Video Game Design Summer Camp

Computer camps have gotten very popular over the past few years and one interesting development in the whole genre is the focus on specific skills within computers as a discipline. This has brought about specialized camps and one of the more interesting specialized computer camps is the video game design camp.

emagination has some interesting options for computer camps as a summer program including a serious program for 15-18 year olds who are serious about game design. They also have emagination programs for younger students. While I am too old to actually attend this kind of camp I think it is a really great opportunity and emagination currently has two campuses - one outside boston at Bentley college (which is a stunningly top notch college) and the other in Atlanta Georgia.

I really think that this type of immersive learning is very effective and I have taken a look at their website and programs and it looks like they really have a great curriculum put together. They use 3ds MAX which is an industry standard 3d graphics package and they use FPS creator for game design which is relatively easy to use and grounded in good game design. I wouldn't call FPS creator an industry standard package but it gives a good foundation in what game design is all about.

Some Closing Thoughts

The video game design and creation industry is much like the hollywood industry in that it develops, cultivates and promotes the absolute best in creativity and teamwork. A camp like this exposes a young adult to the kind of creative environment that they would see in the video game industry.

Video game design is a very wide field with a lot of different avenues of approach from writing/scripting to 3d modeling, graphics generation, database management, level design and well a lot of different things. It can be very limiting to try to get an understanding of all of this with jsut a few hours a week and hodge-podging stuff together from the internet. A camp, being totally immersive, can give a serious boost up to a young adult trying to get an understanding of all this stuff.

If you are seriously considering a summer camp in video game design and technology you may want to contact your local University or Community College. Many of them have offerings and the college just a few miles from me has a whole series of computer day camps for children and teens.

Advice for Parents: Chances are good that your child/teen knows more about the basics, requirements, and software tools that are used in video game design and because the industry has opportunities in so many different disciplines (from writing to art, 3d modeling and programming you may want to have some discussions with him or her to get a feel for what the goals and attrations are.

Further Resources to video game summer camps:

• emagination summer camps for video game design (Waltham, MA and Atlanta GA)
• Digipen Institute of Technology - Redmond Washington
• Digital Adventures - (day camps) in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, including video game design, web page design and general computing. Site includes campers' web pages.
• Digital Media Academy - Locations at Stanford University in the San Francisco Bay Area; Austin, Texas; San Diego in Southern California; South Carolina; University of Michigan in Ann Arbor; University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia; Claremont Colleges in Los Angeles and DePaul University in the Chicago Area.
• Directory of Summer computer camps -- lots of listings to computer camps -not all of them focus on video game design.

Further Resources in Video Game Design and Programming as a Career

• Online Degree Programs in Video Game Making
• Video Game Design and Programming Colleges