A robotic bunny armed with a rocket launcher fights zombies that can change shape in Chicago because the bunny needs chalk.
Sound like a video game that children might play?
Absolutely, said students who together created the game concept Saturday with help from Hyattsville native Gabriel Pendleton during the third annual Video Gaming Conference: Imagine-Innovation-Serious Play II, held at Walker Mill Middle School in Capitol Heights.
Hosted by the nonprofit Patriots Technology Training Center based in Seat Pleasant, the half-day event introduced more than 50 students in grades five through 12 to some of the skills needed to work in the video game business, from designing the graphics to composing the music.
The technology center organizes workshops and competitions to encourage students to enter the S.T.E.M. fields of science, technology, engineering and math fields.
Pendleton, who currently tests and develops video games in Baltimore, randomly selected words off the lists made by the students to illustrate the basic elements of a video game — heroes, villains, weapons and goals — in a fun way.
“It was amazing. We got to create our own game,” said Joshua Solon, 13, an eighth-grader at Walker Mill Middle.
“I like how he opened the door, how [Pendleton] opened their minds to the idea of being creative and to think out of the box,” said Ayanna Harris, 19, of Greenbelt, who sat in on the workshop.
Harris, whose mother, Deborah Harris, volunteered at the event, is studying digital media at Drexel University in Philadelphia with the goal of working as animator for Pixar, the computer animation film studio that produced “Toy Story.”
Also at Pendleton’s workshop was Anthony Harrington, 17, a senior at Suitland High School, who said he wants to explore a career in digital media and become a video game programmer.
“It can be more than just a fun thing to do. You can make a career out of it,” said Harrington, who grew up playing video games and recently took a class in computer networking at Suitland High.
Anthony plans to combine his interests and go to college in Arizona next year to learn about game programming.
“Why not do something you enjoy doing for the rest of your life?” he said.
A beginning game designer with zero to three years experience can earn about $46,000 a year, and a designer with six years or more can earn about $75,000, according to a 2010 study done for the state’s Department of Business and Economic Development, called “Maryland’s Digital Media Industry: Size, Scope and Economic Impact.”
Historically, however, black people and other minorities are underrepresented in the computer and video game field, according to a 2005 study, “Game Developer Demographics: An Exploration of Workforce Diversity,” by the International Game Developers Association based in Mt. Royal, N.J.
The association did not immediately respond to a call Monday about more recent data.
Based on 3,128 responses, the study revealed that 83 percent of game developers in the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom who responded were white, 7.5 percent Asian, 2.5 percent Hispanic, 2 percent black and 4 percent other.
Studying math and science in school can seem boring to students, but it can lead to jobs not only in video games but also in the growing field of video simulations, which is used in everything from training fighter pilots to sea captains, said retired Navy Capt. Tom Abernethy, who talked to students about the importance of thinking about careers early.
In one of the six workshops, Roderick Woodruff of Upper Marlboro used PowerPoint to show students how to design a race car, fill in the colors and add wheels to show how elements in video graphics are developed.
Devin Wheeler, 13, a student at Ascension Lutheran in Landover Hills, said he appreciated the demonstration.
“I want to learn how to make video games more realistic,” he said.
vterhune@gazette.net
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