Luton firm joins with University in a world first

PRLog (Press Release) – Oct 19, 2009 – Students in Bedfordshire University’s Computing Department received a welcome visit from Luton’s philanthropist businessman, Jan Telensky and his colleagues from ‘Train 2 Game’ on 14th October, when they delivered modules for Games Developer and Games Designer courses – the first designed for the industry by the industry. These ‘world first’ courses have the backing of TIGA, the UK’s trade association for games developers and are being integrated into the University’s BSc Computer Games Development course curriculum.

The visit, heralds the first time that the training materials have been adopted by a University and comes just 7 months after the company first launched its Computer Games Designer and Computer Games Developer courses. To date over 6,000 individuals have wanted to sign up and around 20 students at Bedfordshire University will be studying the BSc version in this year’s intake.

Bedfordshire University’s Head of Computer Science, Professor Carsten Maple said:
“We evaluated the materials produced by Train2Game and felt they made an important contribution to the curriculum of the BSc Computer Games Development course. We decided to integrate them into the course material for the 2009 academic year.

Because the Train2Game materials are written by games industry professionals, with the backing and involvement of the industry and its trade association, we feel it will help to ensure that our students learn industry relevant skills and that they are exposed to industry relevant tools”.

The course was written by D.R. Studios of Milton Keynes, whose COO, Tony Bickley with over 25 years’ experience in the industry with the likes of Interplay, US Gold and Konami, was present during the hand-over to talk to students about the relevance of their studies to today’s computer games industry.

Train2Game, commissioned industry games specialist DR Studios to devise and write the courses, for aspirants who are unable to attend University, and to provide an alternative route into this dynamic industry.

Richard Wilson, CEO of TIGA, said: “The new Train2Game courses are highly relevant to current industry needs. Industry experts in DR Studios design them and TIGA members have an opportunity to provide input into the course content and the exam questions through TIGA’s Examinations Committee. We hope that this new industry-led initiative by Train2Game will increase the supply of well-trained and employable new entrants into the industry.”

Train2Game’s Marketing Director, Mike Head, said “Leading Developers want young people with imagination and vision, who understand games and how to put them together. The inclusion of our course materials in University of Bedfordshire’s BSc Computer Games Development course will go along way to help achieve this.”

For details visit www.train2game.co.uk or call 0845 2728799

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