Will you get into the videogame industry?

I'd prefer to keep a regular job over getting into the game industry. I'd rather keep game development as a hobby by just doing mods or experimenting on my own. I think the negatives of the gaming industry dont really outweigh the positives.

But to answer you question, i'd love to work for Blizzard as a programmer. The fact that these guys always do good work and always do it right means alot to me. They also work around some of the bad things about the game industry (namely the crunch time) and their stability means im guaranteed to still be working there after i release a game. The same cant be said for smaller studios.

My best advice to get into the industry is to start making games. If you havent worked on a game, your chances of getting in are almost nothing. As an employer, would you hire someone with no experience, or someone thats worked for a mod team for a year or so and released a moderately succesful mod? Thats right. Joining a mod team is a great way. Starting your own would be good too if no teams are willing to take your idea(s). You dont need to make a crazy mod thats comparable to Half-Life 2. You might even just make a well done, relatively simple flash game that conveys the idea you have.

Basically, dont just sit around saying "wow, i've got this awesome idea for a game... Sure wish i could make a game out of it." Go and do it! You've got the resources to do it.

I'd also advise you to subscribe to Game Developer magazine, and get an account for Gamasutra.com. Very useful references.

I do and if you even care you can read my blog, however I have a message from bethesda that you might like to read.

Hi. Generally speaking, we look for people who are good at what they do (ie,
programming or art or design) and have some combination of educational
background and work experience, along with examples of work they've done in
gaming. So, not only do we want good programmers/artists/designers, but we
want programmers/artists/designers that have examples of mods or plugins or
game-related things they've done on their own that show us they "get" what it
is we do here.
There's no magic degree, or school, or number of years of experience
that we're necessarily looking for or need. The requirements for each job
we're currently hiring for will give you an idea on a position-by-position
basis of what kinds of things we look for. They can be found in the Jobs
section of www.bethsoft.com

here are some fun videos about getting into it.

http://media.pc.ign.com/articles/792/792352/vid_2005832.html

And I was also wondering what kind of mathematical skills do you need to get into the industry?

At one point in my design career I had made preparations for it. I wasn't going in as a programmer though but as an animator, 3d model artist or a visual conceptual designer. I was pretty involved in it but then I started taking notice that I was not enjoying video games as much anymore and it got to the point that I would scrutinize or analyze everything in the game that I was playing. Keep in mind that I was supposed to enjoy the game.

I also found the work-time to pay ratio just wasn't as enticing in comparison to other design jobs so I decided to get involve with graphic design. With having a background in all types of design work I ended up becoming an Art Director which, in my case, is a jack of all trades but a master of none.

I look back on it now and I feel I definitely made the right decision. If you are going to get into the video game industry as an artist or programmer then you need to understand that for a period of time in your life you have to focus only on learning and developing the skills needed to even be considered for a position with a good company. Oddly enough the same can be said for pretty much anything you decide to do in design. It's a very tough industry to crack.

Now with that said, don't let anyone ever tell you that you can't do it. Write that down!:P

I wouldn't mind writing for the gaming industry, in the years following my graduation that is. I can see reviewing on Gamespot as something pretty fun. JohnnytheFuture

Same here that would be cool.

I've often thought about it but my jobexperiences so far caused me to change my mind.I took a job in a field I thought I loved, getting paid for doing what used to be a hobby I never thought I'd get bored doing, butnow I hate it and am looking for something else. Common sense always told me to get a job doing something I spent a lot of my free time doing but it kind of backfired on me -- it went from being a hobby/labor of love to being "work" and I got so sick of doing it that I don't want to anymore. Using that logic, I don't really want to go into games because I don't want another hobby to be wrecked in the same way.

I'm looking to get in myself. Probably just going to go the old CS route. My main hurdle is I want to program but my math stinks.

The reason I'm interested is I think about games a little too much, I might as well work on them.

I'm looking to get in myself. Probably just going to go the old CS route. My main hurdle is I want to program but my math stinks.

The reason I'm interested is I think about games a little too much, I might as well work on them.

trifecta_basic

The best mathmatician does not make a good programmer and a godo programmer doesn't make a good mathmatician. If your willing to work at it, you can probably do it well.

And I was also wondering what kind of mathematical skills do you need to get into the industry?

Joshy485

I know game programming no easy even I was good in geometry. Maybe I get into a mobile dev first. I can learn by experience with PDA and cell phone.

I've often thought about it but my jobexperiences so far caused me to change my mind.I took a job in a field I thought I loved, getting paid for doing what used to be a hobby I never thought I'd get bored doing, butnow I hate it and am looking for something else. Common sense always told me to get a job doing something I spent a lot of my free time doing but it kind of backfired on me -- it went from being a hobby/labor of love to being "work" and I got so sick of doing it that I don't want to anymore. Using that logic, I don't really want to go into games because I don't want another hobby to be wrecked in the same way.

kfjl

That's another reason I do not want to get into the game industry. Something I love to do for fun is turned into labor. I'm also afraid the same thing will happen in becoming a cartoonist. Cartoonists have to meet deadlines and it puts a limit on their creatvity.

