A TALENT for Space Invaders is usually the sign of a miss-spent youth, but swollen thumbed teenagers now have an opportunity to put their hobby to good use by studying for a degree in computer games.

New recruits to Southampton Institute will have the chance to play their way through college and get a Bachelor of Arts in Computer and Video Games.

Students will study game art and animation and game play as they work towards their BA - one of just four places in the country the unusual subject can be studied.

In the UK, the games industry is worth more than cinema, video sales and rental combined. The US and the UK market is estimated to be worth more than £5 billion a year.

The course will produce graduates prepared to enter the computer and video games industry in a variety of roles such as animators, level designers and character designers. It has been put together with Oxford-based games maker Rebellion Development, which has had a hand in the Judge Dredd and Tomb Raider games.

Course leader Nick Phillips said: "Computer games are bigger than movies now. It is the entertainment media of the future. It all really took off with the PlayStation. So, it is big business and the demand is driven by that.

"There's a gap in the market. They say they need a flow of expertise, because the technology is there now and they need great characters and art to exploit it."

Mr Phillips says he has never been a video games player but expects his students to be well versed in the ways of Super Mario and co.

The course, which is still to be officially validated, will welcome its first intake of students in October.