The
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
's
School of Cinematic Arts
The University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) houses seven academic divisions: Film & Television Production; Cinema & Media Studies; John C. Hench Division of Animation + Digital Arts; John Wells Division of Writing for Sc ...
's Interactive Media & Games Division first accepted M.F.A. students in 2002. The division currently offers both undergraduate (B.A.) and graduate (M.F.A.) programs in interactive media and game design. The programs include courses in game design, development, audio, animation, and user research as well as experimental work in gestural and immersive interfaces, transmedia design, and interactive cinema.
In 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2017, USC was named as the number-one design program for games in North America by the Princeton Review.
Major funders of the USC IMGD include
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
and
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...
, both of which companies have endowed faculty positions in the program. Game industry executive
Bing Gordon
William "Bing" Gordon is a video game executive and technology venture capitalist. He served ten years as Chief Creative Officer of video game publisher and developer Electronic Arts (EA) prior to his current partnership with Kleiner Perkins Cauf ...
was the first holder of the Electronic Arts Endowed Chair in Interactive Entertainment, which is currently held by game designer
Tracy Fullerton
Tracy Fullerton (born June 21, 1965) is an American game designer, educator and writer. She is a Professor in the USC Interactive Media & Games Division of the USC School of Cinematic Arts and Director of the Game Innovation Lab at USC. In 2014 ...
. The Microsoft Endowed Professorship is held by user research pioneer Dennis Wixon.
In 2012, the school announced plans for a new building to house the Interactive Media program and associated research labs, including the Game Innovation Lab. In early 2013, Tracy Fullerton, the Electronic Arts Endowed Chair of Interactive Media, announced that the division, formerly known as the Interactive Media Division, was renamed the Interactive Media & Games Division to "honor the groundbreaking work in games that our faculty and students have produced in the decade since our division was formed."
In 2013, alumni
Jenova Chen
Xinghan Chen (; born October 8, 1981), known professionally as Jenova Chen, is a Chinese video game designer. He is the designer of the award-winning games ''Cloud'', ''Flow'', ''Flower'', and '' Journey'', and is co-founder of Thatgamecompany.
...
and
Kellee Santiago
Kellee Santiago is a Venezuelan American video game designer and Video game producer, producer. She is the co-founder and former president of thatgamecompany. Santiago was born in Caracas, Venezuela, and raised in Richmond, Virginia, where Santia ...
, founders of
thatgamecompany
Thatgamecompany, Inc. (stylized as thatgamecompany) is an American independent video game development company founded by University of Southern California students Jenova Chen and Kellee Santiago in 2006. The company was a developer for Sony Co ...
were honored with multiple awards for Game of the Year, Game Direction, Innovation, and Game Design for their game
''Journey'' (2012).
13th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards
/ref>
Projects
* ''Cloud
In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may co ...
'' - an experimental computer game from 2005, funded in part by a grant from Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...
.
* '' flOw''
* ''Darfur is Dying
''Darfur is Dying'' is a flash-based browser game about the crisis in Darfur, western Sudan. The game won the Darfur Digital Activist Contest sponsored by mtvU. Released in April 2006, more than 800,000 people had played by September that year ...
''
* PMOG
The Nethernet (previously known as PMOG, the Passively Multiplayer Online Game) was an online game in which players "passively" participated in while browsing web pages. Players earn data points by taking missions, which they can spend on various ...
- A vast social meta-game that can be played by completing missions on the Web.
* '' Reality Ends Here'' - A pervasive game experience for incoming School of Cinematic Arts freshmen.
* ''Outer Wilds
''Outer Wilds'' is a 2019 action-adventure game developed by Mobius Digital and published by Annapurna Interactive. It first released for Windows, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 before releasing for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in 2022. A Nin ...
''
* ''Chambara
, also commonly spelled "''chambara''", meaning "sword fighting" films,Hill (2002). denotes the Japanese film genre called samurai cinema in English and is roughly equivalent to Western and swashbuckler films. ''Chanbara'' is a sub-category of '' ...
'' - award-winning stealth-action multiplayer game
* '' Walden, a game'' - award-winning game about Henry David Thoreau
Personnel
Faculty & Staff
Currently, the division is chaired by Danny Bilson, a game producer, writer and former executive. Full-time faculty and staff include Tracy Fullerton
Tracy Fullerton (born June 21, 1965) is an American game designer, educator and writer. She is a Professor in the USC Interactive Media & Games Division of the USC School of Cinematic Arts and Director of the Game Innovation Lab at USC. In 2014 ...
, Mark Bolas
Mark Bolas is a researcher exploring perception, agency, and intelligence. He is a Professor of Interactive Media in the USC Interactive Media Division, USC School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California, Director of their In ...
