UK industry group TIGA has expressed disappointment that A-Level students who have taken computer studies has dropped. A-Level results were released today, the qualifications which determine if young people can go to university.

Only 4,065 took computing at A-Level, with a huge majority of 3,704 boys and just 361 girls. This was compared to maths, which saw much higher take-up, with 45,737 boys and 31,264 girls.

TIGA’s CEO Dr.Richard Wilson reacted to the figures and said that “the games development sector is suffering a skills shortage” and that to increase uptake, the Government needs to take measures such as “[lowering] tuition fees for computer science and mathematics degree courses.”

He did note an increase in art and design, maths and physics which he said was “encouraging to see” and that developers also need graduates with these skills.

He also noted on the lack of females on the computing course (something I’ve written about before):

The under-representation of females in disciplines such as computing also limits the potential supply of skilled computer scientists available for work in the games industry. Males are more than ten times more likely than females to take A-Level computing. In the long term, this gender imbalance contributes to the skills shortage problem.

With cuts in all sectors of education (and all across the country), it seems unlikely that lower tuition will be offered for any subjects. More technical subjects such as maths and science often lead to more direct jobs into industries such as videogame design. This is compared to more broad courses such as history (my confounded degree), which offers a more broad set of skills, but also less focused job opportunities. As for in the schools, I imagine that computing isn’t offered lots in high schools (it wasn’t in mine), with a high level of technology and teaching talent needed when compared to art, English or maths.

This, along with the squeeze through a lack of tax relief, could help compound the problems UK studios are facing. Dundee developer Realtime Worlds recently went into administration and if a lack of government support and a continuing economic lull carries on, we might be seeing more closures; at the end of the day, at the detriment of the videogames we play.

Via: GamesIndustry.biz

Voting was open all weekend and despite my best efforts it seems the Negative Gamer community has deemed 3D to be nothing more than a gimmick. Just less than a quarter of us think that 3D gaming is the future and 10% decided to give other answers (ranging from the useful; “only once 3D TVs are perfected (no glasses) and cheap”. To the useless; “balls”).

I think I was expecting a larger result for the “future” people, but perhaps that’s my gadget-loving self day dreaming. Maybe my simple want for more toys clouded my vision. Or maybe the majority of you are just wrong. Time will tell, hopefully in 3D.