SPSU to offer computer game design degree
Filed under: Academia, Announcements, Education, Georgia Gaming News
Marietta Daily Journal
By: Staff
MARIETTA – The Board of Regents has approved a new bachelor’s degree in computer game design and development for Southern Polytechnic State University, the university announced Tuesday.
SPSU’s school of computing and software engineering has already offered a concentration in game design, but the new degree program is designed to attract more undergraduates to fill a growing need for computer game programmers in the gaming industry.
“This new program will benefit not only Southern Poly in terms of enrollment but the Atlanta metro area as well by creating more careers and expanding the economy,” said Dr. Han Reichgelt, dean of the school of computing and software engineering. “If we start producing those game programmers and keep attracting those gaming companies, then there is the possibility of setting up a very vibrant gaming industry in Atlanta.”
Last summer, SPSU opened a game design and development lab to strengthen the gaming concentrations in software engineering. The lab includes 14 game development stations for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii consoles, though Xbox is the primary platform.
School leaders would like to expand the lab, both in size and in terms of the number of platforms that students can develop for, including portable devices such as the Nintendo DS or Apple’s iPhone.
University spokeswoman Sylvia Carson said the earliest anticipated degree would likely be conferred in spring 2011 or 2012. About 50 students enrolled this year in game-design classes there, she said.
Georgia Trend reported in April that the computer/video game industry had its best year ever in 2008, topping sales of $22 billion. Georgia is home to about 70 video-game companies with about 2,000 workers, according to the magazine.
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