关于NYU game center的一些情况

首先感谢地里的@czapply    因为以下信息都是@czapply Chuck大神问来的 不是我 在此借花献佛  还请Chuck大神原谅我想赚取积分的心态不要生气哈

. 1point 3 acresAbout Game Center@NYU

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1. We have Game Design class which more focus on game mechanism, projects include boardgame and physical game. We also have Game Studio class which is pure digital. People form team based on intention or sometimes randomly. You can take any roles in the project, it's very open.
2. I don't have too many information about MAGNET, but I think we will have chance to cooperate with other department. Good thing of MANET is we gonna have better lab and facilities, but also we will spend most of our time in Brooklyn other than Tisch, some of us prefer the atmosphere at Tisch.
3. Most of us are looking for interns.However, seem like entering indie/casual game companies in New York is not that hard, but for 3A studio in CA, it's much more difficult. Also, some student gonna work on their own game and try to publish it this summer.
4. We can select courses from both Poly and Tisch. Not sure for Columbia, u can ask Prof.
5. Only two Chinese students in our program, a lot of classmates are New Yorker. We have four girls. Seem like everyone here has different background. I heard there will be more than 30 people in your batch.





1. The first semester we have 4 digital projects in studio and more non-digital projects game design. The roles in group are very flexible and you can choose which role(s) you want to act. Size and members are varied from project to project either. We have chance to work in small groups or as individual, or bigger groups like 6 people. We have some constraints for most of the 1st semester project, but they are very loose and a tool to help you create. In the 2nd semester you'll have a one-semester long project in Studio 2 and 3 electives. The second year will be a one year long thesis which is more open for your choice.
The direction you choose when applying the program is not used to fixed your learning, but for the faculty to make balance for their choice. You can focus on any direction you are most interested in, but no matter which area you are focused on, you will get a Game Design MFA degree.
2. I think the change will be good for us. We have bigger and more dedicating working space and I heard that we will be closer to some ITP students and educational school students who works on games, which can make our communication and cooperation easier. Poly students there may be a good tech support if you want to work with them. The negative point is that if you take classes in other NYU department, you will need to shuttle back and forth, it's about 30 minutes' commute I think.
For now, in class we only work with people who choose the class, not the outsiders. But there is a CS student attend Studio 2 and work with us this semester. Besides, no one stop you from working on your own project with your friends or other people. Game Center is attracting designers and developers for the events such as Playtest Friday and game-related lectures.
3. I'm not clear about my classmates' situations. Personally, I think it's generally hard to find intern as a game designer than other positions. It's like finding an intern as a film director.
If you have hard skills like arts or programming and you are interested in taking an intern in those positions, I think it'll be much easier. Producer and management intern are also easier than designer.
Part of my difficulty is that I didn't prepare for the intern application. I missed the deadlines of a lot of companies before I start looking for intern. That was a disadvantage as a first year MFA. Surely you will learn from our mistakes and do much better.
NYC game industry focused on mobile/social/indie games. Giant companies are rare in NY for the expensive living costs for their employees. The amazing aspect of this city is the freedom of creativity. Also, Game Center is now making new connections with west coast companies during this GDC, hopefully you'll get more connection with those companies than us when you're considering interns.
4. I think you can choose classes as you like. You need approve from your advisor but they are really open and supportive. NYU Game Center is new and open. You are the ones designing the program and your voice will be respected. Now we are taking classes across NYU and Poly. I don't know too much about taking classes at Columbia, maybe you should ask Dylan or Kevin for this info.
5. If you have been invited to the MFA group, search "Hello Thread" you will get to know most of us. One sentence - our background is highly diversified.

