I'm sure many people have thought about a career in games, but have probably been shunned away from it by rumors, or naysayer.  Well because of that I decided to write a guide on how you can work your way into a gaming career.  With this guide I'll first give you the career, then a way to get started, and finally what to expect from this career.

First I'm going to start out with a career of actually playing video games.  The first thing that might come to mind is reviewer.  If you're interested I'd recommend getting involved with a local paper right away.  Most likely this will be a school paper, and will most likely be done on a volunteer bases.  This will give you a good start in journalism, and you may want to look into getting a BA in Journalism or at least take a couple classes at the college level.  This will help you get the needed base to start as not only a game reviewer but a game journalist who can cover major press releases, and other game events.  It also surprises me how little journalists actually know about journalism law so getting a quick background in that can give you a great edge if you manage to get an interview.  One thing a lot of people probably don't realize about this job is you tend to work a lot more hours than normal and it really ends up being two jobs, one for writing about games, and another playing them.  You also have to play a lot of really crappy games and unlike normal gamers if you don't like the game you still have to thoroughly play it.

The other guys who get to play games all day are the testers.  Testing doesn't really require to many skills just a strong will to do repetitive actions, and having good enough communication skills to describe what you come across.  "I was doing that thing, and then the game started bugging out" is not good communication.  With testing the hours suck, the pay is low, and odds are you'll hate the game you're testing.  Honestly I have no clue why some people think this is a good job, but it is an "in" to the gaming industry and can get you connections which I'll talk about later.

The last person I'll talk about is the professional gamer, and though a few pro gamers can make a ton of money at tournaments, and through sponsorships lots of other pro gamers make their money through teaching.  If you have excellent knowledge of a game and can easily get clients you can get paid pretty decent teaching others the stuff you had to learn the hard way.  The hard part about this job is getting those first initial clients who (if you are any good) will pass your name to others looking to gain some "skill" without putting forth hours and hours into a game.  Few people have the skills to pull this job off, but it's still worth mentioning.

Now I'll get to the game creation careers which I'm sure most of you are mostly interested in.  First when starting your career in game creation you need to figure out which category you fit into which can mostly be broken into programming, or artist.  Lost of people currently in the in the industry are hybrids, but once doesn't have to be since most developers are looking for specialized professionals.  For these jobs you will need a few things.  First people in the gaming industry need to actually know who you are.  Few game jobs are publicly advertised and many game HR departments get tons of resumes/portfolios every day so trying to get a job based on that is pretty much like playing the lotto.  You really need to do alot of social networking and talk to people in the same field.  Communication is huge in game development, and is an essential part of getting a job.  Next expect to move to an area where game studios are located, very few jobs in this industry can be done remotely.

Most people think that programming is the only way to get into game creation, but honestly there's a lot of people in the industry that don't do ay programming.  Still it's fairly common so I'll go over it.  Like the job says to be a programmer you have to know how to program.  There's tons of different programming languages to learn and the more you can learn the better chance you have of getting a job.  Most people find a CS degree pretty helpful, but a portfolio can show off just about the same amount of knowledge.  To start off I suggest learning any programming language (C#, C, C++, flash, heck even scripting is a good place to start).  Good news about game programming is the pay is very high.  The bad news there's tons, upon tons of programmers out there to compete against.  Still if you start programming and you love it (some people actually do) you'll eventually get really good at it.  If you don't like programming it's not something you can really force, you may learn a few skills, but you'll never be any good if you don't love it.

Next is the art department which is pretty diverse in games.  I'll start from beginning to end sort of.  First you have the concept artist who in the early part of the games development creates the art which will become the reference for the entire game.  This is often done with traditional art tools (like paint, and brushes).  For this job you need to be a really well established artist who can work quite fast, and one of the few jobs you can actually work off-site.  Other artist jobs are the texture artist, and modeler.  Technically there are a lot of other jobs but it breaks down to these two skills.  Texture artists tend to progress a bit more with traditional art skills along with some insane Photoshop skills.  They've got a great eye for detail.  The modelers tend to be more technically attuned being skilled at 3dsMax, and/or Maya many know these complex programs in and out.  More and more artist jobs are requiring a traditional hand art skill which tends to keep a lot of people away since they figure it's a natural talent, but I've seen quite a few people learn these skills over a matter of months quicker than they learn 3d programs, or Photoshop.

