?Computer games are a defining cultural form for the 21st century,? said Sheldon Brown, director of CRCA?s Experimental Game Lab and leader of the New Media Arts Layer. ?The technology and aesthetics of computer games are driving the future development of computer graphics, visual communications and information infrastructures. The intellectual exchange at the core of this relationship will support the development of new types of expressive capacities through technological innovations.?
Sammy Studios will also provide the EGL with the cost-free use of its game engine, SCORE. Designed for the creation of large scope 3D video games for home consoles, SCORE comprises proprietary technology created by the company?s internal development as well as commercial middleware. The middleware integrated into SCORE include graphics, physics, and online technologies that are currently among the most widely used for game development, with UCSD granted license for their use through this partnership with Sammy Studios. SCORE will be incorporated into new artistic projects involving graduate and undergraduate students from the university?s Interdisciplinary Computing in the Arts (ICAM) program, which is the fastest growing undergraduate major at UCSD.
?Academic researchers, working with practitioners in industry on the future forms and technologies of computer games, is a cornerstone of our New Media Arts thrust in Cal-(IT) 2,? said Larry Smarr, director of Cal-(IT)2. ?Computer gaming is one of the fastest growing segments of the California economy, so this new partnership with Sammy Studios and CRCA will help us move more aggressively into this exciting and rapidly evolving field.?
