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Majoring In: Digital Media / Video Game Design
According to the International Game Developers Association, only a handful of American colleges offered a major in game design five years ago. Now you can learn the technical side of game design or engage in an academic study of video games as they relate to American culture at over one hundred universities across the country. Many other colleges teach these subjects at a graduate level.
In case your parents are horrified when you tell them that you’re planning on majoring in video games, remind them that interactive entertainment takes in about $9 billion a year in the U.S. alone. Game revenues are expected to pass film box-office receipts in the next couple of years, making this area an excellent field for career advancement. Even within the more mainstream film industry, it is the computer specialists, animators, and multimedia artists as well as those skilled in digital and computer-generated imaging who will have the best job prospects.
One difficulty in finding programs that suit your needs is figuring out what the programs are called as well as the departments which sponsor them. Some universities provide studies in this area housed in different colleges within the university. For example, you can major or minor in Interactive or information technology department at USC’s Engineering School; Entertainment at the University of Southern California’s School of engage in an academic study of video games and society Cinema-Television; minor in video game programming through the through USC’s School of Communications. At other colleges, the program may focus more on the artistic side, with an emphasis on graphic design.
USC try to provide students with both the technical and academic backgrounds needed to become working game designers. Class-work combines the academic and practical, and includes a lot of teamwork and actual game design. Studies tend to be multidisciplinary, and involve course work in art, computers science, design, and film. Typical courses in the major include computer programming, two-dimensional and multimedia design, digital design, networks and databases, project management, and web site management.
|  | University of Southern California
University Park
Los Angeles, CA 90089
(213) 740-2311
http://www.usc.edu
This new program offered by the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences graduates students with a cross-disciplinary background in game development. Topics covered include game production, visual design for games and interactives, computer animation, videogame programming, game hardware architectures, game engine programming, serious game development, introductory and intermediate game design, and two-semester-long final game projects. Students graduating from this program will be capable of engineering next-generation games and simulations and their technologies in the entertainment and serious game fields.
|  | DigiPen Institute of Technology
5001 150th Ave NE
Redmond, WA 98052
(866) 478-5236
www.digipen.edu
The DigiPen Institute of Technology offers a four-year program in computer game design, known as real-time interactive simulation (RTIS). Computer game design builds its foundation extensively on mathematics and physics. Students will be assigned team projects to develop skills in game design, programming, production, implementation, and follow-through. They will also be given the chance to write game design documents and technical design documents, learn how to schedule tools and techniques, and participate in the full production of several games.
|  | University of California – Santa Cruz 1156 High Street
Santa Cruz, CA 95064
(831) 459-4008
www.ucsc.edu
The Jackson School of Engineering is the first UC campus to offer Bachelor of Science degree in the construction and design of interactive computer games. This new program focuses on the technical, narrative, and artistic underpinnings of these games. The degree features a freshman year game design experience, two upper-division digital media electives, and an intensive senior-year game design studio where students work in teams to develop a substantial video game. Students will also be exposed to music, narrative, digital media, and computer engineering most relevant to games to complement their skills in computer gaming.
|  | Art Institute of California – San Francisco 1170 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
(888) 493-3261
www.artinstitute.edu/sanfrancisco
The Art Institute of California — San Francisco is a leader in career-oriented education in the fields of Design, Media Arts, and Fashion. It strives to help students cultivate and refine the talent and skills that are essential in today's marketplace and that will provide a foundation for the future. The institute adopts an approach that inspires free expression, leadership, and responsible decision-making. Students will acquire a combination of skills in drawing, perspective, 2D design and animation. They will study lighting and scene setup, color theory, anatomy and gesture, as well as explore motion maps, characters, level design and prototyping.
|  | DePaul University – Chicago 1 E. Jackson
Chicago, IL 60604
(321) 362-8300
www.depaul.edu
The undergraduate degree in Computer Games Development reflects the fact that the field of computer games development is multidimensional and requires expertise from such areas as: game play, game design, art, 3D modeling, animation, procedural art development, physics, programming languages, artificial intelligence to name only a few. The program emphasizes the fact that a game developer needs inspiration from such areas as art, architecture and engineering. Students graduating from this program will be prepared for design, modeling and programming jobs in the gaming industry.
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