By Noor Aisha

EVEN though the gaming scene in Singapore is still in its infancy, three Singapore Management University students are ready for a career in this new but promising industry.

Jonathan Zhan, Alexander Chong and Muhammad bin Mohsin, all from the School of Information Sciences (SIS) at SMU, recently completed a gaming internship in the United States this summer. They were selected after roughing out a stringent two-stage selection process comprising a programming test and an interview. The internships were sponsored by the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA).

The Singapore-MIT Gambit Game Lab, which hosted the trio, is a five-year research initiative that addresses challenges faced by the worldwide digital game research community and industry. It places a 'core focus on identifying and solving research problems using a multi-disciplinary approach' that can be applied by Singapore's digital game industry.

'I don't think any experience is necessary when pursuing an internship in the game industry,' Alexander says. 'What you really need is the passion for it and I really, really like games.'

He jokes about how on most days, the three 'had more trouble leaving work than getting to work'.

Alexander, who played the role of Quality Assurance (QA) Lead at Gambit, says he has had a passion for gaming since the age of four. He saw gaming as a good springboard to help himself 'get out of the financial industry', in which he had little interest. However, he had initially felt the urge to join the world of finance because of its promise of good pay and prospects.

In particular, he describes how, prior to landing the gaming internship, he had walked through the doors of a bank, looked around the room with about 15 people hunched over their desks, and thought to himself: 'I can't be in this room for the rest of my life.'

On a cultural level, the work ethic at Gambit was vastly different from what the students had seen in Singapore. 'It was hard work, but really fun,' Jonathan says cheerily. 'We stayed at the dormitory and it was just a pleasant 15-minute walk to the lab.'

The dress code on a typical day was relaxed - most dressed in whatever they felt comfortable in, and shorts, slippers and singlets were considered perfectly acceptable.

In addition, students were only encouraged to work from 9am to 5pm, after which work would be frowned upon.

The trio also got the privilege of meeting world-renowned gaming talents such as Henry Jenkins, William Uricchio and Warren Spector during their time there.

However, it was not all fun and games. They faced tight schedules and 'pretty difficult technical challenges'. Still, this fostered bonding as team-mates had to help one another. Working relationships with team-mates were pleasant most of the time.

Alexander explains: 'Most of the time, people in the gaming industry are here because this is where they want to be. This makes them very self-motivated and easy to work with.'

The trio were assigned to develop a game prototype within nine weeks, while working in separate teams. Each team constituted six or seven student members from different institutions.

Challenging conventions

The final masterpiece was a game called Akrasia, a single-player game that 'challenges game conventions and is intended to make the player think and reflect'.

Based on the abstract concept of addiction, Akrasia is set in a maze that represents the mind, and the trio say they learnt about valuable life skills, such as overcoming addiction, as the development of the game progressed.

More importantly, they learnt the essentials needed to become a successful game developer - passion, a strong interest in technology and the talent for getting into others' heads and understanding their way of thinking, so as to be able to develop a game that they will like.

Looking ahead, Alexander, Jonathan and Muhammad hope to develop games professionally as a career.

Jonathan has just graduated after completing his four years at SMU, and has just started work at the Singapore Gambit lab to fulfil this dream. Alexander, who has just begun his third year of studies, says he intends to work with the Singapore Gambit lab on a part-time basis. Muhammad will graduate in December, after completing his semester exchange with Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Jonathan aspires for Singapore to become a gaming hub, with students from the renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology and elsewhere coming here.

'It helps that it (gaming) is a profitable industry, and the government is behind it,' he says.

This article was first published in The Business Times on October 06, 2008.