Video games: we all love them, even if we are hesitant to admit it. Whether it was the old days playing Mario Kart, Sims, or RollerCoaster Tycoon or if you are still an active gamer on Madden, Call of Duty or World of Warcraft, we’ve all spent endless hours playing a video game. Video are games are one of the worlds fastest growing industries bringing in billions of dollars to the economy every year. If you have a creative mind, a sense of humor and savvy computer skills, computer gaming design is the major for you.
Education
In this major students will learn how to fully submerge a user into the virtual world. A student studying in the field will learn 3-D computer animation, digital sound and design and eventually you’ll write advanced computer code. It’s not all technological though; you’ll have to take psychology classes to learn how to develop stories and characters for your games through writing. You will quickly learn in Game Design and Development, a commonly required course, it takes a team to create many different elements of a successful game. It will be strongly emphasized in your classes that collaboration with teammates is the best way to be successful.
Questions to ask before deciding
When deciding which college to chose for your computer gaming design major be sure to ask yourself if the program offers a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree. You will also want to look at the instructors and see if they are industry professionals or not. This will help you to know if the program will help to place you in internships during your time of study and job placement after graduation. Also be sure to check out the facilities on campus; are the labs equipped with the best game software and computer-game-playing stations? Lastly, look at the program being offered, is it a stand-alone major or is it concentrated within the art or computer science major and can you choose an area of concentration?
Salary
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a career as a multimedia artist or animator earned an average of $61,370 per year in 2012. As an art director, you can expect to earn closer to $80,000 but instead of creating designs yourself, you will mostly be charged with overseeing general artistic direction of a project.
Read more about digital design careers by taking Next Step Academy’s Computer Aided Design Drafting course or visiting NextStepU’s career page.