囧，楼主是谁。。。咋把我勾搭来的信息贴出来了。。。anyway，我又勾搭了一个

Zeke Virant
Hi Chuck,
I'm sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you. I've been pretty swamped with work since I got back from California.
1. For the first semester, you make games in Game Design 1 and Game Studio 1. Game Design 1 focuses on creating non-digital games. It's an incredible, but demanding class. For this class you make board games, modifications of simple games like rock-paper-scissors, card games, etc. Each project lasts about 2 or 3 weeks, and you end up making around 6 non-digital games. You make every game in a group of 3 to 5 people. Everyone in this class is expected to contribute to game design. It's probably the hardest class I've taken at the MFA.
Game Studio 1 is digital game development class. Again, students are put in groups of 2 to 5 people. A lot of class time is devoted to teaching students different game development tools. In the first semester, we made 4 digital games. Two games were 2D games developed in Game Maker, and two games in Unity 3D. Although students can focus on any area of development, you will probably need to spend a lot of time working in the area your most familiar. Groups tend to have a wide-range of talents, and if you're the only programmer or artist on a team, your team will probably need your help in that area.
Every assignment in Game Design 1 and Game Studio 1 has guidelines. Some assignments are more open than others, e.g., design a 2D platformer in Game Studio is pretty open. However, Game Design 1 does tend to be a bit more strict with the restrictions (for good reason, though).
2. MAGNET is new space that puts us in closer contact with other schools at NYU. You will not be taking classes with students from other NYU schools until your 2nd semester. I think the move will be great. We will have a lot more space, and it will be nice to interact more with other schools. I don't foresee many negatives.
3. There are a lot of opportunities to intern. I think almost every student in the program would be able to land an internship provided they apply for one. NYU has been wonderful in facilitating the process and regularly has internship/job-themed events. It also helps that the Game Center has a lot of connections within New York City's studios.
4. We can elect courses from any NYU school, though it's not always easy to get into the courses. NYU-Poly and ITP classes are much easier since they are related to Game Design. I'm not sure about Columbia since they are not a part of NYU.
5.
16 male, 3 female
Average age 27
Mostly Caucasian, 1 Israeli, 1 German, 2 Chinese, 1 Canadian/Iranian
Undergrad majors are all over the place: computer science, music, visual art, gender studies, economics, Chinese, philosophy, sociology, theater, English Literature, etc.
I'm not quite sure how many people are in your batch. They are doubling the faculty, so they may let in more students for your batch. Perhaps 30?
I hope this helps. If you have any further questions, please let me know! Again, it may take me a few days. I am still swamped with work (it's a good thing!)
Studying at the Game Center has been an unbelievable experience for me. If you're interested in Game Design--whether it be board games, video games, or folk games--you will absolutely learn an amazing amount at the Game Center. It's hard and demanding, but that's kind of what graduate school is about.
Take care!
Zeke

能够稍微翻译一下么？看英文很累。。
这是NYU还是NYU-Polytech？
好像是后者吧

麻倉枼 发表于 2013-4-4 06:57
能够稍微翻译一下么？看英文很累。。
这是NYU还是NYU-Polytech？
好像是后者吧

不是好像是后者，game center就是NYU的

mantoull 发表于 2013-4-4 13:03
不是好像是后者，game center就是NYU的

那它属于CS还是game design art concentration？我在它网站找不到game center这个concentration。。

麻倉枼 发表于 2013-4-4 13:14
那它属于CS还是game design art concentration？我在它网站找不到game center这个concentration。。

就是NYU 不是Poly  也不是CS下的  具体请查询官网http://gamecenter.nyu.edu/

血红的残月 发表于 2013-4-4 14:40
就是NYU 不是Poly  也不是CS下的  具体请查询官网http://gamecenter.nyu.edu/

额。。。那我也就不能报了，这就变成改专业了。。

czapply 发表于 2013-4-5 19:21
囧，楼主是谁。。。咋把我勾搭来的信息贴出来了。。。anyway，我又勾搭了一个

Zeke Virant

顶了个顶～

勾搭的另一个…………

Ilya Zarembsky
Hey Chuck, too bad!
Ok, here goes:
5, Word is there will be about 30 people in the class you'd be entering, and the plan is to keep it around that number for the next class. In the current class, there are 16 men (including a transgender guy) and 3 women. I expect fixing this gender imbalance has been one of the goals for your class. The 19 students range in age from 21 to ~40 (one guy). Most people are in their midtwenties; there are several people in their early thirties, and several people who are just out of college. I am 32 myself - the 3rd or 4th oldest. I'm Russian, there are two Chinese guys, there's a Canadian guy, a German woman, and the rest I think are more or less American -- though they are from all over, not just NY. There are a few people who were comp sci majors in undergrad, but most people had some kind of humanities major -- social science, literature, etc. I was an English major at Yale, though that was a while ago. No one has worked professionally in games, but a number of people had made (and in some cases released) games before starting the program. We've got a guy who's been working as an engineer at Google for many years, the Canadian guy worked in software for many years, artists who have worked random jobs and made operas/pixel art/etc, a person who's really into LARPs, and someone who's been an actor and runs a game podcast. As for myself, I had a pretty diverse mix of jobs in my twenties -- pro poker player, (junior) software developer, teacher.

4. You're basically free to take any class at NYU you can talk your way into. This semester, we are taking classes at ITP, Poly, and probably a few other departments. Your first semester, all of your classes will be at the Game Center, but after that it opens up.

3. There are lots of mobile/indie game outfits in NYC. If you're more interested in AAA game development, there are numerous internship opportunities at places like Riot, Blizzard, EA, etc. That said, I don't have a sense of how much the NYU Game Center affiliation will help you in getting an internship -- I am not looking to intern this summer myself, so haven't applied for any. You may want to talk to Toni, Shervin, Noah, the profs. We did have an internship fair earlier this semester where we had an opportunity to meet many local company reps face to face, give them our resumes, etc. I think it's safe to say that if you want a summer internship and do well in school, you have an excellent shot of getting one of your top three choices.

