I spent a lot of my 20s trying out various careers that appealed - I worked in tech & game journalism, TV, speechwriting, and some other things. Like a lot of others I found that most popular aspirational careers force low salaries and crappy conditions on their workers in exchange for 'living the dream'. Videogame programming (which I haven't done) is a good example of this: almost anyone except the really high end geniuses could make a much better living doing database work, and not have to be chewed up and spat out by 80-100 hour work weeks. Journalism too: with honorable exceptions like The Escapist, journalism is often a proving ground where the smart kids eventually graduate to doing PR.
Without trying to be negative or crap on anyone's dream, I would suggest looking very carefully at the 'hot' careers and ask yourself what you're really looking for in them, because there are some very smart people who are cynically selling you a bill of goods with regards to things like the game, music & movie industries.
Now I'm in my early 30s I find myself motivated by internal rewards far more than external. I want to be a good person; I want to spend time with loved ones; I want to work with interesting people. This opens up a LOT of possibilities, while slamming some doors firmly shut.
Cheers
Colin