George Segress

Born in Arizona and raised in Redmond, Washington, I am currently pursuing a triple major in Computer Science, RTVF, and Art History at Northwestern University. Impassioned by the uniqueness of games as an emerging art form, I seek to analyze them academically, while being able to create them programmatically. Growing up I always was fascinated by games and played many, including Pokémon, Minecraft, and Club Penguin. But, not content to just play these strange objects, in fifth grade, I made a Khan Academy account and began to learn how to code, initially driven by a want to create my own Pokémon. I began with JavaScript, but with the release of Unity 5.0 when I was in 6th grade, I switched to C#. I created several smaller iPhone games before moving on to my largest project yet, a fighting game about sentient potatoes, Bangers & Mash - a project I am still working on. Understanding narrative design has always been a driving force behind my use of these tools. Upon reaching Northwestern University, I sought out the limited programs on games as art objects, joining the Media Arts and Game Design module. Wanting more, I began my path to write the first ever undergraduate art history thesis on a video game - to be published next year. I have also continued to further my education as a programmer, pursuing a third major in Computer Science and learning many skills previously unknown to me, like coding in Assembly in CS 213 and database and memory management in CS 214. I look forward to continuing my education and joining teams of likeminded individuals.