The Video Game Industry is quickly becoming the largest form of entertainment. Because of that, games are delivered more often throughout the year and we can see companies starting to look for more creative ideas. Like Portal, those ideas sometimes come from recent graduates of Game Design/Development programs. According to new research by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), there will be 343 programs in game design, development and programming.

“It is encouraging to see so many institutions of higher learning preparing students for careers in our creative and high-tech industry,” said Rich Taylor, senior vice president for communications and industry affairs at the ESA, the trade association representing U.S. computer and video game publishers. “Video games are everywhere – nearly three quarters of American households play games, and education, healthcare and business professionals are using them to help us lead happier, healthier and more productive lives. With an increasing number of schools now offering graduate programs in game design and development, students have even greater access to the training they need to meet this growing demand.”

Now students will have more choice then ever. So they’ll be able to research and choose the program that fits them. The full list of programs can be found at the ESA here.

A Guildhall advertisement. (No, that's not Jennifer.)

A couple of weeks ago at GDC 2010, Guildhall alumna Jennifer Canada, who currently works for Insomniac Games, presented “Paint-by-Gender: How to add ‘pink’ gameplay to your ‘blue’ title (and still keep all the boys happy)” which was based on her thesis.

She suggested that it is entirely possible to add female-friendly elements to games and still appeal to both genders (surprise, surprise). She has experience with this: As a game designer for some titles aimed at the younger set, she knows how to incorporate those elements into a successful game.

It’s a little surprising that she even made it to game design in the first place. Canada graduated from Rice University with a double-major in opera performance and political science. Not exactly computer science, is it? She’d even given up on gaming because she figured that fast reflexes were necessary. Not so. So after playing The Sims, rediscovering gaming, and discovering SMU’s program, she changed her path.

In 2005, she received her Professional Certificate in Digital Game Development from The Guildhall. Soon after, Canada started both her career and her thesis. Two years later, she’s the first certificate graduate to complete the advanced standing Master of Interactive Technology program at SMU. Let’s face it: A lot of people wouldn’t expect that achievement to go to a woman, would they? (Achievement unlocked?)

They are doing this as part of their “Changing the Game” campaign, which aims to equip youth with the ability to create games with social content. They do this by encouraging science, math, technology and education skills. AMD believes that teaching video game design also encourages this.

The Awards, which have a storied 87-year history, represent the cutting edge of youth creativity, and adding a prize for young developers fits right in. The grant provided by AMG will allow them to host multiple workshops and fund several scholarships. The Alliance anticipates 700 entries for the video game design category.

If you actually go, you can attend hundreds of sessions (over 400!) that include lectures, demos, roundtables, and even the Game Developers Choice Awards. Pretty much every aspect of the industry is covered, from mobile phone games to AI and game localization.

This year’s keynote will be delivered on Friday by Sid Meier, who will speak on the psychology of game design.

We do have a contact at GDC, and I’ll be doing my best to keep GamingAngels readers as up-to-date as possible on news that happens both in and out of the Moscone Center.

Can’t wait to see what the rest of the week has in store! (I hope you’ll follow along with me, as well.)

This scholarship covers the full tuition for a female aspiring game designer to attend VFS’s one-year Game Design program, and was established as a concerted efford by Vancouver Film School to encourage more females to pursue Game Design as a career.

Last year’s scholarship winner, Shannon Lee of Toronto, is still very enthusiastic about the program midway through. (Then again, I guess the homework’s pretty fun.)

“The Game Design program at VFS has been a very rewarding and enjoyable experience thus far,” Lee says. “Applying for the scholarship was the best decision I’ve ever made and I’m sure that the next recipient will feel the same,” she said.

VFS has quite a few distinguished alumnae, including Tara Mustapha and Charmie Kim of Microsoft Game Studios, Pamela Livara of Vancouver’s Slant Six, and Melanie Genereux of Longtail Studios in PEI.

