7 replies to this topic

[viksonfire]

Which college/university do you guys recommend for me to study in?

i am an international student from DR who's currently has a major in systems engineering and would love to make a MS. if available.

thanks in advance.

[alphadog]

I would recommend you don't get a degree in game development, but rather get a solid degree in software development/engineering from as good a school as you can afford.

First, it's more portable. Second, it's broader and you may carry in knowledge not commonly in game development.

The only thing you really gain in going into a game development program is, perhaps, some quality networking with people in the industry.

[JarkkoL]

Are game development universities/colleges really that bad nowadays? I know in the past game developers who had learnt things the hard way by hacking things on their own in spare time (like myself) used to despise them, but is the quality of the education really that poor in comparison to other universities? I would imagine you get a lot of general software engineering courses in game universities as well, which you can apply to other software industries if you don't plan to retire as a game developer. Game industry isn't a niche industry anymore either and you get universities dedicated to much smaller industries (music).

To be honest, if I had had the option to go to a (good) game university I would have probably:
a) graduated, since general software engineering was extremely boring to me (though in some rare occasions useful) and I felt it was better use of my time to go to work in the industry instead.
b) got much better general picture of the game development instead of spending years in the game industry to get that picture (you generally have to work in a specialized field).
c) would have saved a lot of time in learning game programming when someone would have teached these things to me in a well structured manner.


Cheers, Jarkko

[alphadog]

JarkkoL said:

Are game development universities/colleges really that bad nowadays?

Well, to be honest (and since you called me out on it), I have not had a comprehensive survey across all US graduate level curriculum to be able to answer a question like "Are game development colleges bad?" :blush:

IMHO, it's a mixed bag that I am unsure if anyone has an answer, short of a comprehensive survey of game industry management people.

JarkkoL said:

Game industry isn't a niche industry anymore either and you get universities dedicated to much smaller industries (music).

True. I guess one could see it more as software industry == music industry and classical music studies == game development. So, while a lower degree in game development doesn't make sense, a master's in game development may make sense, much like your music graduate usually studies pretty specific subsections. And like you can specialize in Classical or Jazz, you can specialize in Game or Embedded Medical.

The main benefits I would hope come from a *good* graduate program would be a) networking, and a deeper portfolio.

Aside from theorizing about ideal curriculum, I guess I come more from the POV that degrees, in general, are still generally a mixed bag in the game development industry. It could be just as likely to be damaging as helpful to throw a Master's degree in front of a manager who is hiring. Also, in large AAA titles, the experts usually have grad degrees in other fields, like Math, Econ, Sociology, etc...

But, I could very easily be wrong.

I guess, IMO, one should do a Master in CS at as reputable a school as you can afford, with your thesis work heavy in game development. That's a best of both worlds approach.

[tobeythorn]

My 2-cents in to get a well-rounded university degree for your undergraduate. In the long run, with breadth, you will acquire depth. Depth first, you will be too insular and limited and not be able to think outside the box. You have the rest of life (eg graduate school and work) to be specialized.

Edit, sorry, i now see that you want an MS. I dunno. Still, don't dig yourself into a hole.

[JarkkoL]

I didn't really expect a comprehensive study of all universities, but rather hear at least some references of well known game universities and their level of education in comparison to others. Like DigiPen, which is probably the most well known place to study game development, how does it compare nowadays to other universities?

alphadog said:

I guess one could see it more as software industry == music industry and classical music studies == game development.

I would rather say game industry==music industry or game industry==movie industry is better comparison. Game industry has surpassed both of those industries years ago when it comes to global market size, so I don't see why wouldn't you consider "specializing" to game industry just like people specialize to music/movie industries.

alphadog said:

Aside from theorizing about ideal curriculum, I guess I come more from the POV that degrees, in general, are still generally a mixed bag in the game development industry. It could be just as likely to be damaging as helpful to throw a Master's degree in front of a manager who is hiring.

Unlikely. If you show passion and talent in game development in addition to your Master's degree, it would take pretty arrogant manager to see your degree as a liability. If you check game industry job ads, Bachelor's/Master's degrees are often listed as nice-to-have.


Cheers, Jarkko

[alphadog]

Ah, it's Friday. I don't want to argue.

[viksonfire]

Thanks for all the answers, i didnt expect such fast responses.

i currently checking out these universities:
1) full sail university
2) depaul university
3) Recording arts of canada
4) Digipen (thanks to JarkkoL)
5) Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)

right now im just considering options based on whether or not they offer a degree in game development. not necessarily a master

as i said, i have a degree in systems (software) engineering but i wanna go deeper in the game development area. i have made a few simple games on my free time, nothing fancy at all.