ERIC DIEMER , a recent graduate of ITT Technical Institute, has the distinction of being the first of two students graduating from the Little Rock campus with a Bachelor’s in Digital Entertainment and Game Design. Prior to earning his BS in Game Design, Eric completed his Associate’s in Programming (2004) and a second Associate’s in Multimedia (2006). Eric’s diversified training has given him the skills needed to work in a variety of areas in game design. Eric adds to his technical skills and educational background a passion for all aspects of gaming and a natural creativity. Creativity can’t be taught, but it is a crucial element of game design that must be combined with scripting (programming) and multimedia (art). Eric’s passion for gaming, his natural talents, and his educational background have well prepared him for a career in the industry.

His ability to create in-depth original game ideas, characters, worlds, and storylines, when combined with his talents for analyzing and problem-solving make Eric a viable candidate to work on a design team . . . one day, after gaining corporate experience, to serve as lead designer, or even producer.

Eric’s interest in the industry began with a passion for games and for computers initiated by his grandfather’s gift of a Commodore 64 that came with Frogger and two other games. Later that year, for his seventh birthday, he received a Nintendo Entertainment System and two games that captivated his young imagination: Mario and the first Zelda. The Zelda series and later the Final Fantasy series fueled Eric’s love of role-playing games. As he developed his passion for gaming, Eric explored other types of games, learned basic DOS, and later served as a Beta tester for Blizzard’s WarCraft III. Online games and the ability to interact with other players in role-playing game situations fueled his intense interest in massively multi-player online games (MMORPG).

As a college student studying elements of game design, marketing, art, animation, and programming, Eric began to see games in a whole new way, developing an understanding of how alterations in one aspect of a game changes the entire game play and “feel” of the game for the users. An ability to analyze multi-faceted characters, storylines, and game levels and to problem-solve workable solutions enables Eric to find workable solutions to complex game design problems to ensure a balance. The MMORPGs, rapidly becoming the most widely played games internationally, offer the biggest challenge for new talent wanting to combine their technical, artistic, and creative skills to serve in the industry. Although Eric is prepared to work on a variety of design team projects to bring new games to market, it is here that he aspires to apply his gifts as he works toward his ultimate goal – to deliver his own original MMORPG to the world.