2. I wasn't sold on the move to POLY at first -- right now, we're in the middle of lower Manhattan, mingling with the other Tisch kids, which is nice for casual networking, making friends, and collaboration. That said, I've come around. I think we will have a larger and better space there, and we'll have an easier time meeting and collaborating with Poly students, who bring a lot of technical and HCI expertise. There's a close connection between the two campuses already -- the Game Innovation Lab at Poly is where many of us are already taking 1/2 classes this semester. On a practical note, the new campus is conveniently located, safe, and there's lots of food, etc nearby

1, The best way to answer this is probably to tell you about what last semester was like.
We all took 4 classes together: Game Studies, Games 101, Game Studio, and Game Design.
Games 101 is a lecture survey of the history of (mostly) digital games. Every week, Frank Lantz or a guest instructor (almost always other profs in the program) gave a lecture on a topic like "Action Games", "Adventure Games", etc. And then every week, we also had a section where we would discuss the week's lecture and play important games from that genre. Every week, we had to write a two-page critical essay on one of the "key" games from the genre -- if you're interested, I can send you a couple sample assignments/essays. There was also a midterm and a final; these were pretty standard for a lecture class -- some multiple choice, some short answer, some essays. The class is open to undergrads as well and is about ~100 students. However, it's not all sitting there listening to the prof -- there's a ~20 min part at the beginning of each lecture where we have a group discussion about the previous week's lecture (in addition to the section discussions).
Game Studies is a theory seminar that focuses on analytical/theoretical approaches to games. Every week, we read a number of influential/classic essays/book chapters in game studies, and discussed the readings during class. We also had to give a presentation on one of the readings, and write three essays. If you like, I can send you one of mine so you can get a sense for what this class was about. If you're not interested in theory, you will never have to take another such class during your time here -- however, I have found theory surprisingly practically useful as a design tool.

Game Design and Game Studio were both workshop classes that focused on game creation in teams of 2-5.
Game Studio was a digital workshop. We complete 4 projects over the semester; 2 2D projects in Gamemaker, and 2 3D project in Unity. The focus of the class is not on programming or other technical production skills, but rather on applying game design principles to digital design, and learning how to effectively work in teams.
The Gamemaker projects were: "an abstract action game using only squares" and "a 2D platformer"
The Unity projects were "an adventure game" and "an action game".
Aside from the abstract game assignment, the constraints were loose, and the projects were all over the place in terms of theme, setting, mechanics, etc.
We had 2-4 weeks per project. At the end of each project, we showed our work to the rest of the class and gave each other feedback. This happened also during the development process: we often showed prototypes and talked about the technical and game design issues we were facing. Many weeks, guest lecturers stopped by to discuss their design process and give us feedback in their special area of expertise. They included Kevin Cancionne, Noah Sasso, and several others. The rest of class time was taken up mostly by supervised tool tutorials and group work sessions. We were responsible for scheduling additional work sessions with our teams outside of class to complete the projects successfully.
More questions?

Game Design was a workshop in the fundamentals of game design, taught by Eric Zimmerman. We worked on non-digital projects only. There were about 6 assignments, ranging from 1 to 4 weeks in duration, and the teams again ranged from 2 to 5-6 people. The first project, a warm-up, was to modify an extremely simply existing game (RockPaperScissors, War, etc). We also made an abstract board game and a physical game. The final project was more open. I worked on a team of 5 to create a card&board game that combines elements of Dominion and Settles of Catan.
Most of class time was spent doing game design exercises designed to expose us to concepts like probability, negative/positive feedback, balancing, hidden information, etc. We also spent some time each week discussing readings from Rules of Play and the Game Design Reader (both by zimmerman and Salen), and discussing how the insights in the readings could be applied to our practice.
Every week we also had lab time (same for Game Studio, actually), which was basically guided group work time. Eric would go around and give us feedback on our prototypes, and we would iterate on them.
Hopefully I've given you a bit of a sense of what our program is like. There's a lot besides what happens in class, though -- the Game Center organizes many lectures and talks (and supports students who want to help with such events -- my classmate Toni Pizza has co-founded a new talkk series that runs at the Game Center and is heavily publicized by them), and there's a vibrant games community outside of the Game Center in NYC. For example, there's a Babycastles, a well-known and influential game collective that works to promote game culture, puts on exhibitions and parties and workshops, and curates exhibits at art festivals and major museums.
.--Cheers,
IVZ
P.S. Oh, we've also got a guy who's been a successful techno DJ

我今年上半年有幸在NYU Game Center 学了一学期。这个项目主要是做indie Game，开发工具主要是Unity。如果想要做AAA，用unreal的话，我建议还是多去SMU之类的看看吧。