Full disclosure, I'm an NYU student, but I'm not in the game design program (I'm computer science). Quite frankly, I have a lot of conflicting opinions about game design as a major. Now is definitely an exciting time for aspiring designers, and I love the comparison between current game design and the 70's in film (a time period where people who grew up with the medium became the creators).
However, I worry when midterm questions include "Who is the protagonist in Uncharted" and "Which of these is a mechanic in Gears of War?" Then it starts becoming a circlejerk of taste rather than an analysis of the format. This wouldn't seem so bad if there weren't also practical skills involved in game design that students could absorb from other fields (like Mathematics, Computer Programming, and even more unlikely areas like International Relations).
On a positive note, got a 90% on the test. In less than 10 minutes. Take that, Tisch!
I don't think game design necessarily makes sense as an undergrad program. I think it is a lot better as a grad program, because I think as a game designer it's better to learn programming, or writing, or art, or something else and then go into game design. This is to give you a better perspective once you go into game design, but also it gives you a fall back.
But then of course it really depends on the game design/development program. I know RIT's is about teaching you all the different aspects of game design and development, so you not only have a good understanding of everything you are more likely to find the thing that you are good at.
I agree that game design makes more sense from a graduate degree perspective. The Games 101 content sounds more like some random gen ed class, "Games Appreciation" or "Game History" than it does about any sort of actual design work. It is a 101 after all. It reminds me of all the junk art classes people took at my university to fill up their 3-credit art gen ed requirement. Stuff like that made me realized I made a big mistake not going to a tech school.
As an undergrad hell no, you need to be into comp sci or have a ton of elective to gain knowledge that will help you make games. However as a Master's program like the Guild Hall, I think it can really be beneficial.
I don't think game design necessarily makes sense as an undergrad program. I think it is a lot better as a grad program, because I think as a game designer it's better to learn programming, or writing, or art, or something else and then go into game design. This is to give you a better perspective once you go into game design, but also it gives you a fall back.
But then of course it really depends on the game design/development program. I know RIT's is about teaching you all the different aspects of game design and development, so you not only have a good understanding of everything you are more likely to find the thing that you are good at.
Game desgin as a major is in many ways the same as majoring in film. It can easily teach you everything you need to know to make a game, but never the why and that's where shitty cookie cutter work comes from.
It's also similar to film in that you don't really need a degree in it to be successful, it's much more about who you know and the ability to demonstrate past work (which I understand can be generalized to every profession, but these moreso than most).
Game desgin as a major is in many ways the same as majoring in film. It can easily teach you everything you need to know to make a game, but never the why and that's where shitty cookie cutter work comes from.
Actually much of what I did in my graduate level game design classes was look at the why. I wrote a 30+ page paper deconstructing a single map of Team Fortress 2 for a final for one of my classes. Much of what we did in the first year was learn to deconstruct games, and really understand what the game designers were doing in a game, and why they were doing it.
Game desgin as a major is in many ways the same as majoring in film. It can easily teach you everything you need to know to make a game, but never the why and that's where shitty cookie cutter work comes from.
Actually much of what I did in my graduate level game design classes was look at the why. I wrote a 30+ page paper deconstructing a single map of Team Fortress 2 for a final for one of my classes. Much of what we did in the first year was learn to deconstruct games, and really understand what the game designers were doing in a game, and why they were doing it.
Game Design as a major is fine as long as you end up with an impressive portfolio. Unless you want to enter the industry through QA (at which point why bother going to school), you need to have a working game that is interesting and good and be able to demonstrate that you had a key role in making it.
Game desgin as a major is in many ways the same as majoring in film. It can easily teach you everything you need to know to make a game, but never the why and that's where shitty cookie cutter work comes from.
Actually much of what I did in my graduate level game design classes was look at the why. I wrote a 30+ page paper deconstructing a single map of Team Fortress 2 for a final for one of my classes. Much of what we did in the first year was learn to deconstruct games, and really understand what the game designers were doing in a game, and why they were doing it.
Game Design as a major is fine as long as you end up with an impressive portfolio. Unless you want to enter the industry through QA (at which point why bother going to school), you need to have a working game that is interesting and good and be able to demonstrate that you had a key role in making it.
Comments
Full disclosure, I'm an NYU student, but I'm not in the game design program (I'm computer science). Quite frankly, I have a lot of conflicting opinions about game design as a major. Now is definitely an exciting time for aspiring designers, and I love the comparison between current game design and the 70's in film (a time period where people who grew up with the medium became the creators).
However, I worry when midterm questions include "Who is the protagonist in Uncharted" and "Which of these is a mechanic in Gears of War?" Then it starts becoming a circlejerk of taste rather than an analysis of the format. This wouldn't seem so bad if there weren't also practical skills involved in game design that students could absorb from other fields (like Mathematics, Computer Programming, and even more unlikely areas like International Relations).
On a positive note, got a 90% on the test. In less than 10 minutes. Take that, Tisch!
But then of course it really depends on the game design/development program. I know RIT's is about teaching you all the different aspects of game design and development, so you not only have a good understanding of everything you are more likely to find the thing that you are good at.
Sadly I don't have time to read this at the moment... looks like it might be interesting.
Dig and Rig and OctoDad are good examples.