Video Game Design Schools – 3 Favorite Schools

When you decide that you want to be a game designer, you need to learn the skills needed in order to do the job. This means going to a school with the required curriculum. There are a surprising amount of colleges and universities now serving this field. These are three of the best.

The ITT Technical institute has 85 locations in 30 states across the US, and offers a bachelor’s degree in Digital Entertainment and Game Design. The program offers a strong foundation in game technology, game design, animation, level design and general education. The program falls under the School of Drafting and Design. There is very likely a campus close enough to attend, and the college is accredited by Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools.

DeVry University has various campuses across the US, Canada and online. DeVry offers a Game and Simulation Programming Bachelor’s Degree teaching software development, programming, software engineering and project coordination. The program is applications oriented and provides a foundation in math and physics for games, programming, game design, modifications, massively multiplayer online role playing game programming, two and three dimensional graphics design, simulation and game engine design. There is also a good grounding in general education to provide the well grounded team members the industry desires. DeVry works on a trimester system and many degrees can be achieved in three years of work. DeVry is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission.

Westwood College is located at Anaheim, CA, Denver, CO and Chicago, IL. They offer a bachelor’s degree in Game Art and Design, which focuses on design, computer and problem solving skills, focusing on applied knowledge and hands on teaching. In addition to practical exercises, Westwood also provides grounding in theory. They also offer a Game Software Development degree, teaching software fundamentals, game software development and an emphasis on game development and interactive entertainment.

One of the main outcomes of a good college program is exposure to more than just the core material. A well rounded person will be able to know of concepts and information in other fields that impact the major area of study, but which were not included. Additionally, a good program will include both theory and practice, so the student can tell how things should be, and what actually takes place in the field.

With the electronic component to the industry, just about everyone concerned should have a good grounding in computer programming to understand ways to most effectively work within the limits of the computer while maximizing the capabilities of their own disciplines. Most work on computer games is obviously computer related, but there is a need to understand the artistic components, such as music and the visual arts too.

Posted in Game developing at October 30th, 2011. No Comments.

How To Become A Video Game Programmer

For many, working as a video game programmer at a famous development studio sounds like a dream job. You get to design and build fun new games all day. Here are some tips for making this dream a reality.

Know what you’re getting into

Before you dive into becoming a video game programmer, spend a little time to research what working at a video game studio actually entails. You don’t want to spend time and effort becoming a video game programmer only to realize that it’s not what you were hoping for. Working as a video game programmer takes a lot of effort. The work hours and deadlines can get stressful, especially near the end of a project. Talk with people who are in the video game business, either in person or online, about any questions you may have about the business.

Create your own games

Try your hand at making your own games at home to see what it’s like. You can start with simple projects first, such as basic text games or simple shooters. Grab a book on video game programming at your local bookstore (there are many to choose from) and dive in. C and Java are good programming languages to start out with. Don’t try to create something too big or you’ll quickly get overwhelmed. The purpose of this is to learn what it’s like to make games and get a little experience, not to develop the next award winning MMORPG. Development studios will be more likely to hire you if you have a good project or two that you can include with your resume.

Go To College

Currently video game development studios are hungry for programmers. They spend a lot of money using headhunters to help them locate new people to hire. The good news is that once you are in the video game business, there are many opportunities for companies to work for. There are many different projects and locations that you can choose from. The bad news is that the studios can be very picky about hiring new employees with no previous video game programming experience. Therefore it can be very hard to get your foot in the door. Going to college for a Computer Science degree and getting excellent grades is one of the best ways to show video game studios that you will be a competent and committed employee. The classes will also give you many of the skills that you need to work. There are schools now that specialize in video game degrees, such as DigiPen. They are still relatively new and it’s not clear whether they increase your chances of getting a job in the video game industry.

Play Games

Know your games! The video game industry is changing at a breakneck pace, so it’s important to stay up to date with the new products. Play many different games every month to see what companies are doing now with video games. Development studios want to make sure that they only hire programmers that are devoted to video games. Staying up to date with videogames is an excellent way to demonstrate this.

Good luck!

Posted in Game developing at October 30th, 2011. No Comments.

Defender 2009 – A Rogue Security Program

Defender 2009 is a rogue security program that wants users to believe it is capable of removing spyware, viruses, parasites and other security threats from their PC. Hackers design these malicious applications in hopes of frightening you enough that you will purchase their product. This one is not capable of doing anything, except perhaps causing harm to your computer or personal identity.

This trick has been used thousands of times under many different names. There are legitimate antispyware tools available, but Defender 2009 is not one of them. This program is not capable of scanning your computer to start with, and it certainly will not detect or remove any infection that may (or may not) exist. Usually, trojans are responsible for installing these infections on your PC without your knowledge or consent. Most come from other files you may download such as music, games or videos. You might also become a victim by clicking links in spam emails, or visiting questionable websites.

These applications can pose a real threat not only to the health of your PC, but your personal identity as well. They are capable of collecting information about the websites you visit, the searches you perform, and your personal passwords, credit card numbers and other business data that you want to be private. They may sell this information to third parties as well. Although you don’t realize the moment Defender 2009 becomes placed on your PC, you will begin to see the symptoms shortly after.

Some of these symptoms include system instability, a slowing of your computer, freezing, pop-up ads and browser redirection. You will notice that your PC simply is not acting normal. When this happens, you must remove these parasites immediately. You may attempt to remove these applications manually by deleting all of the related files, but this is extremely difficult to do for most people. In fact, if not done properly it can cause additional damage to your computer.

If you believe that Defender 2009 has been installed on your PC, the best thing you can do is use a legitimate antispyware program to scan your computer for viruses, trojans and other security threats. Get one that guarantees to remove 100% of infections with one scan, and rest assured that your PC will once again be secure.

To scan your pc for free and find out if you have Defender 2009 click here.

Posted in Computers at October 30th, 2011. No Comments.