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Kelly Mori writes about health and higher education.Home > Blogs > On Campus > Archives > 2010 > March > 01 > Entry
Miami makes Top 50 for best video game design program
Miami University “pwn’d” other colleges in a national ranking of video game design programs.
Miami’s digital games studies program was named Monday, March 1, as one of the “Top 50 Undergraduate Game Design Programs” in the nation by the Princeton Review and GamePro magazine.
The Princeton Review surveyed 500 schools in the U.S. and Canada this academic year for the quality of the curriculum, faculty, facilities and infrastructure, as well as data on scholarships, financial aid and career opportunities.
“The game industry is a force to be reckoned with, larger than Hollywood and the music industry,” said Glenn Platt, co-director of Miami’s Armstrong Institute for Interactive Media Studies. Gaming also has applications beyond entertainment, such as in the government, military and medical fields, Platt said.
Miami’s program focuses on two tracks: game design and game development, or how to make games understandable, motivational and fun. The digital game studies program is a collaboration among various departments, including interactive media studies, art, English, computer studies, education and the University Libraries
The ranking “speaks to the importance and effectiveness of a multi-disciplinary curriculum,” Platt said.
In gamer slang, “pwn” means to conquer to gain ownership.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment | Categories: Miami University
Comments
By Wonder
March 5, 2010 8:18 AM | Link to this
I’m curious as to how many video game design programs there are at universities across the US. I don’t know of any. Is Top 50 really a significant distinction? Not if there’s only 60 or 70 programs!
By Gamer Dude
March 6, 2010 11:10 AM | Link to this
It sounds like top 50 is pretty good. The Entertainment Software Association says there are at least 254 game programs at Universities in the US and DC (46 in California and 21 in New York alone). Princeton review says they surveyed 500 programs. So it sounds like top 50 is pretty good - somewhere around top 10%.