Now learning the skills needed for game creation doesn't come easy, but a great thing about the game industry is that many developers are not too picky on a college education.  Therefore you can save thousands teaching your self, provided you know what you need learn, and have the mentality to actually do it on your own.  I would say schools tend to have a much higher success rate, and better guidance towards what to learn and where to learn it, but if your not serious you'll fail either way. 

There are a few jobs outside the visual arts and programming I should probably mention.  Audio plays a key role and can be an avenue into the game industry for audiophiles, or even a few voice actors.  Also public relations, and game business are growing industries that need experienced people that understand not only understand games, but those that also understand how to run a media campaign.  Far too often good games are ignored because publishers/developers didn't hire the right people for PR.  Also storyboarding, and writing for games is becoming more open to outsiders, but I wouldn't count on it.

 

It's going to be a busy month.  Aparently I'm suppose to make a flash game, write a short storyboard, direct the storyboad as a film, create some UT2k4 levels, and probably a ton of other crap.  Well let's see how much of this I actually get done.

The absolute truth about PC gaming.

 

First a little background info about me. I've been a pc gamer pretty much since 1995 and if you count the C64 it's been before I can really remember. Before 95 I was a sheep (which pretty much every gamer was), and from 95-03 I was a hardcore hermit, until I got an Xbox. So even though I'm mostly a PC gamer I do have some experience with consoles.

 

To begin I'm going to break down PC into two parts: hardware, and software. Hardware is the physical stuff, and software is mostly games. Historically PC hardware has undoubtedly out performed its console counter parts generation after generation, but I've noticed that each generation the hardware gap gets smaller and smaller. There's also a big difference in the generation cycles of consoles and PCs. Consoles have a 5 year cycle of new hardware, while PCs now have a 6 month cycle. Now this has lead console fanboys to assume you have to upgrade your PC every 6 months, but we all know that isn't true. What these shorter hardware cycles actually do is shorten the effective hardware dates. Right now PC hardware is only effective for about 3 years before needing to be replaced to play currently released games. On the positive side this also gives PCs better graphics through out the generation if you're willing to shell out the cash for the new hardware. There's also the problem of having to actually know something about PC hardware if you want to be a PC gamer. You have to know your PCs specs, and how long hardware is going to last, and which upcoming trends are gimmicks and which are going to be needed. Not only all that but you also should know how to install it into your own computer. Now for long term PC gamers like me that's not really a big deal, but for your average person they'd probably have better luck at brain surgery.

 

Now looking at the software side of things I think PC has some of the best games around, but as I think about these games they don't really tend to be for everyone. First you need to have your operating system (OS, aka windows) running smoothly, and surprisingly for a lot of people that's a huge problem. I mostly blame the user for these problems because in my experience windows XP rarely just messes up on its own. Normally it's a 3rd party problem often cause by the user attempting to get free porn/music/games. Now we come to tweaking the game itself which for a PC person is actually kind of fun. If you're way past the recommended specs you can normally just crank everything on high and play that way, but few of us have that luxury often we're choosing between detail options, and screen resolutions to get a personalized optimal performance. This can be very confusing to a non-pc person unlike the console counter parts who are use to having next to know performance options and don't really understand the terms.

 

Once you got your game up and running we need to look at the PC game titles. FPS, RTS, and RPG (western RPGs) tend to dominate the pc landscape so unless you're a huge fan of these three PC doesn't really have much else to offer. If you are a huge fan the PC is the place to be since you'll find a ton of exclusive must have titles from these genres. Many console games do get ported to the PC but trust me they are much more fun on consoles, and though I'm sure some hermit will say "you can play with a game pad on pc", trust me I modded my Xbox controller (which is the best PC game pad besides the 360 controller) to work on my PC, and for 1 or 2 games it's fine, but for 90% of my PC games it's not worth the effort, because I have to spend so much time tweaking the button layout for the game every time I get a new skill, or such. Also less and less "console" games are becoming available on the PC when they are released. The great thing about PC games is mods which can give a mediocre title some new life, and fix things many users don't like about the game.

