AFTRS Offering Game Design and Virtual Worlds Courses in 2009

aftrs.jpgYou may have seen a few ad spots floating around Kotaku recently about some new courses coming to AFTRS in 2009. Ads or no, I thought it was well worth digging deeper to find out more details for you — just as Logan gave up his gig here at the Kotaku desk to take up the dream gig of Game Designer at Tantalus, I’m sure plenty of readers would love to explore the opportunity of making games. And these two courses really do seem to be an excellent way for talented, creative game lovers to go a step beyond the code and artistry (awesome as that is) and aim for a designer role.

Today some brief notes on what I’ve learned about the courses, and in coming days I’ll share some more information gleaned from interviews with two of the key staff involved with the development of the new programs.

The essentials. We’re talking Graduate Diploma level studies, with applications due November 7. Courses in Game Design and Virtual Worlds are both full-time over two semesters in 2009. These aren’t like courses you can do at a graphics college. You won’t be focusing on learning 3D graphics and programming tools. The focus is creative leadership, understanding game mechanics, and prototyping your concepts. More on the basic ideas behind the two new courses in a video after the jump.If you don’t really know AFTRS, it is the Australian Film, Television, and Radio School. The peak school for anyone wanting to become a professional in the traditional media arts. Multimedia elements have been appearing in their courses, and the foundation of LAMP (Laboratory for Advanced Media Production) in 2005 set the scene for the increasing focus on interactive and networked media, and now into games. Previously based near Macquarie University, AFTRS now has its own campus at Moore Park next to Fox Studios (just past the Hoyts for those who know the Entertainment Quarter / Bent St).


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