More Schools Offering Game Degrees Than Ever, Says ESA

[Logan Westbrook]

More Schools Offering Game Degrees Than Ever, Says ESA

If you want to get yourself a degree in the art of making videogames, there are more places than ever for you to go and learn.

According to the Entertainment Software Association [http://www.theesa.com/newsroom/release_detail.asp?releaseID=112], the number of schools offering videogame degrees is now at a record high. ESA figures show that 300 schools now have some kind of videogame-related course, an increase of almost 20% over last year

They're not all bunched up in one place either, with the ESA reporting that 42 states and the District of Columbia have at least one school offering a game degree. California tops the list - which makes sense, considering all the developers based in the state - followed by New York and Texas.

Rich Taylor, SVP for communications and industry affairs at the ESA, says that the increase highlights the expanding role of videogames in modern culture. He said that the positive influence and value of games was being recognized in all areas of society, and schools were training their students to meet the demand. According to ESA research, 70% of employers use interactive software or games to some degree when training staff, and three quarters of that group have plans to increase their usage over the next five years.

You shouldn't despair if you don't have a specific videogame degree though, as they're still a pretty new idea and not the only way into the industry. Having a more general degree and modding experience can be just as useful as a more specialized education.

Source: 1up [http://www.1up.com/news/number-american-colleges-offering-game-related]





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[The_root_of_all_evil]

/usual_joke

Spoiler: What do you say to someone with a Degree in Gaming after college?

"Big Mac and Fries please"

Is there any evidence that the degree is actually worth anything? I mean you can get one in Conversational Klingon now.

 

[Woodsey]

I thought degrees in gaming were about as useful as ones in Media Studies?

BA-DUM-TSH.

Seriously though, I've always heard that they're a waste of time; not to mention, what the fuck are you going to do with a gaming degree when you realise you don't want to go into gaming?

 

[Thedutchjelle]

I once tried to get into a game-college. Didn't go well, failed the test to get in. But I had heard a few days before taking the test that it was a very art-ish school and totally not how I had expected it to be, and after some conversations with someone who went there I didn't want to go there anymore anyway. I realized I wanted gaming to remain my hobby, not my work. I'm now taking a biology study

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

Awesome I want to do a Gaming course at University.

Anywhere would be good and it looks like great fun and interesting too.

 

[Gingerman]

I've got a HNC in computer games development.

Its completely useless, thankfully I saw how useless it was half way through the course and at the end of it jumped over to animation. As my lecturers on the course said at the end of the year (and some of the dev's at lionhead studios) its better to either get a degree in Software engineering (or the like) or animation if you want to get into the computer games industry. As both courses focus more on what is needed oddly enough. Well that and even if you dont get into the industry you can still get a job at the end of it.

That said, give the Computer games development courses a few more years and they might be actually up to scratch but right now they're kinda useless.

 

[tlozoot]

There's a few available in the UK as well, but like alot of degrees about now a days, they're not particularly useful, as you can get a job in development as easily without doing a degree in it. I was considering doing a degree in Game Design a few years ago - really glad I didn't now. If I want to get into the industry then writig is always an option for me, and I'm studying Literature and Writing in university now.

The uni near me did a Game Design course and bragged about how many of their graduates went on to get jobs at Blitz Games. I checked out their website and wasn't impressed as you can see...

 

[Dr Bob]

I wish my college did a game development course.

 

[Daquin]

From what my many Computer Info Science major friends tell me, a "Gaming Design" degree is equivalent to an "Applied Computer Information Science" degree which would be similar to an "Applied English Literature" degree in my case. It is useless. The overall problem just comes down to many game developers want someone who knows how to code and innovate, if you are focused on one type of style, you just don't have that and hiring you would be similar to hiring an account that only learned to balance a checkbook in college.

No idea about trade schools like Full Sail in Florida though.

 

[OceanRunner]

Do they include a Game Journalism course?

 

[uppitycracker]

/usual_joke

Spoiler: What do you say to someone with a Degree in Gaming after college?

