My provost just sent this link to me and some faculty from computer science and theater, all of whom I’ve already spoken with, very informally, about some kind of collaboration.
Game design has helped rekindle interest in computer science and become a hot new major at more than 200 schools across the country, according to the Entertainment Software Assn., a trade group. Because making games crosses several disciplines, the diversity of programs that offer such courses is staggering: Fine arts colleges, engineering schools, film schools, music schools and even drama programs are sending graduates into the fast-growing industry.
“Some programs throw a drama guy together with a programming guy to see what they come up with,” said Bing Gordon, a venture capitalist and former chief creative officer for industry powerhouse Electronic Arts Inc. “Games is the ultimate interdisciplinary art.” (Alex Pham, LA Times)
Funny that you chose to mention this, as I just finished reading an article yesterday at Forbes regarding how the video game industry is a particular segment that tends to weather economic downturns surprisingly well. As more and more 3D MMORPGs continue to be pumped out on the market, and strive to be more and more ‘realistic’ virtual worlds, paring a computer science major with a theatre major seems like a match made in paradise. And if we can learn anything from the Matrix at all, green screening and cgi’ing actors and characters is already possible. For a theatre student to understand the creative process involved in digital creation is an invaluable resource for them. Likewise, for a designer or programmer to understand the process that they actor goes through is highly valuable while planning the production processes.