 

Last I'm going to be talking about costs which tend to dominate most arguments of PC vs console. Anyway you cut it PC gaming is going to cost more, but how much more really depends on the type of user you are. Hermits claim PCs only cost $800 and last 5 years while console fanyboys claim PCs are $3000 and last 6 months. The truth really depends on your knowledge of PCs and wants. For example if you only follow 1 or 2 games that only release ever 4-5 years you can build a $800 PC and it'll last quite a while. For example my friend only plays WOW and Counter Strike so his 2003 pc is just fine for him until Diablo 3, or Starcraft 2 comes out. Of course if you have to play the latest games on the highest settings and can't build your own PC $3000 isn't really out the question and that PC will need to be upgraded in 2 years to play next years titles on high settings (or even 1 year if you got cheated because you didn't know anything about graphics cards). An average PC gamer will have to spend more than $500 every 5 years on hardware no matter, but considering more of us "need" a pc anyway it's not so bad. Now I hear a lot of arguments about how PC games are cheaper in the long run because console games are now $60, and PC games are still $50. What most people tend to forget is that not only can you easily buy console games used for much cheaper than PC games, but console games tend to drop in price much faster (especially if the game sells well, and goes into the "platinum" collection). Overall to me PC gaming is worth it because I know about the hardware, and need a good PC anyway. I know when to upgrade and how much to spend to get the most bang out of my buck, and though it cost a bit more than a console overall it's not like I wouldn't be spending most of that money on a PC anyway.

 

As I always say PC gaming tends to be for PC people.
 

I'd recomend checking out my AMV for Death Note. I made it yesterday, since I've got a ton of free time w/out school being in session. I'll probably update it once Death note ep 12 is released since I was unhappy about the quality and the ending was rough.

Link

This is the "teh TLSCHHBO thread (aka teh the lemmings, sheep, cows, and hermits have been owned thread). It's mostly a joke, but I actually feel this way about some of the stuff. So let the TLSCHHBO begin. (oh yea this is a bit long, and if you don't want to read about your system getting bashed I suggest you skip the paragraph on you system)

Lemmings OMG can you get an uglier system!!!! It looks like Dr. Monroe genetically altered an ipod. Not to mention the atrocious amount of add-ons you'll need later, an external HD-DVD, extra hard drive for with that "20" gig fills up (you can only use 13), then you'll need add-ons for add-ons, and probably a whole nother power hub to power the dang thing. Don't get me started on XBL, if I wanted to hear the high pitch screams of little kids cussing I'd go back to grade school. Ms will you ever produce a good exclusive that isn't FPS or a Team Ninja release?
Lemmings you have been owned!!!

Sheep do you realize your fate is in the hands of a untested controller from a company that has made the worst handling controllers over the past 10 years? Nintendo knows they can't compete with system power, and they're throwing the hail mary with the Wiimote. If that controller fails Wii fails end of story. Don't think the ownage stops there, you system is a kiddie system, and I swear everytime I pick up a nintendo game it treats me like a five year old. Yes I know where the purple button is, no you don't need to show me how to press it, damn it I can change my own diapers, you **** **** I swear if I have to play one more title with a freaking cartoon animal as the main character I'm gonna chuck my gamecube outside the window.
Sheep You have been owned!

