DAN BLACKWELL
BIZ/TECH REPORTER

This month the first graduating class of Humber’s videogame programming students could see their final projects land them a job at their favourite game developer.
The three-year program started in 2007 and to graduate, students must program a game on their own for a final capstone project.
“The idea is that you can take this out to an employer and say this is a thing I did entirely on my own, and the kind of thing I can do for you, so give me a job,” said program co-ordinator Rob Robson.

A still image from Bramwell Su’s game Red Hood. (Courtesy)

“There are jobs out there, there are game companies looking for new employees,” said Robson, adding he thinks their grads are the type of employee companies are looking for.
Graduating student Amadeo Bonanno’s game, Flying Clod, features a man being flung into a building using touch sensitive controls.  He said the inspiration came from his love of flash games.
“I always love casual games where you have nothing to do,” he said.
While Bonano hopes to land a job working at Playstation developer Naughty Dog, he isn’t opposed to a little entrepreneurship in the meantime.
“I already have a game for the Xbox arcade in mind,” he said.
“There’s a Playstation game called Burn Zombie Burn, so it’s like that type of game where you just go around killing monsters.”
Fellow graduate Bramwell Su said he hopes his game Red Hood and The Fiends of Nevermore lands him a spot at developer Ubisoft, and is honoured to be among the first graduating class.
“It’s very cool because it’s the first time they’ve had the program, so it’s nice to be the first representatives of Humber,” said Su.
The student designed games reflect how videogame programming courses are evolving along with technology, Robson said.
“In something that’s computer based there is always fairly rapid changes,” he said.
“We continue to modify the program to the demands of the industry.”