More than forty years have passed since the first commercial electronic arcade game (Computer Space) was developed. Only 1,500 machines were initially manufactured and sold; yet this episode is often cited as a pivotal moment in the evolution of contemporary popular culture. Today, electronic games – whether played on dedicated console, PC, or even mobile phone – are indeed very much a key part of the mass entertainment landscape, producing modern cultural icons such as Mario and Lara Croft, and successfully competing for our leisure time alongside cinema, television, performing arts, music and print.
Yet despite its ostensible commercial success and undeniable technological prowess, the games industry both nationally and internationally still struggles for its output to be taken seriously as an important cultural form. This stems from many things: its legacy perception as a niche medium with a narrow audience demographic; a genre base with a disproportional reliance on violence of one sort or another; a general lack of narrative sophistication; and a perceived approach to design, artistry and representational form which perhaps falls short of that offered through other entertainment media formats.
Nevertheless it's equally widely recognised that the medium itself offers huge potential for the future. By its very nature, it is unrivalled in terms of its potential to involve and engage an audience, and – with the right type of talent base involved – the quality, originality, creativity and depth of the format can only expand and flourish in years to come.
The taught postgraduate course in Digital Games Design aims to serve the future of this exciting and evolving industry, equipping you not only with the necessary skills and competencies to enter the industry today, but also with the vision and temperament to make a significant contribution to the way the industry moves forward tomorrow.
The programme combines three inter-related strands of study, which broadly cover technique, analysis and practice:
* Taught master class style workshops covering the art and craft of game design and development. Specialist subject areas include 3D modelling and animation for games, story and character design, narrative environments, world building and level design, event and behaviour scripting, authoring and prototyping tools and techniques, and game design documentation and presentation
* Analysis and presentation of current industry output and future trends
* Portfolio development including at least one playable game prototype as a major project.
As well as achieving high standards of artistic and technical competence in both course assignments and portfolio pieces, you are encouraged to consider the social, cultural and demographic implications of the medium in general and their own work in particular.
Links with the games industry both local and national are encouraged and exploited through trade association involvement, work placement and guest lectures. The course is fostering good relationships with the South East's regional industry cluster, as well as with other institutions running complementary postgraduate courses (such as games programming) in order to facilitate collaborative projects, research and development and enhanced graduate careers opportunities.
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