Many if not all students at the university have spent nights rocking out to “Guitar Hero” while neglecting homework. Now film-TV-digital media students can actually receive class credit for it.

Beginning is the spring, FTDM students will be able to get class credit for a class that will study the history of video games, analysis of race and gender in the games and lab time in which students would get to play games. With the video game industry grossing billions of dollars annually, nearly $18 billion in non-PC hardware, software and accessories in 2007 alone, according to a gamespot.com article, it’s good to see the university recognizing the contribution that the gaming industry has made to society.

A study of the importance of this form of entertainment can only serve to further prepare FTDM students to be able to influence the world through video games.

Will Mario and Luigi eventually be thought of alongside Plato and Aristotle in the classroom one day? No one knows for sure, but the study of the two pipe-hopping, turtle-stomping Italian brothers and their impacts on contemporary society aren’t foolish to contemplate.

As time goes on, video games will inevitably become an even larger part of our society. Realizing their importance now is a reminder of how the university is staying on the cutting edge, and students in the FTDM department should appreciate that.

However, just taking the class to beat your friends at Wii Sports isn’t a bad reason either.

Editor-in-chief David Hall for the editorial board.