Orange County Register

IRVINE Freshmen at UC Irvine could be among the first graduates to earn a degree in computer game science as the university expands its research into gaming and virtual worlds.

A new Center for Computer Games and Virtual Worlds established this quarter at UCI is expected to consolidate and expand the research done in those fields. UCI isn’t the first school to offer a degree program in computer gaming, but university officials are keen on turning informal relationships faculty have with video game development companies into formal ones that can lead to internships, scholarships and exclusive research and development agreements. One of the most popular games in the world, World of Warcraft, is made by Irvine-based Blizzard Entertainment and a number of students from UCI already work there, said Information and Computer Sciences associate dean Magda El Zarki.

“We would like to become a hub for education and research on game development and to train the future workforce of the gaming world,” El Zarki said.

El Zarki is heading up the center alongside Walt Scacchi, a senior research scientist with UCI’s Institute for Software Research and research director for the Computer Game Culture and Technology Laboratory. According to Scacchi, UCI can perform important research the video game industry needs but doesn’t have the time to focus on.

“The game industry tends to invest its research capabilities on either creating new games or creating new markets for games rather than how to best exploit the underlying core technology,” Scacchi said. “There’s an annual cycle of meeting holiday demand. At the university we don’t have that.”

Scacchi sees enormous potential in computer games and virtual worlds beyond their current spheres. He describes it as the first new medium of the 21st century, following film, radio, television and the Internet in the 20th. He sees potential for virtual worlds everywhere. More than 25 faculty have been brought together to form the center from various disciplines at UCI, including engineering, art, dance, education, humanities and anthropology.

“Yes there is a computer game industry, but we think the market or the future of computer games may go so far beyond the current game industry so that people who have the education and the research skills will be the ones most in demand,” Scacchi said. “Advanced manufacturing, aerospace, biotech, finance, even education – that’s where the future of video games and virtual worlds may really be.”

The center is reaching out to video game and computer development companies to try to build those collaborative relationships. One example Scacchi mentioned about the type of research UCI could provide for the industry has to do with the current generation of multi-core processors found in computer and game systems.

For years, computers advanced primarily through faster processors. But now advancement is occurring through the use of multiple processors built into a single system. Five years ago there might have been a single 1 Ghz processor inside a new computer whereas today there might be two or four 2 Ghz processors in the same kind of machine. This new technology creates problems for video game companies that haven’t figured out how to take advantage of that extra computing power.

“In 3-5 years people will be talking about 32, 64, 128 cores. Building games to exploit that kind of technology is very difficult. That’s a research problem,” Scacchi said.

The moniker for the new center – Computer Games and Virtual Worlds – was chosen because the two terms could be interchangeable, especially as the industry evolves.

“From a research and education standpoint we choose to study both computer games and virtual worlds as the same core phenomena. We sometimes look at games as virtual worlds and virtual worlds as games,” said Scacchi.

Along with building relationships with video game companies, El Zarki said the next step is to create the formal degree program with three tracks available for undergraduates. The three tracks are expected to be game design and production, core game technology and game and virtual world studies.

She hopes the major could be available by next fall, meaning current freshman might be able to enroll in the program for their final two years of college. El Zarki said she hopes a master’s degree will follow.

“There’s a tremendous interest among the graduate students,” El Zarki said.

The Web site for the new gaming and virtual worlds center is here.

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