Berkeley launches course to teach students how to play Street Fighter

A new student-run course in Berkeley’s DeCal program aims to teach “the art of fighting games” like Street Fighter, taking students on a hands-on journey through the history of the genre.

Most people going to university or college to study video games are focused on designing, developing, and creating the games other people play.

But now, a course at Berkeley is putting a focus on fighting games and more specifically, how to play them.

The student-led course, called “The Art of Fighting Games” is being run as part of Berkeley’s DeCal program. The college describes its DeCal courses as “legitimate university classes run by students.”

According to its syllabus, the course will have no prerequisites, and students will be graded not on their performance in the games, but on their “eagerness, commitment to improvement,
and effort in the course assignments.”

The course covers all the various aspects of playing fighting games and engaging with the wider community of players.

Students will be expected to master fighting game jargon. As well as understanding core fundamentals of different fighters. They’ll also learn about fighting game tournaments, like EVO, and why they’re run.

It even has a section on the history of fighting game communities in Japan. And how the culture spread from arcades to consoles.

Still, the course isn’t all theoretical. Hands-on fighting game “laboratories” where students test out the move sets and kits they’re learning about will also form a large part of the work involved.

While it might not turn students into pro gamers in a semester, it certainly provides a fun way to earn course credits.