Cows... well what can I say that hasn't been said this week. Are you really that blunt that you expect to get a true top of the line blu-ray dvd player, and cell cpu for the same price as a top end AMD cpu???? You really think sony is telling the truth, and that the ps3 is some happyfun land where online gaming is free, and doesn't lag, and everybody will like you? Honestly you've fell for it 10 years in a row now, as one genius put in his sig. "fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice, shame on you, fool me three times, I must be a cow". I always here the same argument from you too "but teh games!" Yea, I've played MGS GT and FF. They are better than nothing, but not much better, and certainly no reason to buy a ps3. Sony/cows your time on the top is over just like nintendo in the late 90's, and prepare yourself for 10 years of being "that console" with out the 3rd party games.  What the **** sony you ****ing pulled out another ****ing dual ****ing shock controller are you ****ing out of your ****ing minds.  I can't ****ing believe you ****ing copied this ****ing piece of **** off of ****ing nintendo you ****ing **** **** ****ers.
Cows you have been owned!!

Ah yes the Hermits so high, so mighty, thinking "were too good for system wars" yea, what a bunch of BULL. The ironic thing is to be a hermit you have to be smart enough to master a computer, but dumb enough not to see console gaming is so much easier. Here's the typical life of a hermit. (it's gonna be long, and boring sorry)

See a game, research the specs to see if it'll run on my system(it won't). Do research on new parts to make sure they are compatible with my motherboard(it isn't), buy new motherboard do more research to make sure this doesn't happen for another 5 years (it will). Put together new computer, repeat prosses 3 times cause you screwed everything up. Get computer up and running, buy game. Enter 20 digit key-code for game, game begins to install. Ten minutes later the install quits installation due to lack of hard drive space. Go through hidden pron folder, and delete the kinky videos (cause if you died you wouldn't want anyone to know you were into stuff like that). Re-enter 20 digit key-code, and wait 20 min for install. Install can't authenticate because of firewall protection, turn off firewall, and start over. Play game, game lags so you download new drivers, and new drivers screw up your computer. Format, reinstall everything, and get right drivers this time. And once you get everything working right it goes like this.
Play game, beat game, game sucks, go back to half-life 2.

(sorry if this was a pain to read, but trust me it's more of a pain actually doing it)

Now onto the future of pc gaming, and DX10 which is the hermits answer to everything. What good is Dx10 gonna be when Vista turns out to be another ME?
Hermits you have been owned!

Manticores you were pretty much owned this whole post
So TMHBO. hahahha

now wasn't that fun

(sorry about the wall of text, feel free to skip around it's pretty organized)
This is the about the closest I'm gonna come to the truth about each system.  I'll admit I'm pretty biased (or biast) against the ps3, but I've tried to accept it.  I'm prolly missing alot of things, and a bunch of stuff is going to go against you're opinion, so STFU unless you actually have something reletive to say.

The Wii:  It's a gamble system, and it's all riding on the Wiimote, numb-chuck.  I haven't made a final judgement on the Wiimote, but I can say I like it "in theory".  Real life is alot different than theory, and Nintendo is going to really have to work in leaps and bounds it seems to get the Wiimote to work like we all expect it to work.  Right now 3rd party support looks really strong, but a control flop pretty much means 3rd parties support's gonna flop too.  The plus side is that nintendo gaurantees a few great first party games that are always fun to play.  These are Zelda, Metriod, Super Smash Bros., and Mario Kart.  Not to mention that Nintendo always adds a great title with ever generation.  Wolves (anti-sheep) will complain again and again about the graphics, but we all know the Wii isn't about graphics for this gen so STFU.  On thing I don't like is that there is no standard hard drive to store game saves, and downloads.  If you a sheep the Wii is a definate buy, and has the most promise of any system nintendo has released since the SNES, if you are on the fence about getting one stay there until you see how the Wiimote pans out in the final design.
Outlook: better than the Gamecube.