Well just to let you know, it sucks. I'm not trying to be a know it all, but ive worked with Maya, the program they made halo with, and finding nemo, and pretty much everything on, and it sucks. it isnt fun at all, its boring, frustrating, and there is a lot of math. I'm not trying to discourage you from it, but it's not all that great. Not to mention the 6 years of college that you will need....and those 6 years are composed of mostly math. But in order to get hired, you need 6 years from a top notch college, because itsa very competitve field.lilburtonboy748

It still beats serving fast food doesn't it?

Well just to let you know, it sucks. I'm not trying to be a know it all, but ive worked with Maya, the program they made halo with, and finding nemo, and pretty much everything on, and it sucks. it isnt fun at all, its boring, frustrating, and there is a lot of math. I'm not trying to discourage you from it, but it's not all that great. Not to mention the 6 years of college that you will need....and those 6 years are composed of mostly math. But in order to get hired, you need 6 years from a top notch college, because itsa very competitve field.lilburtonboy748

what math problems did you run into while using maya?

At one point in my design career I had made preparations for it. I wasn't going in as a programmer though but as an animator, 3d model artist or a visual conceptual designer. I was pretty involved in it but then I started taking notice that I was not enjoying video games as much anymore and it got to the point that I would scrutinize or analyze everything in the game that I was playing. Keep in mind that I was supposed to enjoy the game.

I also found the work-time to pay ratio just wasn't as enticing in comparison to other design jobs so I decided to get involve with graphic design. With having a background in all types of design work I ended up becoming an Art Director which, in my case, is a jack of all trades but a master of none.

I look back on it now and I feel I definitely made the right decision. If you are going to get into the video game industry as an artist or programmer then you need to understand that for a period of time in your life you have to focus only on learning and developing the skills needed to even be considered for a position with a good company. Oddly enough the same can be said for pretty much anything you decide to do in design. It's a very tough industry to crack.

Now with that said, don't let anyone ever tell you that you can't do it. Write that down!:P

juradai

How many of you are just dreaming of someday gettoing into the industry?I know I am!And what will you do to get there??If you had the chance to work for any company who would you work for?And if theres anybody who knows about getting into the industry just let me know...give me some facts.Joshy485

Rather make real money and be able to afford to BUY games than to struggle and MAKE games.

[QUOTE="Joshy485"]How many of you are just dreaming of someday gettoing into the industry?I know I am!And what will you do to get there??If you had the chance to work for any company who would you work for?And if theres anybody who knows about getting into the industry just let me know...give me some facts.weirjf

Rather make real money and be able to afford to BUY games than to struggle and MAKE games.

im making real money... you people make it seem like its a s*** career

[QUOTE="Joshy485"]How many of you are just dreaming of someday gettoing into the industry?I know I am!And what will you do to get there??If you had the chance to work for any company who would you work for?And if theres anybody who knows about getting into the industry just let me know...give me some facts.weirjf

Rather make real money and be able to afford to BUY games than to struggle and MAKE games.

what are you talking about?

I either want to get in on games, or on the media industry in-general. Gaming is my passion, I just need to focus that into some applicable skills in media or the games indusrty.

Ive heard tons of horror stories from epople in games industry, but at the same time I cant hlep but to want to jump in on it. I was young once, and I had the desire to create virtual spaces in a program called Active Worlds to show off infront of an audience. I want to get that desire in full force back again, and I want to do it for the real thing now ;)

But then again, I'll also take any job realating to media :P

I'm in it from a journalist standpoint, and while I've written about most every other aspect of entertainment in my career, it's always most fun to write about the game industry. And it's 'cuz I'm a gamer. :)

I could never do the technical end of it simply because it doesn't interest me in the least. I attempt to make my living as a writer, and while I'm not rich - and probably never will be - at least I'm doing something I like to do. I'd probably make more money as a programmer or engineer or something like that, but I'd also be bored to tears. It all depends on what you enjoy, I guess.

[QUOTE="Joshy485"]How many of you are just dreaming of someday gettoing into the industry?I know I am!And what will you do to get there??If you had the chance to work for any company who would you work for?And if theres anybody who knows about getting into the industry just let me know...give me some facts.weirjf

Rather make real money and be able to afford to BUY games than to struggle and MAKE games.

The average salary of an individual involved in the games industry is, on average, about $50 - 60k/year. ...you can't buy games with that?

I doubt I'll ever be in a position to get into the VG industry. Since I'm 18 now and I haven't even dabbled in mod-making or anything like that. I've got no experience whatsoever, plus like some others have said I think I'd loose the love for the game *pun* if it became an ocupation instead of a hobby.

