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EA Starts Gamedev Program
mrseigen writes "CNN is reporting that EA has opened a game program at USC. It is the first official game development education. Yeah, right."
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Or Braunshweiger, as Oscar Mayer calls it?
Here's the real question (ready?):
Should universities be designed for vocational training?
Discuss.
Do they assign 80 hours of homework a week to students? I mean, they want to make it realistic right?
I browse Slashdot at +3, Funny
Programming From Templates
Managing Programmers from a Marketing Perspective
Caffeinated Beverages
Time Management
Effective and Ethical Project Management
Why a Job is More Important than a Life
... they sure as hell aren't teaching web development. The site looks horrible in Firefox.
Hmmm....a degree program run by Electronic Arts-
It's a 4-year degree, but you're required to finish the classwork in 6 months. BUT, you can pass with an "F" as long as you filled in every blank on the tests.
Cornell has had The Game Design Initiative available for a while, although there is no actual major in game design.
Apparently they only offer a 'certificate' rather than a university degree, but the Guildhall at SMU has been running for two and a half years now.
There may be earlier programs; this is just one that I happen to know of.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
Bing Gordon, Chief Creative Officer and co-founder of Electronic Arts (Research), was named the first holder of the Electronic Arts endowed faculty chair at the USC School of Cinema-Television, according to a statement from the company, the biggest video game publisher.
I love it. The guy endows himself as a faculty chair. Forever putting to rest the notion that University curriculum can't be bought.
Academic integrity @ USC => zero.
Dang, even the submitters don't read the articles anymore. It claimed to be "first-ever endowed chair at a university for the study of electronic gaming and interactive entertainment" not "the first official game development education". I'm an alumni and there have been game development classes going back years.
Also, before people start sneering, this degree is in the USC School of Cinema-Television, not the Engineering dept. It has about as much to do with the programming side of gaming as a degree in cinema has to do with the details of the electronics in a movie camera. USC does have some cool Computer Graphics classes in the Engineering dept, however.
Brian
After all. Students are paying to work for them. Not much difference between that and the EA employee benefits.
This isn't actually even the first game design program at USC. I am currently in the track for a video game programming minor from the information technology program, which also offers a minor in video game production and design. The cinema school also runs an interactive technology minor. The head of the Information Technology Program, who is also one of my professors has talked about possibilities in creating a Masters in video game design. The news in this article seems to be just the chair that was endowed. For better information, see USC Information Technology Program.
Verbatim from USC gaming computer website.
Gateway computers
Pentium IV - Intel 3.0 GHz RAM
1 GB Video
Gforce4 5900
256MB of onboard RAM
USB 2.0, firewire support, sound blaster compatible
DVD drive
Is any self-respecting geek going to go to a place that can't talk about hardware correctly?
But then again, if you had self respect, the EA attachment would probably stop you cold.
My local community college has had a very good game development program for 3 years, diversified now into three possible certificates (those who want an Associates need to complete a handful of extra courses, giving them both a Computer Science degree and a Game Programming or Development certificate). The bent of the program is to give students (who already have a basis in computer programming or graphics design) a beginning introduction to the art, then give them time to work on a demo/portfolio. It's possible to jump into the industry to some degree after completing the program, but far better to go to a specialized university first (DigiPen being a common goal, though not always realized). Game programming is not a vacation by any stretch of the imagination, so jumping in with a two year degree would certainly scare me. So this is hardly the first place where this sort of thing is taught, in that it exists at the two year as well as the four year level.
If my answers frighten you, stop asking scary questions.
I kinda like the way we got it setup here in Canada. If you want an education based in theory, understanding of key concepts and the like then go to University. If you want to learn how to do things, get a basic understanding of the "whys" then go to college. Generally the University people understand more, but can do less.
(NOTE: This is an honest true story)
Me and a friend of mine in college made money doing the "practical" assignments for friends from university. They understood the principles of software engineering, but however, could not write a line of code.
Oddly enough, they're the ones that would run the a software project, but wouldn't know how the developers actually made it work.
DarkMantle I been bored, so I started a blog.
Worcester Polytechnic Instute offers a B.S. degree in "Interactive Media and Game Development". The program is jointly administered by the Computer Science Department and Humanities and Arts Department, and focuses on both the technical and artistic sides.
"I've called you here today to talk about your thesis. I know your thesis on identity and translocality in European RPG's 1987 - 1997 is almost finished, but it lacks a certain something. How can I say this? We think it will focus better if we sex it up a bit. Don't give me that look. I'm your thesis advisor and I'm advising you to do what I say or we'll boot your ass out. Throw out what you've done and switch to lascivious female vampires in Terminal Reality developed console games, 2000 - 2004. That's right, throw it out. That's right 2000 to 2004. I don't care what year Bloodrayne shipped, just do it.
Don't forget, it needs to be done in three more days to be ready for the holiday season, and you can't afford to fail your first submission.
Stop that. Stop crying. Here, have a tissue. That will be five cents."
The ______ Agenda