@JRock3x8: if you pay for production at the start, you get a copy when it comes out (thereby not paying at retail). It is also possible that the game will cost more than the lowest donation, at least at launch.
Get a degree that will help you facilitate what you want to do. 'Making games' is too broad a topic, do you really want to create assets, develop algorithms or design levels?
That's an important point. A lot of people say to themselves, "I like videogames, I want to make videogames, so I should get a CS degree" but they don't have a clear idea of what part of games they want to make. Maybe they have fantastical ideas of making MMOs by themselves. Those people realize that the actual CS work they're being told to do isn't something they actually enjoy. "
Well, the whole "I like videogames, so it must rock to make videogames" logic is fallacious in itself.. Game Dev club on my campus drops membership to about 30-40% of initial a few weeks after people start working on projects. Thankfully we curtail most of the ideas the kiddies have for MMOs.. Some people have issues realizing that those games typically aren't fun without a social context.
Oh, right.. join your game dev club; senior members will be future industry contacts. Companies come out to recruit and give free pizza/tshirts/laptops/etc.
Get a degree that will help you facilitate what you want to do. 'Making games' is too broad a topic, do you really want to create assets, develop algorithms or design levels?
I'll tell you right now that very people who get through CS at a good school are still into making games for 50-74k when they can jump into the financial sector for ~100k. Those that do have typically created several games, and thereby a portfolio, by the time they graduate. Did I mention that they're all crazy and super dedicated to working in that industry?
Oh, and all that math you think you're so good at? Yeah, that will be considered extremely elementary by ~soph year, much like arithmetic. (I apologize if you've looked at complex geometry, advanced proofs/reductions, complex diffeq, etc)
If you want a head-start in CS, look into memory management algorithms and stack frames. Translate simple programs to/from c and x86. Understand compiler flags, and all the steps of compilation. If you know what your compiler is doing, you'll have a huge leg-up on the rest of your class.
I realize it sounds like I'm telling you not to go into CS, but it takes a very specific mindset to be good at it. Simply studying for exams may get you the grades you want, but you need to develop instinctual knowledge about polymorphism and algorithm design/runtime analysis. On top of this, the games industry requires more specific knowledge about run time optimization and memory management that the rest of the world has by and large moved on from (mostly because it's typically a pain in the ass).
" Spend $170 to turn my PS3 into an offline only console? pass. "
Spend $170 to turn my $600 PS3 into an offline only console? HELL NO... "
All reports indicate that there is no permanent change to the system files on the PS3.. so even if it is offline while playing backups, the homebrew aspects almost make it worth the investment. Regardless, there will likely be cheaper alternatives shortly.
Emulators are stuck in a legal grey-area due to the amount and types of reverse engineering required to produce them. In general, the emulators themselves are legal, but you must use physical media. You have the right to make backups of your media, though I do not wish to dredge into whether or not you may do anything with said data.
That said, there are also illegal emulators, depending on the measures used to produce them. Most of it is tied into the DMCA which itself is often used in ways that were likely not intended.
If anyone wishes to further educate themselves on such matters, look into the legalities of reverse engineering and clean room design. There's some really interesting stuff that's happened.
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