Long post, read before you reply. If you don't have the energy to do that first, then good luck in life.
I'm not entirely sure what this is. Perhaps it is just an observation, experiment, or maybe I'm just trying to learn a little myself. Also, if people want to ask some questions, about degrees/colleges/industry, I will answer them the best I can. I have some experience that people may be able to learn from. In return, other people who have experience in college or the industry feel free to contribute to this topic with your thoughts. This is basically just a topic to guide people, young & old, who are interested in developing games.
Again, I am sort of making this up as I go, so let's see here. Giant Bomb forums. A site about video games. The first thing I have to ask is, out of everyone here, who plans to eventually work developing games? I reckon a lot of you, but I could be wrong. If so, that's a lot of competition in the job market. First thing to know is playing games is different from developing games. Many people will find that out will change their minds, so that'll free up some of the competition. You may love playing games - be it Super Metroid, Half-Life 2, or Rock Band. But do you want to develop games for a career? Programming, animating, etc. Granted, a lot of you are probably in high school and don't have much, if any at all, experience in technical skills like that.
So we have all of these people trying to come into video game development. I say development, because as Jeff once said, you shouldn't really go into video game journalism or related fields if your eventual dream is to make games. He is right. Of course there are always some people here and there who make the transition from "journalism" or QA, but it's rare. There's a good chance you could just be stuck. If you went into QA in order to try to sneak into a high position, but then your company loses money, and you lose your job - what do you have? Most likely you'll just get the same position, same pay at a different company. Ground zero. I don't know that much about QA, but I doubt you learn a lot of skills that are applicable to other jobs. I could be wrong though, let me know if I am. Like I said before, this post is just meant as a way to learn for me and other people also interested in the industry.
Degrees. What degree should one have if they want to get into the games industry? Full-Sail, DeVry, and ITT Tech offer degrees in Video Game Design of the sort. You should go to them then, right? After all, that IS what you want - to make games. So you should of course go for a game design degree, correct? Not necessarily. While this is a possibility, it's not the only possibility. In fact, a more general degree may be better in some cases. A more general Animation degree may teach you things that a Video Game Design degree never would - such as the basic principles of art design and general skills that can be applied to various jobs. It's good to be flexible so that you have jobs in various industries that want to hire you.
If you strictly go for a Video Game Design degree, and apply for a position, that does not garantee that you will immediately get hired. While companies like seeing that you have a degree, there is something they like seeing even more - experience. That's great you have a degree, but what can you actually do? Can you back up the papers you show them? Let's see some designs, programs, or animations that you have done. That's what is important. I don't mean to downplay Video Game Design degrees. There are some that will prepare you well. I'm just letting people become aware that they don't need a Video Game Design degree to work in the industry. A more general degree will also work, and will in some cases be better, since you have flexibility. It's about what you are capable of doing. It's also nice to know that your degree will prepare you for other careers as well, just in case. People should feel free to express their experience in this topic with related degrees. Are you still finishing up your degree? What kind is it? Where is it? How's it going so far - what skills have you learned so far?
This post is getting quite lengthly, so let me make this last point quick. I will post later in this topic about mine and other people's experience. So look for that. Okay, so last quick point. The video game industry requires you to work long hours and over-time, with probably not as much pay as you'd like. Which leaves less time for playing games.
More to be shared in this topic coming soon! As I said before, this topic is to LEARN! People who are in the industry or in the process of getting in, or just people who are curious in getting in! Express and share thoughts/experiences here! Everyone will try to answer your questions and discuss! This is to see if the video game industry is really for you or not, and if it is, to pick up some tips.
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