In DigiPen's Vancouver, British Columbia, computer lab, a student dodges fireballs in a videogame dungeon. He doesn't notice the instructor walking up behind the desk. What will it be - reprimand? Expulsion? No, it's more likely the instructor will make a few helpful comments about the game and move on to the next joystick-wielding student.
DigiPen is the first North American school for game programming. Curriculum is fastidious and exhausting to keep up with fast-paced technology. Each hour (13 per day, 4,500 total) is planned for the two-year program. Appropriately, the name DigiPen sounds like a jail for computer hackers - attendance is mandatory, including Saturdays, year-round.
The company originated in the late '80s to produce special effects and animation. Its horizons widened when a TV station wanted some slick motion graphics. DigiPen later began offering courses in graphic design; last year the first game-development students signed up. Nintendo provides the latest equipment.
What sort of students attend DigiPen? Lucky ones. Hector Torres, a young New Yorker who worked at LensCrafters, is one of the 30 students selected from a heap of 2,000 applications. Along with seventh-grade dropout Patrick Meehan and 28 others from equally eclectic backgrounds, Torres paid C$8,500 (US$6,300) for the chance to write the next Doom or The 7th Guest. Want to join them? Get in line: the school is receiving applications for the next five years. It might be worth the wait, however. Demand for game programmers far outstrips supply. Radical Entertainment of Vancouver hired one student who hadn't even finished the torturous first year.
DigiPen graduates will have dazzling careers, but the school has philanthropic designs as well. Ethics are heavily stressed. Copyright infringement means expulsion. The school enforces strict controls on violence, racism, and sex, and religious and educational aspects are encouraged. Director Claude Comair emphasizes, "Nobody wants a technically perfect game with no story behind it." DigiPen: +1 (604) 682 0300, on the Web at www.digipen.com.
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The School of Games
