Videogames have an obvious presence on the college campus—often in search of new forms of procrastination, many college students look to video games as a distraction from their rigorous academic lives. But for the students of Professor Ming Chow, videogames aren’t the distractions from course requirements—rather, they ARE the course requirements.
Professor Ming Chow, a double Jumbo who received his Bachelors and Masters degree in Computer Science at Tufts in 2002 and 2004 respectively, has been an avid gamer since childhood. But during his time at Tufts, he wasn’t able to fully combine his passion for gaming with his academic pursuits.
In fact, Chow noticed that, especially in the Computer Science department, students were faced with an overwhelming amount of theory courses, and were exposed to a clear lack of “application” courses—courses which he described to be more “hands-on,” or programming-specific.
When Chow started teaching at Tufts in 2005, he hoped to fill the gap in application courses he experienced as student. Although he began teaching a “Computer Security” course, the following year, Tufts’ Experimental College approached Chow about teaching a course on game development.
“That first class through the Ex College didn’t just go well…it was fantastic,” Chow said. “I think the students who took the course found the information extremely valuable.”
In 2008, Chow taught the game development course through the Ex-College again, but this time, students could receive credit in the Computer Science department, thus drawing greater interest from Computer Science majors.
And from that point on, Chow said, “The rest was history.”
Now offered through the Computer Science department, Chow’s “Introduction to Game Development” course has gained interest among students from Tufts and non-Tufts students alike, when offered in the summer.
“Gaming has been a huge topic of interest over the years,” Chow said.
Chow explained that offering the course through the Summer Session at Tufts is beneficial in a number of ways. For one, it’s been approved as a course available to rising high school seniors—a younger clientele who often hold a significant interest in gaming. Chow explained that in addition to high school students, the course also holds appeal to an older audience:
“One of the students last summer was an MIT alum who was very interested in games, but wanted to know more about programming,” Chow said. “But one of the bigger reasons he took the course was to spark his interest, so he could apply to grad school in the field.”
Breaking Away from Individual Assessment
Chow explained that he hopes his game development course will fill a void that he experienced as a student as Tufts.
“During your college career, you may or may not find very few courses that a) use your creativity and b) require you to work in a team,” Chow said. “I’m hoping that my course will allow students to use their creativity to actually create a game, learn about programming, and combine different disciplines in the process.”
Chow said the course is truly “multi-disciplinary,” combining algebra, narrative skills, physics, and math, and culminating with a final task of making a game that is “fun,” he said.
The “multi-disciplinary” aspect of the course underlines Chows’ stress on teamwork. Because many of the assignments require students to work in groups, it’s clear that a variegated skill set is needed to create a well-rounded result. For this reason, the course does not have a prerequisite, and is open to students of all different paths of study.
“The course really covers the full gauntlet: but the idea is that students do a lot of hands-on work, as well as a lot of writing,” Chow said.
A Call for Creativity
“When it comes down to it, a game is a story,” Chow said.
And the “stories” Chow has seen in the games his students have created indeed have pushed the bounds of creativity.
“Last year, one student made a Battleship clone based on Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and another made a 3-D shooting game using snowmen and guns,” Chow said.
Although creativity is key, in looking at the trends of the commercial gaming market, an extremely creative game interface doesn’t necessarily mean it will be profitable. So what does make a game profitable in a global market?
“It [has to be] uber, uber addicting…meaning that you can play the game for hours on end. For example, the best-selling game of all time is Tetris—it’s a prime example of a truly successful game,” Chow said.
Chow explained that in addition to the “addicting factor,” price and customization also play into a games’ success in the market.
“For example, World of Warcraft is a cash cow…largely because of the content, the customization factor, and the fact that there is a clear, crisp goal in the game,” Chow said.
Looking Towards the Future
But although the basic qualities that make a game profitable remain relatively constant over the years, the gaming industry is inherently dynamic, meaning that Chow has to re-evaluate his course material each year so as to stay up to date with current trends.
“I change a good 40 percent of my game development course each year…for example, in the past decade or so, controllers have gone from wired to wireless; or even from controllers to guitars, or Wii nunchucks,” Chow said. “Or even, in 2006, who would have thought that the iPod would have become so popular [as a gaming device]?”
And now, with the recent announcement of the Apple iPad, the latest in touch screen tablet technology, gaming could see yet another overhaul relative to their format. In terms of sales, the industry trends are constantly shifting as well, Chow explained.
“At one point, people though the gaming industry was recession-proof…which was wrong, but it definitely isn’t about to go away any time soon,” Chow said.
In order to keep his course material up-to-date with industry trends, each semester, Chow brings in a couple of guest speakers, so students can hear from experts in the field.
Lastly, Chow hopes to bring his own passion for gaming to his teaching. As an avid gamer himself, Chow explained that even amidst his busy schedule, he still finds an hour here and there to play some of his favorite games.
“My two favorites, ‘Final Fantasy 9’ and ‘Castlevania: Symphony of the Night,’ will probably never change. ‘Castlevania,’ is definitely the last of a dying breed…it also has arguably the best soundtrack ever,” Chow said.
--story by Charlotte Steinway ('10)
Professor Chow's "Introduction to Game Development" course is open to current college students, as well as rising high school seniors (class of 2011), though Tufts Summer Study's "College for Juniors" program. More information about the College for Junior program can be found here.
