Hasta La Ideas

Because this writer is ancient, he still remembers way back to when only children and the socially inept played video games, largely because he fit into both camps at one time or another. And even though it was the dream of many to one day be creating the next MegaMan or the like, to actually do so and, even more bizarre, prosper at it, still holds a tinge of ridiculousness. But then you remind yourself that the gaming industry seems to pull down more money in a week than both the film and music businesses do on an annual basis. Only then does it make sense that The Princeton Review and the magazine GamePro have banded together for the second year to release their ranking of the top 10 undergraduate and graduate video game design programs. The University of Southern California mopped up this year, winning the top spot in both categories. The rest, well, if you’re like us, you might be thinking, “They have a video game department?” However, if you’re the parent of a soon-to-be-college-age kid, maybe this list will help you better come to terms with your child’s choices and you’ll let them pursue the video gaming field, instead of getting a traditionally extremely valuable degree like English Literature. Now if you’ll excuse this writer, he needs to go sew some new patches onto all his clothing scraps. Here’s the list of top undergrad programs:

1. University of Southern California, Los Angeles

2. University of Utah, Salt Lake City

3. DigiPen Institute of Technology, Redmond, Wash.

4. The Art Institute of Vancouver, Vancouver, B.C.

5. Michigan State University, East Lansing

6. Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, Mass.

7. Drexel University, Philadelphia

8. Champlain College, Burlington, Vt.

9. Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, N.Y.

10. Becker College, Worcester, Mass.

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