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College Students Learn About Game Design From Japanese Software Company


3

Bangor - Like on most college campuses, there's a big group of students at Husson University and The New England School of Communications that love their video games.

"I'm an avid gamer myself. I really get into my games," said Ethan Blodgett, a sophomore web design major at NESCom.

Senior Tyler Turcotte added, "I mean I'm a NESCommer, so it kind of goes hand in hand with being a NESCommer."

So when NESCom invited a Japanese software company in to demonstrate a way to design games, many students grabbed their computers and wanted to give it a try. The school held its "Video Game Coding Camp" on Monday.

Audio major Brandon Germain said, "According to what he shows us, it's actually fairly easy."

It's easy because the company created a program that makes the process more user friendly called Enchant.js. It takes lines and lines of computer coding and whittles it down to much less.

"It's a programming environment, very easy and very powerful. It's open source and it's free," explained President and CEO of Ubiquitous Entertainment Incorporated Ryo Shimizu.

His company is travelling to several college campuses in the United States, demonstrating the program and explaining their country's gaming culture. In Japan, gaming is not only a major industry, but somewhat of a way of life.

"[We're] teaching the value of game design and how creating games can spread happiness," said Brandon Mcinnis of Ubiquitous Entertainment Inc.

It's an opportunity for the students to learn more about a favorite hobby that could someday become a career.

Blodgett said, "Every game has a story to tell, so being able to create a story for that through programming would be a lot of fun."

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Comments

Gaming industry is rapidly growing and it's a base to new talent. Gaming industry always looks for new talent and almost every student who comes out from a good college will be hired be good companies.
Abigail F Shipley Abigail F Shipley 12/26/2012 12:38 am

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