According to many of the educational institutions we spoke to at this year's eGames, there has also never been a better time to get into the industry. In fact, one commenter revealed that some developers are having to turn down work due to a lack of available staff. In these days of economic uncertainty, a career in game design therefore seems doubly attractive: huge salaries, huge demand, a great job - what’s not to like?
So you're sold on the idea. A job in games should be your future. Then how do you do it?
While many developers in the past have been run by degree-less, qualification-less individuals on sheer quality of skill, it seems that companies are increasingly turning to education institutions to source employees. Simply having a love of videogames is not enough; working in videogames might sound like a dream, but it takes work and persistence to get there. Key factors in getting your foot in the door are experience and skills: in the past, these might have been gleaned from mod-making, or the demo scene. However, one of the easiest ways to get these assets - and more - is via a higher education course. But which one? With many institutions only starting to locally offer game design courses relatively recently, it can be difficult to establish what it is that education can really offer you, and where you can get it. Therefore, at eGames 2008, PALGN spoke with a number of educational institutions at the show (RMIT, Swinburne University, Box Hill Institute, Monash University, Deakin University, the College of Creative Arts and Technology) to gain a sense of the possibilities available. The verdict?
On one level, it's difficult to assess the quality of a videogame-related course. The industry is still so young and quick to evolve that what might be agreed as a good course in 2008 might be seen as fairly useless in 2012. Kate Vanderlugt, Marketing Officer from Box Hill Institute, admitted to some teething problems for their course. Box Hill only began teaching in the discipline last year, and have learnt from their experience: "Last year we just had one gaming course, so you did all the programming, all the animation, everything in one. It didn't work for us. We found that it tends to be the artists and the animators who do one side and they hate doing the programming, and the programmers do one side and they hate doing the art."
RMIT's City campus.
If one point can be made of all the education institutions we spoke to, it is that all were keen to point out the practical benefits of their courses. In earlier years, the primary criticism of tertiary games education was that graduates would come to the industry with a strong grasp of theory but little idea of what would actually be expected of them in day-to-day work. Without exception, all institutions were therefore keen to emphasise the employability of their graduates. And certainly, the practical focus of many of these courses is a real strength.
Chris King, from the College of Creative Arts and Technology (CCAT), noted that, "Realistically, the industry wants to see what you can do as opposed to a qualification. [That graduates don't have practical skills] is a major problem with education, and that’s why we set up the College of Creative Arts and Technology, to try and curb that. Yes, you do get your qualifications, which is great, you need them, but everybody who works at the college is actually in the industry still, so they haven’t gone to college to learn it, and then just taught it. They're actually out in the field. They know what they're talking about. So the students at the end of the day are actually employable. It's so much more beneficial to actually do that, because you can have an academic board telling you what you need to teach, that’s fine, but they don’t actually realistically know what the industry are after."
Andrew Owen from Monash University sees their strengths as similarly ones of practicality and employability. "Most of our students get picked up in second year anyway, or even third year, and they don’t even get time to make a folio. Or, they're actually starting their own businesses. We have a lot of major companies coming headhunting all the time. For example, Google will do a whole day dedicated to our students and basically say, 'come to us, sign up for our scholarships' and they do that every year. Microsoft does it, IBM, all the game companies, it's a large variety and it's just becoming more and more because demand is so high. Because Monash is a recognised brand name, and because of our history, people do come to us."
The issue of getting a workable folio together is also important. Vanderlugt says that Box Hill Institute wants their graduates to have a very strong portfolio. "When you go out into the industry you can show them what you can do." It is a battle, says Vanderlugt, between a standalone degree showing you "know how to do this in theory," and a portfolio crucially showing "this is what I've actually done." CCAT agrees, but takes a different tack. "We actually give the copyright back to the student," says King. "The majority of places will tend to keep the copyright, but we actually give it back to the student. So everything that they do on the campus, they own. That creates their portfolio." Skill therefore plays just as much a part in gaining a qualification as hard work. Alex Tycho, a student at RMIT, explains that, "because [our degree is] entered by interview, you don’t get a lot of people who are really highly educated but they can't even draw." That's not to say it's exclusive, though. "It's very practical," emphasises Tycho. "I couldn't model to start with, but I'm quite confident now."
Monash's Caufield campus.
The most marked difference between institutions and degrees may well be the breadth of study. Box Hill Institute and CCAT largely offer qualifications designed to nurture specific skills and job opportunities, while the Universities run degrees based on generalisation and then later, targeted specialisation. In contrast to Box Hill's suggestion of breadth creating problems for students, Monash University aims to provide wide opportunities for students. "What we do, in first year, everyone basically does a common core. So that’s the Introductory Programming, your Database, your Web Authoring, Project Management, so by the time you’ve finished first year, you’re already an IT generalist. The good thing about that is that you can actually enroll in just say for example Systems Development or Internet Systems, do your whole first year and just decide, you know what, it’s not the way I want to go. I want to go into Information Management, or Game Development, and you can swap over, because everyone does the same first year common core."
Deakin University also aims for a generalist foundation. "We've taken a fair bit of time to try and get a balance in our course," says Michael Hobbs, Senior Lecturer at Deakin. "It is all wrapped around a core IT degree, so I'm hoping that we’re providing a well-rounded degree. We’ve recently gone through a reaccreditation, we’ve revamped our course, so we’re strengthening the programming content because we've had feedback from our academic industry partners and advisors saying that they’d like to see more technical content, so we’ve made some modifications to the degree, and that starts up next year." Additionally, Swinburne University uniquely offer a Bachelor of Arts (Games and Interactivity), allowing them to focus on a bit more on the broader aspects of gaming rather than simply the technological side. Simon Small, a student at Swinburne, is excited about the opportunities the University offers him. "Swinburne is teaching us media studies and the business of games, and also the lower down stuff. None of the other courses are offering the same sort of thing."
And of course, facilities play a huge part in any technology-focused degree. Deakin are keen to point to their motion-capture facility at their Burwood campus - "the largest in the southern hemisphere, or was, until WETA studios in New Zealand." And the Box Hill Institute facilities? "Kick ass," says Vanderlugt.
Profiles
Box Hill Institute
http://www.bhtafe.edu.au/
Box Hill is a TAFE institution in eastern Melbourne. In 2009, it will offer two videogame-related courses: the Certificate IV in Screen and Media, and the Certificate IV in Information Technology (Programming). Both are 12 month courses.
College of Creative Arts and Technology
http://www.ccat.edu.au/
CCAT is located in Hawthorn and offers a course in Digital Animation and Visual Effects, which can be taken both full-time and part-time. CCAT is also holding an open day of their facilities on Sunday November 30, between 1-4pm.
Deakin University
http://www.deakin.edu.au/
Located in Burwood, Warrnambool and Geelong, Deakin University offers numerous Bachelor degrees applicable to the world of game design. Most notable is the three-year Bachelor of Information Technology (Games Design and Development).
Monash University
http://www.monash.edu.au/
The only top-eight Australian University with a IT faculty, Monash offers the Bachelor of Information Technology and Systems with a variety of majors to choose from. Among them is the Multimedia Games Development major, based in Caulfield.
RMIT University
http://www.rmit.edu.au/
Located in inner Melbourne, RMIT offers Bachelors degrees in Animation and Interactive Media, and Games and Digital Art.
Swinburne University
http://www.swinburne.edu.au/
Swinburne offers a number of videogame related degrees, including the Bachelor of Arts (Games and Interactivity), Bachelor of Design (Multimedia Design), and the double degree Bachelor of Multimedia (Games and Interactivity)/Bachelor of Science (Computer Science and Software Engineering).
Loading...