, Richard Lemarchand, Dennis Wixon, Peter Brinson, Marientina Gotsis, Andreas Kratky, Jeff Watson, Jane Pinckard, Sam Roberts, Sean Bouchard, Jesse Vigil, Martzi Campos, Todd Furmanski, Lucas Peterson and Timothy Lee. Adjunct Faculty include Laird Malamed, Gordon Bellamy, Carl Schnurr, Heather Desurvire, Vincent Diamante, Chevon Hicks, Robert Nashak, and Scott Rogers.
Former faculty and staff include Scott Fisher - founding chair of the division, Jen Stein
Jen is a feminineSebased on U.S. Social Security Records given name, frequently a shortened form (hypocorism) of Jennifer, and occasionally a surname. It may refer to:
Given name People
* Jen Adams (born 1979), Australian lacrosse coach and fo ...
, Steve Anderson, Anne Balsamo
Anne Marie Balsamo (born January 7, 1959) is a writer who focuses on the connections between art, culture, gender, and technology.FacultylistNewSchoolFaculty./ref>
Education
Balsamo attended graduate school at the University of Illinois at Urban ...
, Chris Swain, Peggy Weil, Jeremy Gibson, Julian Bleecker, Michael Lew, Erik Loyer Erik Loyer is a digital artist whose work examines identity and memory in the context of new modes of communications afforded by media technologies.
History
Loyer began his work at The Voyager Company, and has done professional interface design wor ...
, Michael Naimark
Michael Naimark is an artist, inventor, and scholar in the fields of virtual reality and new media art. He is best known for his work in projection mapping, virtual travel, live global video, and cultural preservation, and often refers to this bod ...
, Eddo Stern
Eddo Stern (born 1972 in Tel Aviv) is a California-based artist and developer known for creating experimental video games, game art and machinima-based works. Stern was a founding member of the physical-computing based collective and artist-run ...
, Perry Hoberman, William Huber, Mark Essen, Akira Thompson, Michael Kontopolous, Joseph Olin, and Kurosh ValaNejad.
Alumni
Notable alumni have include the founders of thatgamecompany
Thatgamecompany, Inc. (stylized as thatgamecompany) is an American independent video game development company founded by University of Southern California students Jenova Chen and Kellee Santiago in 2006. The company was a developer for Sony Co ...
, including Jenova Chen
Xinghan Chen (; born October 8, 1981), known professionally as Jenova Chen, is a Chinese video game designer. He is the designer of the award-winning games ''Cloud'', ''Flow'', ''Flower'', and '' Journey'', and is co-founder of Thatgamecompany.
...
and Kellee Santiago
Kellee Santiago is a Venezuelan American video game designer and Video game producer, producer. She is the co-founder and former president of thatgamecompany. Santiago was born in Caracas, Venezuela, and raised in Richmond, Virginia, where Santia ...
. Also, Justin Hall
Justin Hall (born December 16, 1974 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American journalist and entrepreneur, best known as a pioneer blogger.
Biography
Born in Chicago, Hall graduated Francis W. Parker High School in 1993. In 1994, while a student ...
, Matt Korba and Paul Bellezza of The Odd Gentlemen
The Odd Gentlemen is a video game developer founded by Matt Korba and Paul Bellezza in 2008.
History
Its first video game is '' The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom''. It was originally Matt Korba's graduate thesis at the University of Southern ...
, Asher Vollmer
Asher Vollmer (born September 14, 1989) is an American indie video game developer. He created ''Puzzlejuice'' and '' Threes''.
While a student at USC Interactive Media & Games Division, he developed 2012 iOS game ''Puzzlejuice'' with Greg W ...
(Threes!
''Threes'' (stylized as ''Threes!'') is a puzzle video game by Sirvo, an independent development team consisting of game designer Asher Vollmer, illustrator Greg Wohlwend, and composer Jimmy Hinson. The game was released on February 6, 2014, for ...
), Sean Plott
Sean Saintmichael Plott (born June 27, 1986), better known as Day '', is an American esports commentator, player, event host, and game designer. Plott is best known for his contributions in the professional '' StarCraft'' scene, where he regul ...
(Day9), Adam Sulzdorf-Liszkiewicz (RUST LTD), and Elle Schneider
Elle Schneider (born November 11, 1985) is an American filmmaker and camera developer, best known as co-producer and director of photography on the 2014 documentary '' That Guy Dick Miller'', and for her work creating the Digital Bolex cinema came ...
(developer of the Digital Bolex
Digital Bolex was a partnership between Cinemeridian, Inc. and Ienso Canada, an engineering company, to develop the Digital Bolex D16 digital cinema camera. Development was funded via a successful Kickstarter in March 2012, raising $262,661.
O ...
) attended the program.
References
External links
Interactive Media Division Weblog
USC Games homepage
Official Academic Information About the Division
Game Innovation Lab
{{DEFAULTSORT:USC Interactive Media and Games Division
Schools of the University of Southern California
Video game universities