Full details of this year’s Women in Games scholarship will be announced at Game Design Expo 2010 on April 10-11, 2010.

Yeah, I never would have expected that partnership either, but with the field basically exploding at this point, it’s a wise decision on the part of the Review. If you want to see the list in its entirety, go here, but keep in mind that the complete Top 50 list is alphabetical. The top 8 ranked schools are listed below.

1. University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA)

2. DigiPen Institute of Technology (Redmond, WA)

3. Drexel University (Philadelphia, PA)

4. Becker College (Worcester, MA)

5. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, NY)

6. The Art Institute of Vancouver (Vancouver, BC)

7. Worcester Polytechnic Institute (Worcester, MA)

8. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA)

Commentary on this list is here, including tuition amounts and student:faculty ratios.

The catch: You have to design the game.

The downsides: Well, there are none. A cash prize (current amount undetermined) will be awarded for the best Flash-based game based on and inspired by the characters, all of which can be found at the Sneables website. Michael Pellegrino, founder of 2day&2morrow’s Creations, isn’t expecting extensive gameplay testing or game design documents – right now, a fun and cute idea is all you need.

Ideas can be submitted at Sneables.com, where more information will become available this month.

From the creators of “De Blob” back in 2007, comes a very new, fresh, an innovative developer. It was only 2008 when Rumino Games was signed to be a Nintendo Licensed Developer and their first title, “Swords and Soliders” is making quite an impression.

The Wiiware game “Swords and Soldiers” has been getting a lot of positive attention lately. “Swords and Soliders” was originally nominated for five categories at the Dutch Game Awards, Best Game, Best Visuals, Best Audio, Best Original Gameplay and the Control magazine Industry award. Well, Rumino Games is proud to announce “Swords and Soliders” being honored at two award shows in a row;  it was given ‘Best Original Game Design’ at the Dutch Game Awards diner as well as the ‘Control Magazine Industry’ award given to Rumino by legendary game designer Peter Molyneux himself. That’s not all however, the game also won twice more, taking home the ‘overall’ and ‘games’ award at the Europrix Multimedia Awards in Austria because, according to the jury, it was highly addicting and a blast to play.

In many ways, “Swords and Soliders” is one of the first sidescrolling, real-time strategy game for the Nintendo Wii. In the game, three unique factions battle for the powers of the gods. Each faction has his own completely unique units and spells allowing for lots of strategies and variety. Rumino Games focuses on creating games for the enjoyment of all ages and gamertypes. For more information on Swords and Soldiers visit www.swordsandsoldiers.com!

And check out Naomi’s review of Swords & Soldiers here on GA!

This has to be one of the cooler contests, especially if you are interested in a career in Game Design. EA and DICE are inviting gamers to submit their ideas for a great in-game challenge in Bad Company 2. DICE wants your help in creating the achievements and trophies in the game.

You can submit your ideas here, but you may want to hurry as the contest ends on November 19th.

On the site they have a form where you can submit your ideas and some examples of ideas to get your creative juices flowing.

Being an Indie Game Developer can be extremely satisfying and extremely frustrating. There is a lot to know and many times the developer just wants to see his or her game made.

Now comes some help. Gary Bracey, founder of Digimask, is encouraging visitors to his “Ask I.V” site to ask any business-related question. No matter how simple or naive you may think it is.

“In addition to Gary, we will have other industry specialists involved, such as Martin Brown of Team 17, Mark Morris of Introversion, and we have access to many more so we are in the position of sourcing the best information for the question asked.” says Richard Hill-Whittall, founder of indievision. “We shall also include guest slots with industry lawyers and accountants who will be able to give useful pointers and tips about diverse issues such as IP Protection and Tax Credits.
Networking is one of the most valuable resources in any industry and via the above people we have access to practically all of the key ‘movers and shakers’ in the business.”

The team hopes to help indie studios with questions that crop up on a daily basis and are common. Go to the Indievision website here for more details and information.