Game Studies
I wish I could have taken advantage of a program in game studies when I was an undergrad. Sadly, Rutgers doesn’t offer such a course, but with the increasing importance and influence of the gaming industry, it might only be a matter of time before it does. According to this Yahoo! article “more and more video game-related courses are being offered in colleges around the country in response to the digital media industry’s appetite for skilled workers and the tastes of a new generation of students.” Colleges and Universities such as the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the University of Washington, the Art Institute of Phoenix, and the University of Pennsylvania have already implemented programs on the subject.
At Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), for example, you can minor in game studies. The core courses for which include Introduction to Cognition & Gaming, Game Development, and Experimental Game Design. A short, but already fascinating list of topics that I, as a student, would have loved to add to my class schedule.
We’ve already come a long way from the 2D games of yesteryears, which offered plenty of entertainment, but limitations in terms of in-depth plotlines or characterization. Recent years have brought us rich, 3D environments, complex plotlines, characters with background stories, and introductory cinematics, to name but a few examples. As Erin pointed out, games aren’t just games anymore. They are - and have been for some time - a garnering of different entertainment mediums.
It will be interesting to see what the future brings. Now that games are stretching into the academic world, how will that affect the other programs? Will English programs begin to analyze not only Literature, but also games? Will cases like MechWarrior - an example of books becoming games, instead of the other way around - become the majority?
I guess we’ll find out.
2 opinions for Game Studies
Karine
Sep 23, 2005 at 6:25 am
Reading that article, I wonder : now that gaming classes are being offered to a potentially broader audience, how will that affect the games that will be made by this new generation of game designers?
Maybe people who wouldn’t otherwise have thought or dreamt about it will join the field, and bring in different, more varied influences and a “”fresher” outlook that will end up change the game market for the better. At least that is my hope.
Matt
Sep 23, 2005 at 6:37 am
I see commercials for this kind of stuff all the time. Collin’s College and Westwood something or other all advertise “We play games for a living” type of thing. On one hand it’s great to see gaming/game making becoming a recognized and accepted hobby/job. On the other hand, they couldn’t make it look any dumber. The commercials are just awful and I always feel ashamed that I’m a gamer when the advertisement airs.
And as for books becoming games, I hope so. Though it can be a hard task to complete, as we all know even film makers can’t even get the process right most of the time, I think it would definately give games a stronger and richer plotline to follow. Because, honestly, those are what can make or break a game. And I will admit that there are many games that are popular because they’re just flat out fun as hell, but those tend to be multiplayer and what I’m focusing on is the single player storyline. I’ve done the multiplayer thing for..8 years or so now, I’m in the mood for some damn good story telling.
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