This Saturday I participated in a workshop at GCC to discuss a proposed computer gaming major, set of courses, or electives (it’s early in the process).

If you are in Western Massachusetts, and in the gaming industry, or just interested in participating, please get in touch, and I will connect you. There are plans for local events that need organizing help (or that you may want to attend).

Here’s what surprised me:

  1. In my sub-group, we discussed the adjacent industries, Art, Music, and Computer Science, and what a computer gaming major would need to include for it to able to cross-over.  This helps take away the risk of having a relatively niche degree if it doesn’t work out or you just don’t like it. The surprise to me was that Math was listed on all three as extremely important.  Writing was also listed in all three, but that’s not a surprise.

  2. This is probably obvious to anyone in computer gaming, but the recruiting/job-application process is portfolio-driven.  This is probably true for Art and Music generally, but is not true for computer science. Perhaps it should be, and I’ve been thinking about how the rise of github may drive that more in the future.

  3. The problem of getting a 2-year student with an associates degree seamlessly into a 4-year program is not a solved problem. Perhaps, it will never be, but I didn’t realize how far away it was.  There is no set process or guarantee that credits will transfer.

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