The Guildhall at SMU career fair attracts big players

The Guildhall at SMU’s upcoming career fair will feature eighteen major studios and publishers this week to interview 50 December graduates and alums as future artists, designers and programmers for their companies. Studio and publishers participating in the event include Acropolis, Activision, America’s Army, BioWare, Blizzard Entertainment, Bonfire Studios, Budcat Creations, Controlled Chaos Media, Disney Interactive, Edge of Reality, LucasArts, Insomniac, KingsIsle, Obsidian Entertainment, TimeGate Studios, Total Immersion, Volition, and ZeniMax Media Inc.

The Guildhall at Southern Methodist University is a graduate video game education program. In the last six years, the program has graduated over 300 students, and alums who work at more than 80 video game studios around the world, with several graduates now serving in leadership positions. SMU offers both a Master’s degree and a graduate Professional Certificate of Interactive Technology in Video Game Development, with specializations in art creation, level design, and software development.

For more information on the school and this week’s career fair, visit guildhall.smu.edu.

The Guildhall at SMU Students score $30k in scholarships

Recently at a luncheon hosted by The Guildhall at SMU, ten students were awarded $30,000 in scholarship funding. Ten students were awarded scholarships on behalf of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS), D3Publisher and the Entertainment Software Association Foundation.

The $10,000 AIAS Academy Scholarship is awarded biannually to an incoming student who students who exemplify “the organization’s spirit and commitment to advancing the global interactive community.” The ESA Foundation Computer and Videogame Scholarship Program recognizes academic excellence of women and minorities pursuing a Master’s degree or graduate certificate at SMU with an annual scholarship of $10,000. D3Publisher honored students who have excelled academically by granting the $10,000 Shane Hensley Scholarship for Game Development Excellence this year.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dartmouth College professor plays tag with Metadata Games

Dartmouth humanities professor Mary Flanagan has been awarded a grant to design an Internet-based multiplayer game that will assist libraries with archival data tagging. A professor in Dartmouth College’s Department of Film and Media Studies, Ms. Flanagan was given a (nearly) $50,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities in August to develop a game prototype that is being developed under the rather technical name “Metadata Games — An Open Source Electronic Game for Archival Data Systems.” The title doesn’t exactly scream fun, I know, but that’s obviously not the point (it certainly couldn’t hurt though). And to be fair, Ms. Flanagan promises some fun elements that will make it feel less like work and more like a casual trivia game.

Mary Flanagan is certainly no stranger to the wild and crazy world of game design. She considers herself an artist and game designer, and is the founder and director of Tiltfactor Laboratory. She is also the co-editor of Reload: Rethinking Women + Cyberculture and re:skin, as well as the author of the recently released book, “Critical Play: Radical Game Design” - all published by the MIT Press. The project is collaboration between the Dartmouth College Library and Flanagan’s own Tiltfactor Laboratory, which most recently developed a game about unemployment called “Layoff.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Game development a regular vocation at many American colleges

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) wants you to know that colleges are now heavily supporting curriculum that is directly or indirectly related to the vocation of video game development. According to the ESA, a record number of colleges, universities and other institutions of higher learning – 254 in 37 states and the District of Columbia – now offer courses and degrees in computer and video game design, programming, and art. These include certificate programs in 3D Animation & Interactive Media to master’s degrees in Computer Graphics and Game Technology. The ESA sees the uptick of institutions offering these programs as a reflecting of the growing importance of video games on the economy and culture of the United States.

Research conducted by the ESA found that California has 46 institutions of higher learning – the most of any state – offering such courses or degrees. Other states in the top 10 are New York (21); Texas (20); Florida (19); Illinois (16); Pennsylvania (12); Massachusetts (11); Washington (9); Georgia (8); Arizona, Michigan, and Colorado (7).

“Today, video games are not only the fastest growing entertainment medium, they are also increasingly used in education and business for professional training and e-learning,” Rich Taylor, senior vice president. “These new college programs underscore the importance of the video games industry, which is well-poised to create additional employment and professional opportunities in the coming years.”

While it certainly heartening to see more schools offer these kinds of educational opportunities, it would be interesting to see some statistics from schools that have offered a game development curriculum; do graduates find jobs after college - not just intern work, but real honest-to-goodness jobs at companies of all shapes and sizes? These are the questions I want answered as a parent.

You can check out the full list of schools by visiting The ESA.

Guildhall at SMU, AIAS name Academy Scholarship winner

The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences and The Guildhall at Southern Methodist University have announced the first person to receive an Academy Scholarship (thanks Game Politics). The person to earn that distinction is Christopher McCrimmons, a graduate program student at SMU.

“I have solid leadership and team-building skills. Plus – a zeal for video games. This is what drives me to make a difference in architecting the future of gaming,” said McCrimmons, speaking about his scholarship.

While having a zeal for video games is to be admired, it’s his many other achievements that made him a strong candidate to receive the Scholarship. McCrimmons earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Massachusetts with a major in English and concentration in Film, Drama and Media Studies.

Read the rest of this entry »

ESA Foundation hands out 30 scholarships

The ESA Foundation announced this morning that it has selected 30 student video game developers from across the nation to receive $90,000 in scholarships for the 2009-2010 academic year. Those receiving these scholarships are fresh out of high school and plan to continue on to college at 26 academic institutions from California to New Jersey studying subjects from computer science to digital animation.

Since 2007, the ESA Foundation Scholarship Program has assisted women and minority students who want to work in the computer and video game industry. Scholarships are offered annually for full-time study at accredited four-year colleges and universities for students pursuing degrees in industry related subjects including video game development, computer science, digital animation, programming and software engineering.

More than 200 U.S. colleges, universities and trade schools now offer video game courses or degrees. Students interested in the 2010-2011 scholarship program, can find out more at www.theesa.com Applications for the next round of scholarships will be accepted in Jan. 2010.

Games in Education Symposium kicking off next week

A two day conference comprised of workshops and presentations revolving around education, computers, video games, teaching techniques using software and video game development is going to kick off next week at the Hudson Valley Community College campus in the Bulmer Telecommunications Center. In its third year, the conference is called Games in Education Symposium and runs August 5th and 6th.

The event is free to educators from early childhood to post secondary education interested in the use of games and technology to promote better ways of learning in the 21st century. This year’s it will explore the practical application of interactive technologies like video games, social networks, blogs and other media to inspire and promote learning.

This year’s topics include the exploration of virtual worlds like Second Life and World of Warcraft and how teachers are using the games successfully in schools, to Social Robotics experimentation aimed at getting kids interested in Computer Science, to analyzing the real world pressures teacher’s face.

The 2009 Games in Education Symposium is presented by 1st Playable Productions, WMHT public television (an Albany, NY PBS station), the Teacher Preparation Department at Hudson Valley Community College, the Schenectady Museum & Suits-Bueche Planetarium, and the College of Computing and Information at The University at Albany.

The event will run 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Wednesday, August 5 and 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Thursday, August 6. For more information or to register, visit www.gamesineducation.org. Hudson Valley Community College is located at 80 Vandenburgh Ave, Troy NY 12180. Lunch and door prizes will be provided. More information on key sponsor 1ST Playable, can be found at www.1stplayable.com.