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Metropolis Reality Forums « Try a Master's in PlayStation »

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Try a Master's in PlayStation
« on: May 24th, 2003, 1:41am »		 Quote Quote Modify Modify
Hobby course ... if a surfing degree is too  
taxing, try a Master's in PlayStation
By MEL HUNTER  
MA (Hons) in French & European Politics
 
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,5-2003232266,00.html
 
STUDENTS who love playing computer games have had their prayers answered – a university has launched a degree in the subject.
 
From next October you can study for a Master’s degree in PlayStation at Sheffield Hallam University.
 
The course will be the ideal way to give obsessive gamers the chance to turn their hobby into a career.
 
But the degree, already dubbed the “Lara Croft course” after the sexy computer game character, could well be blasted to smithereens should the Conservatives come to power.
 
For the Tories have pledged that so-called Mickey Mouse degrees will face the chop under them.
 
Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith promised last week to scrap tuition fees — one of their biggest vote-catching promises yet — and pay for them by axing daft degrees.
 
He said cash was being wasted on the Government’s target to get half of all youngsters into university.  
 
 
 
Mastering the game ... PlayStation
 
He said: “Many of them don’t want to go, and they go into courses which are, frankly, in many cases pointless.”
 
But academics at Sheffield Hallam have defended the PlayStation degree, or MSc in Entertainment Software Development.  
 
Bob Steele, principal lecturer in computing, told The Sun: “There is nothing Mickey Mouse about this course.
 
“Writing software for games is some of the most challenging programming there is. It is time to have a course to give people those skills in this country.
 
“We don’t just want this to be seen as a course for blokes who love playing PlayStations. In economically depressed areas such as Sheffield it is important to tap into new areas.
 
“This is a serious business and big business for Sony, who are sponsoring the course.”
 
Sony Computer Entertainment UK will be giving technical back-up to students.  
 
Company boss Ray Maguire said it can take up to 20 programmers two years to produce a single game.
 
He said: “We hope more universities will start offering courses like this.”
 
The 13-month PlayStation degree, which costs £5,500 per student, joins a long list of courses which sound more like a hobby than hard work.  
 
 
 
Sausage studies ... barbie course  
BARBECUE STUDIES, run as part of an NVQ at Birmingham College of Food, could go up in smoke under the Tories.
 
GOLF STUDIES at Buckingham Chilterns University College has the handicap of sounding too much like fun.
 
The BA (Hons) Sports Management And Golf Studies comes with the added opportunity of gaining an NVQ in greenkeeping and offers all-important membership of nearby golf club.
 
Plymouth University is riding the crest of the wave after introducing a degree in SURFING in 1999.
 
The number of students taking the Surf Science and Technology course has more than tripled since then.
 
Those knuckling down to an HND in WINE STUDIES at Brighton University will be hard pressed to tell their lecture time from their leisure time.
 
Culture, Media and Sports Studies students at Staffordshire University can get down to some serious revision on the life and times of DAVID BECKHAM.
 
Trekkies looking for the right degree can boldly go to Liverpool University, where students get the chance to sit in front of sci-fi flicks as part of its Master’s degree in SCIENCE FICTION.  
 
At the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, the woolly jumper brigade are singing the praises of a four-year degree in FOLK MUSIC.
 
Students really have to jump through the hoops when doing CIRCUS SKILLS at London’s Central School of Speech and Drama.
 
Yet those planning to sign up for the PlayStation degree are convinced they are doing the right thing.
 
Prospective PlayStation student Danny Kainth, 24, who is completing an MSc in Multimedia Technologies for E-commerce, said: “The course teaches loads of skills.”  
 
Bob Steele added: “It is a great course for those who love playing games. But we want to move away from its nerdy image. It is a serious, professional business.
 
“This course is open to everyone — men, women, young and old. The most important thing is that they can write computer software.”
 
He hit back at claims that people won’t take the Master’s degree seriously.
 
“The Tories would not axe this course,” he said: “They’d give us more money once they see how highly skilled it is.”
 
Ray Maguire admitted the whole computer games industry suffered from a “joke image”.
 
“It’s not easy at all,” he said. “But it is fun.”  
« Last Edit: May 24th, 2003, 1:42am by east » IP Logged
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