"Big Mac and Fries please"

Is there any evidence that the degree is actually worth anything? I mean you can get one in Conversational Klingon now.

lawl. funny coz it's true.

game degrees are generally only really recognized for the certifications that come along with them, as well as the hands on experience you get. most studios require a certain amount of time having worked in certain areas, as well as projects you can show them that you've previously worked on, and that's really all these schools have to offer, aside from the knowledge itself. while the gaming degrees themselves might not be worth a lot, everything else you gain from it is what they'll look for when you apply with them.

 

[rabidmidget]

The problem is that most "game" degrees, just teach you some modeling and programming courses and don't really teach you how to apply them in the creation of a game.

However there are some good ones, but generally these are ones at game design based schools.

Usually it's better just to do more general course that will teach you the skills you need for the particular part of the game industry you're interested in, but still allow you to pursue other careers. The degrees themselves mean nothing to employers, it's what you learn/make that is important.

 

[tehbeard]

From what my many Computer Info Science major friends tell me, a "Gaming Design" degree is equivalent to an "Applied Computer Information Science" degree which would be similar to an "Applied English Literature" degree in my case. It is useless. The overall problem just comes down to many game developers want someone who knows how to code and innovate, if you are focused on one type of style, you just don't have that and hiring you would be similar to hiring an account that only learned to balance a checkbook in college.

Hence the reason I'm looking to take a BSc in Comp. Sci. at Uni.

Those who did their homework rather then going "oh wow i want to be the next cliffy B he's so awesome" will know that a broad skillset, rather then focus on one specific system (as is the case of many game dev. courses) is needed. Comp. Sci. gives this broad skillset of the debug process, code documentation and the semantics of various programming languages among other important lessons.

This lets a employee know that you know how to code and work with other coders to build a program, and not only that but be adaptable later on. A Game Dev. Course may only brush on direct-IP networking, and leave you stumped when facing, say, the XBL MatchMaking API. True both G.D graduate and C.S gradute would be stumped at first, but I would bet money that C.S student could get his head round it quicker.

So yes, a Game Dev. course would teach you how to make games, but a Comp. Sci. course will better prepare you for growing when in that industry.

 

[Trivun]

/usual_joke

Spoiler: What do you say to someone with a Degree in Gaming after college?

"Big Mac and Fries please"

Is there any evidence that the degree is actually worth anything? I mean you can get one in Conversational Klingon now.

No, there isn't. Just because you can get a degree in it, doesn't guarantee you a job in the industry. I want to be a level designer, and I'm currently working on level design and am part of the writing team for an indie RPG project with several other Escapist members. I'm in the middle of a degree in Maths at the moment, and right at the start of my course two years ago we were told by on of the doctors in the School of Mathematics at my university that game designers are just one of the many professions literally crying out for maths graduates at the moment. And by doing a maths degree, I'm also setting myself up for success if I fail to get into the industry - other job options for me right now are teaching in a primary school, teaching maths at a high school, or forging a professional career in retail.

My point is, getting a game design degree is almost a waste of time. Besides, developers care more about your portfolio than your qualifications (though they'll still look at your grades closely too, they don't want to hire dullards after all). But your portfolio is more important, and exactly the reason I agreed to work on this project I mentioned. Really, the only advantage game design students will have in the industry is that they'll already have a decent portfolio purely from the games they've made while studying the course...

 

[Baldr]

The best advise I can give is to choose a college with a focus only on Game Programming or Game Art if you want to work for a big studio or to get your foot in the door. A more generalized game design degree makes it so much harder to get into the industry because that is the specialization with the fewest number of jobs and the most number of degrees. If you want to do more indie work, then game design is not so bad, but unless your good, your not going to get anywhere.

 

[WilliamRLBaker]

sadly like most courses in college, your pretty much at a loss once you get out of college to find a job in the field you went to college for.

 

[Jared]

Well, its good to see they are supporting it! Just need more people to jump on board, the problem is getting into the industry after!

 

[rembrandtqeinstein]

This is because big schools nowadays are about extracting as much money as possible from undergrads, placing national sports leagues, and having dickmeasuring contests about the size of their endowments.

Actual education and job preparation went out the window a while ago.

Hint for you youngins, get as any AP credits as possible in high school. Then finish 2 years at a community college before transferring. You will save tens of thousands of dollars.

But if you are at all interested consider trade school instead of university. Plumbers, electricians, mechanics, hvac techs etc make really good money and can't be outsourced.