GamePro films Starcraft class at UC Berkeley

Starcraft 101: The Art of War

Starcraft class begins at UC Berkeley and GamePro films the first class and meets the professor.

Starcraft 101 Teaser:

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First Class Entire Session:

Download the Entire 1st Class - 180MB/.mov (Save As...)

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It's 6:45 and class is about to start. Throngs of students are starting to crowd the hallway in front of room C230 at the Haas School of Business, deep in the heart of the UC Berkeley campus. There is a noticeable buzz in the air and it looks as if most of the students are about to enter the doors of a rock show, not a two-hour night class.

It's every college gamer's dream: get credits for learning and playing a video game. GamePro was first on the scene at UC Berkeley to attend the inaugural class on the world popular real-time strategy game Starcraft.

Course Description:

UC Berkeley students with an interest in real-time strategy games and the competitive gaming landscape are encouraged to participate in this class. This course will go in-depth in the theory of how war is conducted within the confines of the game Starcraft. There will be lecture on various aspects of the game, from the viewpoint of pure theory to the more computational aspects of how exactly battles are conducted. Calculus and Differential Equations are highly recommended for full understanding of the course. Furthermore, the class will take the theoretical into the practical world by analyzing games and replays to reinforce decision-making skills and advanced Starcraft theory. Class will start with lecture and usually include a special discussion topic having to do with the day's lecture to inspire new and original thought. At the end of lecture, there may be time to analyze student-submitted replays to illustrate a point or to improve analysis. Homework will be assigned at the end of each class and is due at the beginning of each lecture.

GamePro will be covering more of the class throughout the semester -- stay tuned for more video documentation!

Class Info: http://www.berkeleystarcraft.com

Comments [13]

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method0123

Most of these people seem to be thinking this class is a joke. If people were to laugh at professors at my college (University of Central Florida, GO KNIGHTS!) during a synopsis of the class on the first day they would be run out of the class by the professor and students. I bet this guy is going to nail some asses to the wall to prove his course is for real and not some pushover. He seems to take his stuff seriously, and the content he was talking about had everything to do with real life application of GAME THEORY and DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS, not Star Craft game sessions! I hope that GP posts the flunk/drop rate for this course because that room is going to be a helluvalot more spacious come the end of the semester! You can bank on that! I guess I'm kind of irritated because I had to suffer through a lot of quantitative mathematics, calculus and trig while I was in college and everyone took those classes deathly serious because they were hard as hell!

Octagon

Everyone in the class was super serious and wanted to be there, they weren't laughing at him, it was a starcraft joke.

method0123

Octagon wrote:

Everyone in the class was super serious and wanted to be there, they weren't laughing at him, it was a starcraft joke.

Idk, it seemed like he was getting a little upset every time they laughed. He seems to really believe in what he was saying, be it from Starcraft or not. You can see him tense up every time they laugh. Maybe not, but...

pytliks

The turnout for the class is crazy! Who would have ever thought we'd see the day a college actually allows a course like this, even if it is taught by a student. I know there were a few classmates of mine in college who were smarter than most of the professors. It's pretty awesome that Feng can make this happen and it's just another example of how influential this game is.

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