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Game studies minor gaining momentum

Instructor Sean Duncan, left, talks with Chris Brucker and Carl Hayden Tuesday, Feb 23, 2010 after a Games and Learning class at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. Staff photo by Gary Stelzer

Gary Stelzer Instructor Sean Duncan, left, talks with Chris Brucker and Carl Hayden Tuesday, Feb 23, 2010 after a Games and Learning class at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. Staff photo by Gary Stelzer

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By Lauren Hetzel Contributing Writer 11:44 AM Friday, February 26, 2010

OXFORD — Gaming is growing at Miami University.

Miami’s fledgling games studies minor is beginning to take flight with steps to integrate within the university’s educational community.

Among those spearheading the effort, Lindsay Grace, an Armstrong Institute of Interactive Media Studies assistant professor at Miami, is taking a proactive approach to expanding the minor and its recognition among the student body.

“What’s really changed is the amount of momentum behind it,” Grace said.

Only recently developed, but none the less soon-to-be nationally ranked, the game studies minor views games as a combination of art, science and education.

It exists within the AIMS program, which also offers a major in interactive media studies and a minor in interactive media.

The program recently expanded adding four new classes to the minor, creating a track system: Game Studies, Game Art, Game Programming and Game Design.

Beginning students do need basic skills and must pass a test on programs like Photoshop. They start with a game studies class and a class on the design of play, which blends education, psychology, art and a splash of pop culture media. Students then follow their own interest in one of four tracks.

As part of his plan to increase the game studies minor, Grace secured Miami as one of the locations for the Global Game Jam .

The Global Game Jam is a 48-hour international game design and development event located in various countries, with the goal of creating not just an educational experience for participants, but also the potential for the next generation in computer games.

The event at Miami drew students from the game studies minor and others from around Ohio, ranging in age from 15 to 33, who were just interested in creating computer games rapidly.

As he prepares to create the first advertising game studio at Miami, Grace assures “people will probably be hearing a lot more about gamers at Miami.”

48 hours straight on games

Spending 48 hours straight in Benton Hall is not a typical weekend for Miami University students.

But that’s exactly how five teams of eager participants from around Ohio spent a weekend recently as they worked for two days to create an original computer game as Miami, for the first time, acted as one of the American locations of the Global Game Jam.

The concept is simple: Create a four- to five-person team consisting of people from region and simply create a computer game.

The catch: Games must be complete in 48 hours, instead of the typical six month production of most games. Adding to the challenge, teams must shape their game around a theme and include challenges, like creating a game that is played using something other than a computer mouse.

This concept of rapid game development as a model for gaming is quickly gaining popularity, Grace said.

“The awesome thing is you have one major focus. You are fully supported and all you have to do is crank out that one game,” he said.

Grace participated in the first Global Game Jam last year from its Chicago location.

“The idea was just to get a bunch of people who are passionate about gaming together for a weekend and let’s just make a game,” he said.

Miami’s branch of the Global Game Jam kicked off Jan. 29 with a presentation from an international keynote speaker.

“It just sort of inspires people to get into this crazy thing were about to do,” said Grace.

Teams get themes, publish games

After breaking into teams, the theme was announced: Participants were either to use some form of deception or use rain, Spain or plains in their creations.

Each group was set up in their own lab in Benton along with access to their own audio studios. This is a huge step up from most of the other location’s facilities which, many times, have only one studio.

Various training and feedback sessions were offered throughout the weekend, including visits from Johnny Wilson, a noted a computer game world veteran. Aside from possibly a quick catnap , participants worked straight through until Sunday, when the Jam ended and the finalized games were exhibited to the public.

“Spaniards in Space,” which utilized Spain and rain as deceptions, was chosen as the overall winner. In the game, the player must shoot ice to make platforms to walk across in order to meet the goal of placing the Spanish flag on Pluto, without being struck by falling ice.

“It was just sort of an interesting game play experience you don’t usually see,” Grace said.

Among the other entries was “Alien Abduction,” one of the few created by traditional programming methods, in which the player uses a microphone to make noise as bait to lure and kill aliens.

“Dino Quixote” — a play on Don Quixote — was also created and used form change and rain, which ruins the players’ disguise if they are hit.

The games can be played at Aims.muohio.edu/gamejam or globalgamejam.org.

Although the Global Game Jam was created as an educational experience, winners are sometimes able to reap larger benefits from the experience.

Many of the teams take the games they created and become their own companies.

“It’s a nice place to create a prototype for something that may become the next big thing,” Grace said.

Such is the plan with the team who created “Spaniards in Space” and now hopes to put it in the independent game space.

Last year, the Global Game Jam created 10 commercial successes out of the 370 games created.

“Part of the spirit of the Game Jam is sharing all of the games people make,” Grace said. “The version of the game you make you have to allow to be freely distributed, because it’s supposed to be an educational experience.”

As far as the next step for Miami, an exhibition is in the works for late April that would show cases some of the favorites from the Game Jam.

Grace concluded by sharing his enthusiasm about the current innovations happening in today’s gaming “It’s no longer simply about running and jumping. People started asking, ‘How can we make games exciting?’”

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