Student work from the Experimental Game Design course lead by Kathleen Ruiz, associate professor of integrated arts. Image credit: Rensselaer/Ian Stead ’04

Games used to mean playtime. Not anymore. Today’s video games serve a multitude of functions beyond entertainment, including exercise and even education. Now, the Princeton Review is saluting the 50 best undergraduate institutions in the U.S. and Canada to study game design. The publication named eight programs for top honors as the “best of the best,” and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute came in at number 5.

The Princeton Review developed its “Top 50 Undergraduate Game Design Programs” list — the first project of its kind — in partnership with GamePro, a well-known publication in the video game industry, reaching more than three million gamers a month.

The top eight programs on the list in rank order are: University of Southern California, DigiPen Institute of Technology, Drexel University Becker College, Rensselaer, The Art Institute of Vancouver, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The remaining 42 programs are from 27 states in the U.S.

“We are pleased to have this early recognition of Rensselaer's efforts to build a premier program in game design” said Wayne Gray, acting dean of the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, and associate dean for graduate studies and research. “Rensselaer’s natural advantages as a premier technological university have enabled us to go very far, very fast.”

“Our program is focused on teaching those who wish to design the current generation of games, as well as those who wish to do the research needed to invent the games and technology for the next generation, Gray noted. “Imagine immersive, interactive simulations where human players compete against intelligent computer agents in facilities on the scale of Rensselaer’s Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center. That is the future, and that is where Rensselaer graduates are headed.”

Launched in fall 2007, Rensselaer’s Games and Simulation Arts and Sciences (GSAS) undergraduate degree continues to prepare students to capitalize on—and successfully navigate—the explosive growth in the continually evolving games phenomenon. Rensselaer’s approach to games studies combines theory and practice, along with a strong emphasis on collaborative, interdisciplinary teamwork. The program is designed to help students to acquire a comprehensive understanding of interactive digital media, a balance of disciplinary competencies, and the mastery of a self-defined set of interrelated disciplinary challenges. Presently, 111 students are enrolled in the program.

Of the roughly 500 programs at which students can study game design in the U.S. and Canada, The Princeton Review selected 50 programs based on a survey it conducted in 2009-10 of administrators at institutions offering game design coursework and/or degrees. In an effort to design the survey instrument and methodology, a 10-member national advisory board was formed. Board members included administrators and faculty from respected game design programs, and professionals from some of the top gaming companies.  

The comprehensive survey numbered more than 50 questions and covered areas from academics and faculty credentials to graduates’ employment and career achievements. Criteria included the quality of the curriculum, faculty, facilities, and infrastructure. The publication also looked at data on scholarships, financial aid, and career opportunities.

“We salute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the other outstanding institutions on our list for their exemplary work in game design education,” said Robert Franek, Princeton Review SVP/Publisher. “It has long been our mission at the Princeton Review to help students research and get in to the education programs best for them. We are also committed to helping them carry that training to rewarding careers in fields they are passionate about. For the burgeoning numbers of students aspiring to careers in the rapidly growing field of game design and the companies that will need their creative talents, we hope our list will inspire many wonderful candidates to apply to these programs.”

 “We are always pleased to get external validation of the outstanding programs we offer at Rensselaer,” said Paul Marthers, vice president for enrollment and dean of undergraduate and graduate admissions. “GSAS continues to be a magnet program attracting excellent students to the Institute.”

“I looked at a lot of different schools for game design,” said Christopher Diorio ’11, a junior majoring in GSAS. “The thing that attracted me to Rensselaer’s program (besides the school itself and the people I’ve met) is the interdisciplinary nature of the program. Most schools only concentrate on programming and implementation of games, and not as much on the actual game design. At Rensselaer, I actually get to work with students from different disciplines and learn many different aspects of game design.”

Diorio is one several students who entered the program as a freshman. Upon graduation, he plans to pursue graduate studies, and will enroll in the human-computer interaction co-terminal program at Rensselaer.

“I definitely want to work in the game industry in any way, shape, or form. I’m very interested in storyline development and animation as well as interface design. In the future, I really hope that I get to work in this amazing, fast-paced industry,” he added.

Game Design at Rensselaer
Rensselaer’s GSAS program helps students acquire a comprehensive understanding of interactive digital media, a balance of disciplinary competencies, and the mastery of a self-defined set of interrelated disciplinary challenges. Gray also noted that interactive technology helps shape how young people learn, drives national defense strategies via computer simulations, and assists training efforts in physical fitness, biomedicine, and anti-terrorism, to name just a few of the practical applications of games and simulation arts.

Within the program, students gain an understanding of games from the broadest range of possible perspectives and play an active role in research and education in disciplines ranging from the visual and aural aspects of new media in the electronic arts, cognition and artificial intelligence in cognitive science, digital graphics and software development in computer science, experimental game design in psychology, human computer interaction and computer graphics in communication and the arts.

“I enrolled in the GSAS program because games have always been a large part of my life, and I realized I wanted them to remain so as I grew older,” said Patrick Donnelly ’09, who graduated with a dual degree in GSAS and computer science, and now works as an associate game programmer for Vicarious Visions.  “The GSAS program provided a perfect avenue for me to transition my love of games into a serious and engaging career that I am passionate about.”

Donnelly noted that the most important lesson that he learned was taught by his fellow students. “I learned how to work effectively as part of a team comprised of multiple disciplines. The multitude of group projects provided a perfect environment for fostering teamwork skills while learning hands-on about what it really takes to make a game. I currently am employed at a video game studio as a game programmer and am living my life’s dream of making video games.”

The publication also noted several Rensselaer alumni – who studied other disciplines – who are working in the games industry. They include Karthik  Bala ’97, founder and CEO of Vicarious Visions, which developed several Guitar Hero Wii games, among other well-known projects; Tobi Sauliner ’84, who worked at Vicarious Visions for five years before going off to found and become CEO of 1st Playable Productions—which handles Cartoon Network’s Ben 10 and Secret Saturdays games for the Nintendo DS; and Mike DelPrete ’01, founder and CEO of Agora Games, an online game technology and community-building resource for many prominent games such as Guitar Hero and Call of Duty: World at War, among others.

For more information regarding Rensselaer’s Games and Simulations Arts and Sciences program, visit:

http://www.hass.rpi.edu/pl/bs-degree-games-simulation-arts-science.

The top programs will be profiled in the GamePro April 2010 issue, which hits newsstands on March 9. The online edition of the article is posted at www.gamepro.com.

For more information regarding the Princeton Review ranking and to view the list, visit: http://www.princetonreview.com/game-design.aspx.

Contact: Jessica Otitigbe
Phone: (518) 276-6050
E-mail: otitij@rpi.edu