Here’s something for all our animation fans.
Top Gun meets crop duster? Let’s see what the little guy can do. When it becomes a Disneyland attraction, can’t wait to go on that ride.
In typical Disney fashion, the trailer shows off great character development and ‘feel like you’re part of the action’ scenery.
Check out the trailer.
Set to hit the movie screens in August, do you think this film will give Pixar’s “Cars” a run for its money?
Jerome Solomon, appointed Director for the new Game Design & Development bachelor degree program
Cogswell College announced the offering of a new degree program, Game Design & Development. Students will have the option of majoring in either Game Design Art (GDA) or Game Design Engineering (GDE). Each specialization focuses on one of the two sides of game development: art and content development or game design programming and software development.
“The creation of this new program presents a strong opportunity for students to make games in a more realistic industry environment,” says Jerome Solomon, assistant professor of Cogswell’s new game design program. Solomon is a film and game industry veteran, and currently sits on the National Committee for ACM SIGGRAPH.
While most of the classes are not new to Cogswell’s curriculum, creating a separate degree program around them gives the college more flexibility to adjust course offerings to keep up with current industry trends. The new degree program also allows graduates to emphasize their specialized skill-set on their resumes.
“Typically, games are created by multidisciplinary teams” Solomon continues. “Cogswell is one of only a handful of schools that bring together all of the elements of game development. We have students and faculty with expertise in art, engineering, design, audio, and entrepreneurship that work together on teams. This is exactly like the composition of game development teams in the industry.”
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the need for software developers will grow 30 per cent by 2020, equaling approximately 1.1 million new jobs or 14 per cent of all occupations in the U.S. economy. This demand is fueled by the gamification of everything from law enforcement to education to healthcare, which requires skills in game design, art, animation and programming and constitutes a significant portion of the projected 1.1 million jobs.
Last week’s Game Developer’s Conference was held in San Francisco. Thousands of hopeful game design and engineering graduates and job seekers flocked to the Career Pavilion that housed over 50 booths including Sony, Microsoft, Electronic Arts and WB Games along with various schools and recruiters.
Solomon visited the pavilion on behalf of the college and was encouraged by the positive reception to Cogswell’s new program from the industry exhibitors.
“Game development companies are either looking for an artist or an engineer,” explains Solomon. “Larger studios look for very specific skills; smaller studios look for those with multiple skills. The employers we met with were extremely receptive to the fact that we have every component of game development here at Cogswell, which creates a real-world, industry work environment for our students.”
Image Credit: Resident Evil Director's Cut
Sound effects and music play an important role in making a game fun – or not – to play. The right music and sounds pull you in seamlessly and add to your game play enjoyment.
The wrong soundtrack pulls your attention away from the game and makes you wonder what were they thinking? The worst game soundtracks are so annoying that you just can’t take it and either turn off the sound or stop playing the game.
Do you agree with the opinions in this Game Informer article? What games would you add to the list?
Lots of decisions go into making a game that makes players feel good about their choice.
Game designer, Shane Neville, believes you can have the best of both worlds – a game that makes money and happy game players – but it requires a healthy dose of respect for the end user.
According to Neville, the game should be designed and balanced for three different types of players: players who have high skill, players who are willing to spend time and players who are willing to spend money. Neville said that if designers want to “keep their souls,” the team must refuse to think of players as things to be monetized.
Shane Neville from Ninja Robot Dinosaur Entertainment and designer of Shellrazer shared his thoughts on ethical game design at GDC 2013 in San Francisco. Click here to read Game Industry’s coverage of his remarks.
What do you think of his analysis?
That’s a lot of money for an industry reported to be trying to counteract the impact of the free-to-play business model. Facebook – known for hosting social games like Farmville and Candy Crush – is setting its sights on attracting more mid and hard-core game developers to create games for Facebook users and attract a larger audience to its site.
In this article in CNET, staff writer Donna Tam gives us the inside scoop about the state of gaming on Facebook.
Do you play games on Facebook? Let us know which is your favorite?
The NeXTcube used by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN became the first Web.