The PS3:  If you've had no doubts about buying a ps3 yet don't bother reading this!  It's no doubt that the ps3 will have the best graphics this generation, but that also comes with a hefty price tag.  The price tag is well worth it, but you really have to ask yourself, "do I need what the ps3 is selling me?"  Blu-ray discs, gigabit internet, bluetooth, and the cell.  They are all good pieces of hardware, but also quite high on the cost:performance ratio.  You're probably asking yourself right now ".... do I need that?" Well lets just say sony's not the best at spotting tech trends, and it's pretty much hit or miss.  For example the ps2 was a huge hit using a dvd drive (dvd was about 4 years old at this time), but they failed to see users playing on high speed internet.  If you found you needed a dvd drive before 2000 you might need a blu-ray drive, but if you didn't it's a luxury.  If you're still in doubt ask a pc gamer he's getting a blu-ray drive to play pc games.  You can expect sony's hardware to be top of the line technology, just don't expect it to all work, or even be used.  Onto the controller,  personally I hate the dual shock design, and was estatic when I saw the batarang, but appearently few others felt the same (nobody even got to handle the controller FGS).  Sony had been in a lawsuit for patent infringement on their rumble tech in the dual-shock, and couldn't at it to the dual shock design this time through, but instead added tilt, and direction sensing to the "no-shock".  Some say they ripped Nintendo off, but we all know sony had motion design layed out, and Nintendo just tested the market for them (another example of how sony doesn't understand the market).  As for online we all know that some part of gameplay will be free, but we don't know what, for how long, and how good it will be.  If ps2 online is any example don't expect much more than a ps3 myspace account, and laggy gameplay that takes hours to set up.  Though I don't care for many the ps3's titles there are a lot of gamers that do.  Sony has a couple developers with titles that have done very well on the ps2, and they look to be exclusive on the ps3 also.  Unfortunatly things can change in this industry, and since sony owns very few franchises it's known for alot of ps3 games that seem exclusive could be seen on other systems.  If gamers ignore the ps3 in the 6 months after launch due to it's expense, don't expect developers to put in the effort to make many high quality games for the ps3.  If this happens the ps3 will become another PSX, 3do, or Jaguar (the psx can play ps2 games though).
Outlook: Not so good expect PS3 to loose their console dominance, but it sony skimps on protection the ps3 could be the best user-ware(hacker) system.


The xbox 360:  The original xbox has been one of the greatest consoles I've ever owned, and it convinced a hardcore hermit to try consoles again.  The 360 looks to be no exception with impressive hardware, and amazing software abilities.  Honestly at first the 360 hardware didn't look like much power on paper, but boy MS did a wonderful job making this system able to push out some amazing performance.  There is no HD-DVD, or Blu-ray drive standard, but if you talk to the pc guys they're saying they won't need one for the next 5 or 6 years so it's a good guess neither will the 360.  You may of also heard some performance problems, but I doubt that we'll hear anymore of that once it gets past the launch jitters they work out the bugs (happens with all electronics), and the problems are still below 5% of all systems sold.  The performance is only overshadowed by it's software.  The XNA tools help developers use the same tools they'd use for pc game creation, but add optimization for the 360's hardware.  Not to mention tons of model and shader support, and pretty much everything you'd expect from a pc game on a console.  There are tons of accessories for the 360, and more to come, but these usually weigh a bit of a high price, but they are the best quality.  Xbox live (online) is hands down the best online gaming out there though it does cost about 5-7 bucks a month (or 50 a year) it's well worth it for anyone with a high speed connection.  If you've never used live before I know your skeptical about paying for it, and at first I was too.  After a 2 month free trial I was hooked, and could easily justify spending $1.50 per week to play.  Xb connect is an alternate free online service, but it sucks trust me.  As we come down to the games I've fell in love with the xbox line up.  DOA, Ninja Gaiden, PGR, Forza, Elder Scrolls, and Halo just to name a few.  The future looks great with tons of xbox exclusive games on the way.  Some people will say the xbox only has FPS ports, but just check out the Xbox 360 page on GS, and you'll see different.  One gametype that the 360 will probably lack in is JRPs which is different from WRPG's, and if you don't know what I'm talking about you probably don't care.  The 360 won't be quite as pretty as the ps3, but we won't see as much of a difference as we did between the ps2, and xbox.  I know I should say some more negative, but I just can't think of anything.  Oh how about the possibility of lemmings getting owned by pc players in cross-system MP matches.
Outlook: Expect to see alot more lemmings in the future.