And yet there is yet another game with elves and dragons etc etc.