Poll: Anyone here thinking about a career in gaming?

[MetalMagpie]

I work as a software developer and love every minute of it. But I would think long and hard before I went to work for a video game company. The industry has a terrible reputation for how it treats its employees (forced unpaid over-time, redundancies in lull periods, etc.) and some of the feedback from fans must be like a punch to the gut.

I recognise that there must be some video game companies that are decent places to work, but I'm not sure I'd want to take the risk. Working in the messaging industry, I get treated like a human being, paid well, and (with a couple of exceptions) my clients really appreciate the work I put in.

I scratch my make-a-video-game itch by doing it in my own time.

 

[Folji]

I'm taking a university degree in programming and designing modern-day medias anyway, and game design is one of the more creatively focused things I could get involved in with that kind of a degree, so why not!

 

[Trololo Punk]

Hoping to go into journalism when I leave high school. Being a game journalist would be pretty awesome.

 

[Cid Silverwing]

Professionally, hell yes.

In fact I don't see myself achieving anything if I don't have a career in gaming.

 

[Trippy Turtle]

Its the dream to be part of a company like Blizzard or something but I doubt that will happen. I'm not willing to risk another job over creating my own games either. So, I would do it if I thought I was certain to get a decent job in there but as it is now, not going for one.

 

[SlaveNumber23]

Sort of, I'd rather make my own indie games either by myself or with a couple of friends as a side project though, the game industry is not something I want to rely on to earn a living.

 

[StriderShinryu]

I have thought about it, but not overly seriously. In the end, I prefer games to be my hobby as opposed to being work. Not that there's anything wrong with working in the industry, but I know it would change the way I experienced games as a player and I don't feel it would be a change for the better.

 

[The Funslinger]

Hoping to go into journalism when I leave high school. Being a game journalist would be pretty awesome.

Agreed.

OT: I know a lot of people who tried to get into game design because they love games. A lot of them didn't really process how monotonous coding can be until it was up in their face.

So I now have some unfortunately disillusioned friends.

 

[Coffeejack]

It sure sounds great at first, but unless I make the cut for a good company like VALVe, I will likely end up in a terrible, underpaid position, stuck in permanent 'crunch time', losing any enthusiasm I have for the craft and dying faster with every miserable day.

I'd say the risk-to-reward ratio would probably be better if I decided to pursue a career in something like armed robbery.

 

[The Lunatic]

I'm presently trying to forge my way towards one.

Attending University for a course of that nature, aiming to become a 3D Artist of some sort.

Although, I'm really enjoying using the UDK, so, I'll probably look more extensively into that.

Nothing wrong with broadening one's abilities.

We'll see how that goes.

 

[Palademon]

Currently on a university course to get into that area.
So far it has pretty much convinced me that I'm lazy and talentless.
I barely have time to complete the work, so I can't really do a portfolio.
And the people teaching me 3D modelling are quick to just put it down to you being a programmer if you don't grasp everything straight away, and basically give up on you. No, it couldn't possibly be that I've never done it before, but to be fair, I don't have much artistic skill. Still, modelling is easier than drawing.

I'm ok at the programming so far. It's very satisfying to ge somehting to work or fix errors. And I enjoy the design work, but I doubt I'll ever be in position where my skills are good enough to be desired, mostly because I'm a very negative individual and the loser the dream the more it feels like it's further away.

If I fail I'll end up working a shitty job for the rest of my life, since I have very few interests and no talent.

 

[StormShaun]

I am currently on the path to become a journalist in the section of games!

Well... I have done a course on Mass Communication.
And now I am about to do a professional writing and publishing major at Univeristy.

Hopefully I will graduate and soon join a magazine/Website and write for one of my passions!

 

[mohit9206]

i am currently doing computer science and am interested in game designing. but i absolutely dont want anything to do with any sort of coding or programming. am really bad at programming and coding but with some training i could be a decent game designer. am definitely interested as long theres a market for it in my country (india)

 

[Assassin Xaero]

I'm working my way there, preferably as a programmer. I have a degree in CIS and work as a software developer already, so almost there, I guess. I'm a bit confused about something, though. When people are saying "game designer" what exactly are they referring to? They never give a specific area (level design, programmer, artist, etc).

 

[Griffolion]

See title. I've been wanting to go into this industry more and more these days.

I'm currently in second year of Computer Games Development (basically computer science with the topics of study framed in a gaming context). But I'm going to change my third year honours and title to just Computing (Computer Science by other uni's) as I feel that, off the advice of some people I know "in the industry", game studios won't be looking at the title of your degree. Computing or Games Dev makes no difference, however Computing in wider IT circles will give a more general overview of my skillset rather than just pigeon holing me into one thing.

I'm not ruling it out in the future, but I'm wanting to angle myself so my options remain open in wider IT circles.

 

[Tayh]

I have a few idea for games, films and books I'd like to produce.
So far, they remain dreams however.

 

[AngloDoom]

Nope.

I'm going into nursing: the closest I've come to wanting to be into the games industry is to create a game in RPG Maker for a friend of mine because he made a Pokemon style game about my life and I realised I could never do something like that back for him. Then I got side-tracked by life.

 

[Belaam]

I think it would be fantastic to do game writing, or even just Beta spell checking as grammar/spelling errors in games drive me nuts. But it's not a job in my area, and I enjoy teaching English, which is what I do now. When my kids are older and more capable of entertaining themselves, I may look into it as a part time gig.

 

[Cpu46]

Wrapping up a computer aided drafting major this semester. Picked it because I loved the process and because it is a relatively easy transition between the engineering based 3D modeling programs I use now and game modeling programs. Actually I'm pretty sure that the program I have been using has a file export option that makes it compatible with game modeling format. Also have been tinkering with some free game modeling software here and there during my free time.

So to answer your question OP, Kinda. I'm not actively looking but I have the skills required to hop over to it if I want too.

 

[Chemical Alia]

Currently on a university course to get into that area.
So far it has pretty much convinced me that I'm lazy and talentless.
I barely have time to complete the work, so I can't really do a portfolio.
And the people teaching me 3D modelling are quick to just put it down to you being a programmer if you don't grasp everything straight away, and basically give up on you. No, it couldn't possibly be that I've never done it before, but to be fair, I don't have much artistic skill. Still, modelling is easier than drawing.

Urgh, that's terrible. I took a 3d modeling class as an elective while I was still studying fine art, and I found it frustrating and confusing. My teacher basically explained to me that it wasn't a big deal, since girls aren't known to be good at modeling. It turned out, he was actually just terrible at teaching! (and a terrible artist, I learned years later when I found his portfolio.) I didn't grasp things at first when that one teacher would explain them, because I didn't have a good understanding of how those different tools were supposed to be used to achieve something. Keep up your confidence and don't lose your patience, and focus on learning what the tools are for, and eventually, it will start to make a lot more sense. Kind of like learning to ride a bike.