PlayStation First opens Europe's largest teaching lab in Scotland
Sony has today opened a teaching lab comprised of PlayStation consoles within Abertay University's campus in Dundee, Scotland. It is the largest teaching lab of its type in Europe, giving game development students access to a suite of PS4, PS3 and PS Vita consoles.
Funnily enough; the latest edition of my VG247 Scotland series focused on education in Scotland, with insight from Abertay University. Check it out.
In a press release sent to VG247, Abertay University announced its partnership with Sony's academic development programme PlayStation First, which saw the lab open its doors today.
The dev kits are identical to those used by studios around the worldm, giving students access to technology they may use after graduation.
In a statement, Dr Maria Stukoff, Head of Academic Development at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, said, “The next generation of PlayStation-savvy developers are now in education and Abertay University is at the forefront of bringing young and talented developers to our platform. It is these students who will influence the future of video games and we are delighted to work with Abertay University to make this a PlayStation training hub.”
Professor Louis Natanson, Head of the School of Arts, Media and Computer Games at Abertay University, added, “Abertay is very proud to have the largest teaching laboratory of PlayStation consoles in Europe, and it’s something our students benefit hugely from.
“Having access to professional Sony development kits is incredibly exciting for students learning how to design and build games, and we’ve seen a real jump in the enthusiasm of our students since we created this lab. Students are routinely staying after class to work on their own projects, with many immediately aspiring to releasing their own games for PlayStation.”
The PlayStation Lab initiative will see two student teams working with co-founders of Velocity developer Futurlab James Marsden and Kirsty Rigden to work on projects, with one team currently developing a concept to pitch to the studio.
What do you make of the programme? Let us know below.