May 29, 2012 – How many college graduate thesis projects and term papers become available commercially? It would be safe to say few, if any. This might apply to video game projects created by students as well.
Change that to “applied.”
The first graduating class in the University of Utah’s Entertainment Arts and Engineering: Master Games Studio has now released their master thesis project on Desura, an online game publisher.
The game, “Robot Pinball Escape”, puts the player in the chrome shoes of Tilt, a scrappy transforming robot with big dreams of beating a living pinball tournament to win a rocket ship and escape to the land of his robo-dreams. The game can be downloaded and played for free at www.robotpinballescape.com.
The U has steadily gained recognition for its video game program; the undergraduate program is already ranked third in the nation, while only in its fifth year. The graduates of the Master Games Studio are now bringing more awareness to student games.
“With more awareness also comes credibility—having a published game credit on your résumé could mean the difference between getting hired or staying unemployed,” says Kurt Coppersmith, the producer on the project. Coppersmith, who holds degrees in art and film and media arts from the U, is pursuing his interests in educational games and games for health. “It is a valuable experience when a group of students from different backgrounds and disciplines can see a thesis project through to completion, including a commercial launch.”
“The main goal of the EAE program is to create the multi-disciplinary environment that produces extraordinary artists, programmers and entrepreneurs,” says Robert Kessler, professor of computing at the U and program director of EAE. “We look forward to ‘Robot Pinball Escape’ being the first of many published student projects.”
ABOUT EAE:
The School of Computing and the Department of Film and Media Arts at the University of Utah offer an interdisciplinary emphasis in Entertainment Arts and Engineering. This emphasis provides an academic path for students interested in careers in the digital entertainment industry including video games, digital animation, computer generated special effects, and more. Additional information is available online at http://www.eae.utah.edu/.
ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH:
The University of Utah, located in Salt Lake City in the foothills of the Wasatch Range, is the flagship institution of higher learning in Utah. Founded in 1850, it serves more than 31,000 students from across the United States and the world. With more than 72 major subjects at the undergraduate level and more than 90 major fields of study at the graduate level, including law and medicine, the university prepares students to live and compete in the global workplace. Learn more about all the U has to offer online at http://www.utah.edu.