Are You
Game For A
Challenge?
Why Consider A Degree In Games
Why not study in an area that is challenging, that is dynamic and technically demanding,
has depth and breadth of study, has rewarding career options AND is fun?
From most people’s point
of view, a degree in Games
sounds like a degree in
Media Studies – one of the
most popular scapegoats
for the so-called “Mickey
Mouse” degrees. A lot
of people (most parents
included!) see a degree in
Games as:
1. Sitting round all day
playing on Xbox/PS2/PSP/
etc…
2. Write an essay about 1.
3. Repeat.
 However, this could not be
further from the truth. Yes,
part of a Games degree is
playing games – its called
critical analysis and is a vital
part of ALL degrees – you
can’t escape that. The key
point is that in a Games
degree this should not be
the be-all and end-all of the
curriculum. There are many
different areas of theory that
you need to understand
before designing your
first game. There are also
many different practical
applications of this theory
that then go on to form the
degree structure.
So if you’re looking to go
on a Games degree, what
should you look for? Well,
Skillset (a Government
organisation - http://www.
skillset.org/) recommend
that a Games degree should
have three distinct areas:
1. Art
2. Programming
3. Design
You may find that a degree
programme offered by a
University will combine
these elements into one
programme, or will have
separate programmes for
each area. One key thing
to realise from the start is
that the Games industry
is looking for talented
individuals with specialist
knowledge – for instance, a
programmer must specialise
in one area of Games
programming (e.g. tools,
engine, physics, graphics…)
rather than being merely
good in all areas of
programming.
A good Games degree
will allow you to explore
these areas and specialise
in one within a year of
entry. You need to build
up your expertise in your
chosen specialist field
so your chosen degree
should enable you to
do this, either through
option choices in the 2nd
and 3rd years or through
intelligent curriculum design
throughout the years of
study. Furthermore, a good
Games degree should offer
you the chance to do work
experience in the industry
– this is a valuable addition
to your programme of study
and usually takes the form
of a so-called “sandwich”
year between years 2 and 3
of the programme. Finally,
your chosen degree should
really have easy access to
information about each of
the different courses/units/
modules that go to make up
each year of study to enable
you to make an informed
choice when deciding on
the right programme for
you.
Obviously another important
aspect is “kit” – what
resources are available for
your use in your degree.
Try to realise that most
Universities will not be able
to afford to supply you with development kits for
every console ever made!
Most development kits are
supplied only to games
developers and even then
may cost as much as
£10,000 each. There have
been moves in the industry
to open development on
consoles up (for instance,
Microsoft’s XNA initiative
on the Xbox 360), but
not all Universities will be
able to take advantage
of this. You may find that
you develop for a range of
target devices, including
web-based (e.g. Flash
games), PC based (e.g.
Director based games, or
more complex types such
as game modding using
something like Half-Life 2
or maybe even coding from
scratch using Java, C#
or C++), mobile devices
(usually using Java) and
consoles (see note above).
A good degree should
broaden your horizons
and open you up to new
experiences – so whilst it
may sound appealing to
code purely on, say, a PS2,
you may not be able to do
that in the industry – you
may need to make code
work across a PS2, Xbox,
Xbox 360, DS, PSP…
Ryan Flynn, The University Of Greenwich
The University of Greenwich
The BSc(Hons) Games
and Multimedia
Technology at the
University of Greenwich
offers a mix of
general skills that all
professionals need
(such as communication
skills, basic creative
computing, games
design and development
skills) but also has a
strong specialist focus,
enabling students to
choose a specialist area
and concentrate on
that from the 2nd year
of the degree onwards.
The courses have been
designed in conjunction
with industry and are
continually monitored
to make sure that they
match the needs of
this exciting but fast
changing industry.
For more information
visit our website :
http://www.cms.gre.
ac.uk/undergraduate/
GaMT.asp |
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