I get angry when I hear engineering [especially graduate] students talk crap about the undergraduate BS Computer Science: Computer game design degree. They think it’s simple and fun and apparently we’re wasting our time not doing more important things. They don’t know half the things we do. Some know that we follow the same curriculum as the computer science students do, but just having the word “game design” next to our degree is apparently downgrading.

What, are we inferior because we get to program fun things? Are you jealous because we get to have fun with what we do? Are you intimidated because we’re forced to work in groups while you program alone in the dark corners of your bedroom?

I hear a lot of people say they would rather do their own work than not have to work in a worthless group. Well grow up idiots. You’re going to have to work with other people if you plan on getting a job or even do research. Our program trains us and gives us hands on experience working in a space with other humans. We not only learn everything normal CS students learn, but a whole world of more crap they can ever imagine. We know how to communicate with one another. You know why? Because not only is it a part of life, but sometimes you have to talk to other people to get work done. Apparently some college students still don’t get that.

Having the experience to work in a group is very valuable. Not only do you grow learn how to work in teams, but you go through rough times together. You laugh together, you program and pull all nighters together. You eat and starve together. You individually work 60+ hours a week on mechanics together. You bleed together. You get threatened to be expelled from school together because you slept in the lab doing late night programming together. You live with them. You work with them. You get feedback as a group, you fail and you improve. You have support, you defend, you fight and you cry with each other.

Well we didn’t cry. But Ripholes at least was on the verge of mental failure. But that’s beside the point.

The point is… the game design degree, I feel, is 100 times more valuable to a person’s experience than a normal computer science degree. You learn about life and yourself throughout the course of the senior sequence and it’s not easily replaceable. I can easily say that I learned more my senior year about programming and teamwork than my three years prior to it put together. People not in the degree and only speculate it have no right to judge what goes on in it because they have no idea what territory they are stepping into.

Mario Kart DS is too brutal to play! Tryton bought me the game earlier this summer and I have been struggling to beat some missions and cups. All the players drift the corners, thrust and lay bananas in front of you! They keep their shells behind them so you can accidentally run into them! The cars on the race road swivel your general direction to knock you off track! Pinballs roll behind you and run you over… It’s challenging! I will get better.

I never realized how much I hate sitting in front of the computer. All I get is: no inspiration, no motivation, no thoughts, no energy, no emotions, no enthusiasm and all those are “nothings.” I don’t gain anything from sitting in front of this laptop I’ve invested so much of my time in! Wasted. Lots of time.

That’s it. That’s all I really get.
I don’t get it.