Video game fans may now have a legitimate excuse to spend all day hooked up to their PlayStations and Xboxes - thanks to a new video game masters degree at Trinity College Dublin.

Trinity has just added a one-year full-time Masters degree in "interactive entertainment technology" starting in October this year. The course has been designed in collaboration with influential players in the industry such as Microsoft, Demonware, and Radical Entertainment, and focuses on the science and technology behind the video game and entertainment industries.

The deadline for applications to the course is 31 July, 2007. Only 25 places are available each year, with applicants required to have a minimum of a 2.1 in Computer Science or a related degree.

Successful applicants will have access to a state-of-the-art learning environment, which includes a Microsoft-sponsored "Gamelab", and will be schooled by world experts in computer graphics and animation, computer vision, networking and distributed computing.

The course is designed to provide students with the latest tools and technologies to prepare them for a career in game development and entertainment technology.

The introduction of the Master's degree course is timely, given Ireland's fast-growing media and gaming industry. Recent government reports identified it as potentially of significant strategic value to Ireland's future economy. Globally, the video game software industry is worth over $20bn a year, expanding at a rate of 25 per cent per annum.

"Interactive entertainment is one of the fastest growing and most exciting areas of global industry right now. It presents a fantastic opportunity, not just for students and individuals, but for the country," said Dr Steven Collins, course director Trinity College Dublin

"If we can continue to grow the skills and knowledge available in Ireland in key areas, building on our research strengths, we have the ability to make Ireland a specialised hub for this business."

© 2007 ENN

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