I'd love to write about games for a living, though. It's just too bad I'm not any good of a writer. And again, I haven't even tried writing a simple GS Reader Review!

[spoiler] whats wrong with me!!? [/spoiler]

I doubt I'll ever be in a position to get into the VG industry. Since I'm 18 now and I haven't even dabbled in mod-making or anything like that. I've got no experience whatsoever, plus like some others have said I think I'd loose the love for the game *pun* if it became an ocupation instead of a hobby.

I'd love to write about games for a living, though. It's just too bad I'm not any good of a writer. And again, I haven't even tried writing a simple GS Reader Review!

[spoiler] whats wrong with me!!? [/spoiler]

toment

Its your choice but I doubt that everyone who gets into video games loses there passion for it or they wouldn't be doing it, its a very hard and taxing job and you can do another job for probably the same money. Anyways, in college they would probably teach you to program or do what ever you want although they would probably like it more if you've actually study what you wanted to do.

I dream of it but I do not want to become an artist/programmer. I'd rather come up with gameplay elements and write stories. I guess being a producer would be cool too.

So instead I will be an accountant. Maybe I'll become a CFO for a game company.

For a while I thought I'd want to get into making games. I remember reading Nintendo Power way back when DigiPen just opened and thought it was the greatest thing in the world.

However, especially more recently, I don't think I'd enjoy it at all. Many developers work very long hours just before a game has to ship, something I never want to experience. Plus I'm not very good with programming and am downright terrible with art. Plus, I'm afraid I'd become overally critical of something I just want to do to enjoy. If I take something very seriously, rarely does it stay any fun.

If I did get involved, it would be down the line and if I had a lot of money, maybe I'd try to open my own studio. I'm much better at thinking of the "big picture" rather than actually doing something to create it myself.

...Too much time spent in the office. I would rather spend that time doing something I'm interested in or spending it with the wife and kids.Ghost_Face

One thing I've been thinking about however, is designing simpler 2D or even simple 3D games, indie games. For example, I have thoughts of a more modern, but still 2D, EarthBound like game, Snatcher like games, things like that. Even 3D Earthbound esque game, except, not so modern as in a professional Ubi game, but a simple(Albeit epic adventure with tons of options, but lacking the whole 1,000,000+ investment thingy) 3D game.

Tons of ideas for games that non-industry insiders could do, so maybe one day I'll try to assemble a team. I might get something like Flash 8 and Photoshop CS2 to get a little more insight on it, and take my visions to a larger calabor than a mere picture. Flash for the animations and coding(Actionscript would be good enough), and then Photoshop for some more interesting backrounds, however, that wouldn't really be a neccesity. Although, being coded in C++ has a lot more advantages than action script, it would be my interactive design sheet per se. Rather than a complete product, similar to how Alien Hominid was re-coded, if I showed my Flash project, if it shows potential, that could lead to a possible team, re-coding in C++, with more talented animators and people better in sound and possibly story, design and other insight, as well as superior AI, and better AI, detection, etc. Detection being things such as bullets, since in Flash, they don't really have a leg, arm, or headshot detection set. Also, 3D isn't done very well in Actionscript, with an open source 3D engine, more exciting games would be possible, but still accesible to non-industry/people that HAD to go to college for it kind of people.

Plus, you don't NEED testers and the like, and there are people out there who just do it for fun, so it could be a game without profit, or, maybe the paycheck would come after with digital downloads etc. But, I think it's a realistic approach for someone like me, since, without college, it's not that likely I'd be doing some GTAish game, but I wouldn't doubt I could take part in a fun computer classic esque game. Plus, most of the people I would work with, being some guy at home, probably wouldn't be asking for a reume. Since it would most likely be for hobby, or if money, not a lot that I would need to fund them with some M.D. salary. Of course however, if that were to happen, that would be a very good breaking in, for a place like Ubi or R*, although the games aren't some huge blockbuster hits, they might be an underground hit that shows hard work and creative thinking.

[QUOTE="weirjf"]

[QUOTE="Joshy485"]How many of you are just dreaming of someday gettoing into the industry?I know I am!And what will you do to get there??If you had the chance to work for any company who would you work for?And if theres anybody who knows about getting into the industry just let me know...give me some facts.TheMierArmy

Rather make real money and be able to afford to BUY games than to struggle and MAKE games.

im making real money... you people make it seem like its a s*** career

Apparently you're the only one actually in the field. So obviously you're really the only one that knows what it's truly like, so don't worry about what we say, we have no idea. I just hate working with maya, i dont fid it fun, but then again most careers arent fun. And as for the real money...last i checked, The average salary is around 75k a year. So im thinking that's real money, not monopoly money, and it's a lot of it.

I'm gonna try to become a staff writer for either Gamespot or Nintendo Power.

Of course, I'm only 15, so it'll be a while.