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Southwest Gaming ExpoWorkshop on Network and Systems Support for Games (NetGames 2009)ICIDS 2009 Interactive StorytellingGlobal Game Jam
Am I In the Wrong Degree Program?
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Dear Tom,
I'm in university, and I'm about halfway through my bachelor's degree in New Media Studies. I'm enjoying it well enough, but what should I really be studying? The more I read on the online forums and the game development websites, the more I worry that I've been on the wrong track up to now. Should I be focusing on programming? Should I switch to art? Or should I quit this school and go for a Game Design degree? I'm worried that I may be wasting my time here. When I mentioned this to my dad, he got all bent out of shape, but I have to be true to mine own self, as Polonius said. Besides, a lot of the courses this school makes me take are subjects I'll never use, like foreign language, psychology, philosophy... So please give me the words of wisdom that I need, so I can be sure I'm studying the stuff I need to study so I can get a job in games right after college without wasting a lot of time searching. Johnny B. Student That isn't a letter from a real person, but it might as well be. I receive these questions all the time. I hope that the concepts in this article will help Johnny B.S., and others like him, deal with the uncertainties of life, especially during one's advanced studies. There are a number of important points raised by Johnny's letter. For each point, there's a general concept that can be applied to other questions that may occur to you sometime in your life. Taking them in order received: A degree program that you enjoy is the right program for youWhat you should really be studying is -- something you enjoy. You said it yourself, you gotta be true to thine own self. Who you are is what's important. Let's say that instead of video games, what you wanted to be was a brain surgeon. But maybe you're not all that good at biology or anatomy, and your hands aren't the finely tuned instruments that are necessary for brain surgery. And maybe what you are always doing, your favorite activity, is making web pages with very friendly user interfaces. If this was you, hopefully you'd flunk out of brain surgery college, else you'd be a pretty sucky brain surgeon and probably hurt someone. If this was you, you'd be better off learning graphic design, web design, and the psychology of user interfaces. Not only would you be better off doing that, society would be better off too. If you studied brain surgery but aren't really suited for it, later in life you might realize you need to get into a different line of work. And it might be something that requires you to have taken a different course of study. If you subsequently decided you wanted to become a lawyer, you'd have to go back to school and get a law degree, then take the bar exam. You'd think your medical degree wouldn't be worth that much - that you'd wasted time and money in med school. But later in life you'd probably find that it was useful after all, when involved in medical lawsuits. Very few endeavors that we give up represent wasted time. I mentioned medicine and law above. Those are two fields that pretty much require specific degrees. But the game industry isn't like that. There are no specific degree requirements. Those who aspire to program games can study Computer Science or Computer Information Management or Information Technology or any of a number of technical degrees. Because the key to getting the game programming job isn't the degree - it's the portfolio. It's expected that you have a technical degree, but the portfolio is what gets you in. If you're technically inclined, and torn between CS or IT, go with the one that seems more interesting or more accessible to you. Similarly, to get work as a game artist, it's expected that you have an art degree -- but it's the portfolio that paints the true picture of you.
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