Games Design Courses - Are they worth it?
Please note: When I refer to game developers, this means I am referring to everyone involved in the development of the game such as programmers, artists, producers, designers, etc. There has been increasingly more enquires about becoming a games developer in forums related to games careers such as the ones on IGDA and GameCareerGuide. As much as I am happy that more and more people are interested in entering the games industry, the majority of these are asking on how they become a games designer and which games design course should they choose because they naturally see it as the best way to get into the industry. After all, if you want to be a plumber, you do a plumbing course. So if you want to be games designer, you do a games design course, right? If only it was that simple.
Medal of Honor controversy
On Monday, Britain’s Defence Secretary Liam Fox was calling for a retailer sale ban on EA’s Medal of Honour that is due for release in October this year. Fox was calling for the ban as it allowed players to play as the Taliban and shoot British forces.
When I first read this, I thought this meant it was in the single player mode which left me curious and interested on how EA has approached this. Is the player forced to play as the Taliban? Do they force the player to kill in order to progress or allow the player to choose what they want to do in the boots of a Taliban solider? Would the player’s performance affect the story?
Unfortunately, it appears that Fox hasn’t played the game since EA has mentioned in reaction to his comment that there are no British Forces at all in the game and you only play as Taliban in multiplayer mode as someone has to be on the ‘other’ team.
Personally, I don’t think his argument is completely invalid as it is based on a very recent war and the losses are still fresh in people’s minds, especially where they loved ones were killed. As EA knew when they started this project that it would cause controversy, it can be seen as bad taste on their part.
However, I do think it is wrong to call for a ban on the game outright when he hasn’t even played it to evaluate and criticise and even then, it is already a 18+ game. It should be a consumer’s choice on what they do and don’t play.
Hopefully retailers won’t cave into the pressure and allow games to reach the same level of subject depth as films and books.
