Each week, we are spotlighting one faculty member at Norco College to help you get
to know about them and the program that they teach. This week's faculty spotlight
is on James Finley, Associate Professor of Game Development.
For many people, James Finley has a dream career. By day, he is the studio director and CEO of Broken Circle Studios, a company he founded eight years ago to develop video games and simulation experiences for smartphones, next generation consoles, and PCs. By night/other days, he teaches avid gaming fans everything they need to know in order to be successful in the field of video game development. James’ former pupils walk the halls of industry giants like Ubisoft, EA, Blizzard, Riot, and more. It’s all pretty amazing for someone who never intended to go into teaching!
While pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Systems with a minor in Information Management at Cal State San Bernardino in 2002, James volunteered to be one of the first students in their pilot video game development program. As a result of his involvement in developing the curriculum, the university asked him to be an instructional student. He later began teaching at a local community college, followed by the Art Institute of Santa Monica, where he also served as assistant academic director. James has spent half of his 12+ years of teaching at Norco College. He currently teaches Intro to Game Programming, Rapid Prototyping for Video Games, Game Engine Scripting 1 and Game Engine Scripting 2. Though he wasn’t even sure at first if he would enjoy teaching, it didn’t take him long to fall in love with it.
For many people, James Finley has a dream career. By day, he is the studio director and CEO of Broken Circle Studios, a company he founded eight years ago to develop video games and simulation experiences for smartphones, next generation consoles, and PCs. By night/other days, he teaches avid gaming fans everything they need to know in order to be successful in the field of video game development. James’ former pupils walk the halls of industry giants like Ubisoft, EA, Blizzard, Riot, and more. It’s all pretty amazing for someone who never intended to go into teaching!
While pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Systems with a minor in Information Management at Cal State San Bernardino in 2002, James volunteered to be one of the first students in their pilot video game development program. As a result of his involvement in developing the curriculum, the university asked him to be an instructional student. He later began teaching at a local community college, followed by the Art Institute of Santa Monica, where he also served as assistant academic director. James has spent half of his 12+ years of teaching at Norco College. He currently teaches Intro to Game Programming, Rapid Prototyping for Video Games, Game Engine Scripting 1 and Game Engine Scripting 2. Though he wasn’t even sure at first if he would enjoy teaching, it didn’t take him long to fall in love with it.