An Update on a Quake Degree

There's an article on Gamespy which serves as a little follow-up to previous stories (such as this one) that maybe soon we can get degrees for gaming. The concept has in fact caught on, and several schools have already started offering a class in game design while the University of California Irvine will start with a four-year program offering a Master of Fine Arts degree in Interactive Entertainment in the fall of 2002.

Zimmerman, who won an the best audio award for his game Blix at last year's Independent Games Festival at the Game Developer's Conference in San Jose, California, posed at least 20 questions to the audience about what should be considered when developing a curriculum for a game design degree. He said curriculum and skills need to be taught to give potential game designers balanced training in the field. Above all, he said, future designers need to be taught that "play is central" to a game and that courses should not lose sight of that when schools begin developing their programs.