THE PASSION AND TURN IT INTO A PROFITABLE CAREER FOR MIAMI GRADUATE.
I VISITED THE CAMPUS TO SEE HOW.
HE CAN WALK AROUND IT, STICK HIS HEAD IN RIGHT OF IT.
MIKE: FIND OUT H A JET ENGINE WORKS OR MAYBE BRUSH UP ON YOUR PAINTING.
IT IS NOT IN ARCADE, BUT IF I TOLD YOU THIS WAS GOING ON IN AN INSTITUTION OF HIGHER LEARNING?
THEY ARE GAMING IT UP.
>> THIS IS A MASSIVE INDUSTRY.
THE VIDEOGAME INDUSTRY ALONE IS LARGER THAN HOLLYWOOD AND MUSIC COMBINED.
MIKE: HE SAYS INSTEAD OF PARENTS TELLING KIDS TO GET OFF THE COUCH, MAYBE IT IS TIME TO LOOK AT THE POSSIBILITIES.
>> THESE GAMES HAVE BECOME SO SOPHISTICATED THAT THERE ARE STORYLINES, PLOTS, ENGAGEMENT THAT IS SIMILAR TO TELEVISION AND MOVIES FOR PEOPLE.
MIKE PART OF THE REASON THE UNIVERSITY IS ALL IN.
MIAMI’S GAMING PROGRAM, RANKED 3RD OUT OF ALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS BY THE PRINCETON REVIEW AND 16TH IN THE WORLD.
MIAMI GRADS ARE LITTERED THROUGHOUT ALL THE INDUSTRY, BUT IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT POPULAR GAMES LIKE FORTNITE AN OVERWATCH.
MAJOR COMPANIES YOU HEAR ABOUT EVERY DAY IN GREATER CINCINNATI, LIKE P AND G, MACY’S, KROGER AND GRAETER’S ARE LOOKING FOR YOUNG PEOPLE WHO KNOW THE TECHNOLOGY >> ANYTHING THAT’S GOT POINTS,
LEVELS, REWARDS, THINGS WE USE EVERY DAY.
THOSE ARE ALL GAME MECHANICS.
THE DASHBOARD IN YOUR CAR THAT TELLS YOU HOW YOU’RE DOING RELATIVE TO OTHER DRIVER THOSE ARE GAME MECHANICS.
MIKE: AND IN AN EFFORT TO FOSTER THIS CREATIVE COMPUTER ENVIRONMENT, MIAMI ACTUALLY HAS A VARSITY E SPORTS TEA 30 STUDENTS WHO COMPETE AGAINST ABOUT 80 OTHER COLLEGE TEAMS
ACROSS AMERICA IN A VARIETY OF VIDEO GAME LED INTO BATTLE BY ACADEMIC ADVISOR CHAD REYNOLD HE USED TO BE A TRACK AND FIELD COACH.
>> THEY LOG THE SAME AMOUNT OF TIME.
THEY’RE COMMITTED TO THE GAME.
LOGGING THE AMOUNT OF WORK IN TO BE SUCCESSFU MIKE: CALVIN SANVEE IS FROM MONROE IN OUR AREA.
HE HAD NO IDEA HE’D EVER CELEBRATE A CHAMPIONSHIP.
HE WAS ON THE OVERWATCH TEAM THAT BEAT GEORGIA SOUTHERN FOR THE NATIONAL TITLE I JUST CAME TO MIAMI LOOKING FOR AN IT DEGREE, AND THEN THIS STARTED WHEN I WAS IN MY 3RD
YEAR OF COLLEGE.
THE VARSITY PROGRAM STARTED IN THE FALL OF 2016.
MIKE: THEY HAVE THEIR OWN ESPORTS ARENA AT THE SCHOOL.
STATE OF THE ART EQUIPMENT, FURNITURE, AND UNIFORMS, THEY EVEN GIVE A PARTIAL SCHOLARSHIP TO A GAMER, AND THEY’RE HOPING SOMEDAY THEY’LL GET THE GREEN LIGHT TO OFFER, FULL RIDES, JUST
LIKE TRADITIONAL COLLEGE SPORTS SO THEY CAN LURE IN TOP TALENT, TO MAKE MIAMI UNIVERSITY A LAUNCHING PAD FOR GAMING SUCCESS.
>> IF WE START TRAINING STUDENTS TO SEE THE WORLD AS THIS COLLECTION OF DIFFERENT GAME OPPORTUNITIES AND GAME MECHANICS.
THEN THERE ARE JOBS THEY CAN GO INTO, JOBS THEY CAN GO INTO IN MARKETING PROMOTION, PSYCHOLOG AND EDUCATION.
MIKE: IT IS FAR MORE THAN JUST FUN AND GAMES IN OXFORD.
THERE’S A WHOLE WORLD OUT THERE I KNEW NOTHING ABOUT.
PRO GAMING TEAMS THAT BRING $10 MILLION TO $20 MILLION A YEAR.
MASSIVE ONLINE AUDIENCES, WITH MORE VIEWERS THAN MOST TRADITIONAL SPORTING EVENTS.
AND YES, IT’S THE SAME TECHNOLGY USED, FOR YOUR KROGER CARD, OR GRAETER’S CARD, OR IN YOUR CAR, IT’S WHY WE’RE NOW SEEING THESE OPTIONS AT UNIVERSITIES LIKE MI