Video Transcript

[00:00] [ELECTRONIC SOUNDS AND BEEPS]

[00:05] (GLENN PLATT): HE CAN WALK AROUND IT, HE CAN STICK HIS HEAD INSIDE OF IT...

[00:08] (MIKE DARDIS): FIND OUT HOW A JET ENGINE WORKS INSIDE A VIRTUAL REALITY CAVE OR MAYBE JUST BRUSH UP ON YOUR PAINTING

[00:15] STUDENT: YOU CAN LIKE WALK THROUGH IT TOO

[00:16] MIKE: IT'S NOT AN ARCADE. WHAT IF I TOLD YOU THIS WAS GOING ON AT AN INSTITUTION OF HIGHER LEARNING? THAT'S RIGHT, THEY'RE GAMING IT UP [SOUND EFFECT] IN OXFORD, AT MIAMI UNIVERSITY.

[00:29] GLENN PLATT: AND THIS IS A MASSIVE INDUSTRY. THE VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY ALONE IS LARGER THAN HOLLYWOOD AND MUSIC COMBINED.

[00:36] MIKE: PROFESSOR GLENN PLATT IS THE DIRECTOR OF INTERACTIVE MEDIA STUDIES AT MIAMI. HE SAYS INSTEAD OF PARENTS TELLING KIDS TO GET OFF THE COUCH, MAYBE IT'S TIME TO LOOK AT THE POSSIBILITIES.

[00:47] GLENN PLATT: IT'S REALLY A FORM OF ENTERTAINMENT MUCH LIKE TELEVISION. THESE GAMES HAVE BECOME SO SOPHISTICATED THAT THERE ARE STORYLINES, AND PLOTS, AND THERE'S AN ENGAGEMENT THAT'S NOT DISSIMILAR FROM TELEVISION OR MOVIES FOR PEOPLE.

[00:57] VIDEO GAME CHARACTER: DON'T WORRY, LUVS. CAVALRY'S 'ERE. (2ND CHARACTER GASPS)

[01:01] MIKE: IT'S 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 LITTERED THROUGHOUT THE INDUSTRY.

[01:14] STUDENT: I KNEW YOU WERE THERE.

[01:15] MIKE: BUT IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT THE POPULAR GAMES LIKE FORTNITE AND OVERWATCH. MAJOR COMPANIES YOU HEAR ABOUT EVERY DAY IN GREATER CINCINNATI, LIKE P&G, MACY'S, KROGER, AND GRAETER'S, ARE ALL LOOKING FOR YOUNG PEOPLE WHO KNOW THIS TECHNOLOGY.

[01:32] GLENN PLATT: ANYTHING THAT'S GOT POINTS, LEVELS, REWARDS. THESE ARE THINGS THAT WE USE EVERY DAY, RIGHT, THOSE ARE ALL GAME MECHANICS. THE DASHBOARD IN YOUR CAR THAT TELLS YOU HOW YOU'RE DOING RELATIVE TO OTHER DRIVERS. THOSE ARE GAME MECHANICS.

[01:45] MIKE: AND IN AN EFFORT TO FOSTER THIS CREATIVE COMPUTER ENVIRONMENT, MIAMI ACTUALLY HAS A VARSITY ESPORTS TEAM. [HAWK SCREAMS] THAT'S RIGHT. THIRTY STUDENTS WHO COMPETE AGAINST ABOUT 80 OTHER COLLEGE TEAMS ALL ACROSS AMERICA, IN A VARIETY OF VIDEOGAMES. LED INTO BATTLE BY ACADEMIC ADVISOR CHAD REYNOLDS. HE USED TO BE A TRACK AND FIELD COACH. NOW HE'S COACHING THIS.

[02:10] CHAD REYNOLDS: THEY LOG THE SAME AMOUNT OF TIME, THEY'RE COMMITTED TO THE GAME. LOGGING THE AMOUNT OF WORK IN TO BE SUCCESSFUL.

[02:18] MIKE: CALVIN SANVEE IS FROM MONROE IN OUR AREA. HE HAD NO IDEA HE'D EVER CELEBRATE A CHAMPIONSHIP. [SOUND EFFECT, 'MUO WINS'] HE WAS ON THE OVERWATCH TEAM THAT BEAT GEORGIA SOUTHERN FOR THE NATIONAL TITLE.

[02:32] CALVIN SANVEE: I JUST KIND OF CAME TO MIAMI LOOKING FOR AN IT DEGREE, AND THEN THIS STARTED WHEN I WAS IN MY THIRD YEAR OF COLLEGE, THE VARSITY SPORTS PROGRAM STARTED IN THE FALL OF 2016.

[02:41] 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 SOME DAY 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.

[03:05] STUDENT: I HAD TO, SORRY.

[03:07] GLENN PLATT: SO IF WE START TRAINING STUDENTS HOW TO SEE THE WORLD AS THIS COLLECTION OF THESE DIFFERENT GAME OPPORTUNITIES AND GAME MECHANICS, THEN THERE ARE JOBS THEY CAN GO INTO IN MARKETING, JOBS THAT THEY CAN GO INTO IN PROMOTION, JOBS THAT THEY CAN GO INTO IN PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION.

[03:23] MIKE: IT'S FAR MORE THAN JUST FUN AND GAMES [DRAMATIC MUSIC] AT MIAMI UNIVERSITY, IN OXFORD. [SOUND EFFECTS]

[03:35] SO THERE'S A WHOLE NEW WORLD OUT THERE THAT I KNEW ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ABOUT. PRO GAMING TEAMS FIRST OF ALL, BRING IN 10-20 MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR. YOU'VE GOT MASSIVE ONLINE AUDIENCES, WITH MORE VIEWERS THAN MOST TRADITIONAL SPORTING EVENTS, AND YES, IT IS THE SAME TECHNOLOGY USED FOR YOUR KROGER CARD OR YOUR GRAETER'S CARD, OR EVEN IN YOUR CAR. IT'S WHY WE'RE NOW SEEING THESE OPTIONS AT UNIVERSITIES JUST LIKE MIAMI. MIKE DARDIS, WLWT NEWS 5.