Imagine your life without the internet! Yikes!!
No instant answers to the questions you pose. No Google maps to help you find your way. No shopping with a click of a button – oh my!!
Did you know that it only took one very small paper book to publish the name of every person with an email address in 1982? At that time there were only three ‘Danny’s’ with email address – hard to imagine.
Here’s a Ted Blog by internet pioneer, Danny Hillis, that takes us for a walk down memory lane and a discussion of some of the pitfalls that face the internet today.
From games to communication to productivity tools, the number of apps available for the iPhone is seemingly endless. Most apps have been geared to enthusiasts, but recently there have been more iPhone apps for professional audio engineers. Ranging in price from free to somewhat pricey, there are a number of apps that audio engineers use to help make their jobs easier.
The three most common types of pro audio iPhone apps are field recorders, portable digital audio workstations and remote controls.
Many of the available audio recorders lack the options found in traditional field recorders, but some have come on the market recently that make it possible to conveniently capture professional quality recording without having to purchase a separate device. Here are just a few:
Using the iPhone’s built-in audio interface, these apps are actually simplified digital audio workstations used to record or program multi-track song ideas. They can then be exported into a computer later for editing. They include:
These allow audio engineers to control digital audio workstations (DAWs) or other hardware devices from the iPhone. They are specific to the devices in use and control the various virtual knobs, buttons and fader. Some of the more popular are:
Tell us what you think!
Which iPhone apps for audio engineers have you used and which can you not live without?
SimCity Hotel Block courtesy EA
We saw a lot of chatter on our Facebook page last week about the launch of SimCity’s newest game in its franchise. Despite all the frustration, according to this article in Game Informer, this was one of the biggest launches in the game’s history.
Were you one of the dedicated gamers who played – or tried to play – during the first few weeks?
There’s been a lot of talk lately about what visual effects brings to film and game. The artists who work in this industry do make magic happen.
We thought you would enjoy seeing how ILM turned Mark Ruffalo into “The Hulk.” Three Cogswell alumni worked on the film. Greg Smith as a Digital Modeler, Adam Lawson as an Animator and Vincent Parker as a Video Playback Engineer.
Check out the video and let us know what you think!
Dr. Deborah Snyder, Cogswell College Chief Academic Officer & Provost
Cogswell College today announced the appointment of Dr. Deborah Snyder as chief academic officer and provost. In her new role, Dr. Snyder will oversee growth, planning and development in all of the school’s educational programs.
“Dr. Snyder has a great depth of knowledge in the industry,” says Janis Paulson, Interim Chief Executive Officer for Cogswell College. “She has a long history of higher education experience and was a pioneer in the adoption of online platforms in learning. Her impressive track record and proven strategic know-how make her a formidable asset to the college.”
Previously, Snyder served as senior vice provost for academic programs at Strayer University in Washington, D.C. and is author of The New Traditionals and e-Marketing Basics. The New Traditionals examined adult learners—those 25 and over—who comprise the majority of enrollees in higher education. She has been published in numerous education and marketing journals and has presented at several high-profile conferences.
“When I first visited Cogswell, I was so impressed by what the students were learning,” explains Dr. Snyder. “It’s truly a creative and innovative environment for students and faculty. Cogswell’s students are diverse and talented, making programs like our award-winning Project X and others,—possible.”
“I look forward to being part of the Cogswell academic team that will continue Cogswell’s growth trajectory while maintaining the high quality and innovative education students have come to expect,” says Snyder. “Although higher education may be experiencing significant changes these days due to new and disruptive technologies, Cogswell students and faculty seem to be comfortable working in the fast-paced world of constantly changing technology, which is so much a part of the Silicon Valley culture.”
Disruptive technologies in higher education include innovative ways of delivering learning through online degrees, badges and massive open online courses (MOOCs).
Snyder continues, “Cogswell’s innovative offerings in digital arts and engineering, and steadfast commitment to a leading edge learning environment, will continue to produce the next generation of workers in these dynamic industries, whatever changes in education the future may hold.”