I've visited the DigiPen campus (was up applying with Microsoft, figured I'd stop by Nintendo HQ while I was in the area), and picked up a course catalog. Seemed fairly intense to me, but was mostly geared towards programming and graphic design. If you want to learn either of those two things specifically oriented towards video games, then it wouldn't be a bad place (though last time I checked, which was a few years ago, they were only accepting .1% of applicants).

I don't know much about the others, I've obviously heard of them but have not yet researched anything about them. I'm guessing it is really going to depend on what you want to focus on - I'm getting my BA in CompSci and then my MBA, because I want to focus on project management within the gaming industry. You may or may not need to attend any of these places, depending on what you want to do.

It doesn't have a bad reputation where I'm from (washington state), at least not that I've heard. It isn't new, it was the first of those colleges (I think), about 7-9 years old (can't remember exactly). I remember stories of first-year students there (less then a year out of high school) who had recieved job offers if they left digipen. Others were offered deals that the company would pay for the rest of their education if they aggreed to work for the company afterwards.

It seems like a waste of money to me.

Wow, those are some excellent points you made there, Kil.

First of all, yes, I know what I'm getting myself into. Unfortunately, few people realize the amount of work that goes into being a Game Designer and pursues that career just for the sake of being exposed to a gaming environment in the workplace. I've done a lot of thinking, and came to a conclusion that this is what I want to do with my life. Long story short, I always have a drive to make something using my imagination since I was in 1st Grade. In Grade 8, I discovered the world of theatre drama, and it became a passion. I realized that what drew me to drama is that I loved how people could enjoy what I do so much on the stage. It, however, doesn't satisfy my desire to create. After a few years, I connected the two-and-two together and came up with my mission statement. 'My dream is to give fun to everyone through masterpieces of creativity'. This is my purpose in life. I'm here to provide entertainment for those living in a harsh stressful world. As a kid, I've looked to video and computer games as and escape from the painful realities of life. I want to give back something to those who made life more interesting and enjoyable - I want to give fun to teenagers like me. The best medium for that is game development. However, there are several positions I can take, why become a game designer? I've read a magazine and it had an interview with a professional game designer. The summary stated that you should be a good writer, speaker, have some artistic talent and great imagination to be able to become a good Game Designer. I also have decent leadership skills, which the designer sometimes needs. After some more research, my conclusion is that this is what I am to be in the future. The Game Designer totally encompasses what I am; therefore, it is in my best interest to pursue that career.

However, as you've clearly pointed out, Kil, people may change. I may find out that there is a better alternative. I mean, who knows? That is exactly why I'm giving it four years while getting a degree in Computer Design. Will I change my mind? Only time will tell.

I do know that Psychology will come in handy. If you know more about people and what they like, you can come up with more effective games. Mythology and religion will surely help with ideas, but economics? I'm not so certain about that one.

That sounds like a good reason to become a game developer. In fact, it sounds eerily similar to the reason that I have myself. I am a bit worried about your fixation on being a Designer, though.

If you decide to become an independent developer, as many people around these parts (meaning the Verge boards) seem to aspire to, you won't really be able afford to specialize. A team lead, in my view anyway, basically has the job of picking up the slack anywhere that no one else can pick it up. You'll need all the skills you learned in your earlier degree, not to mention ones you probably never thought of. And you'll also probably need a healthy dose of optimism.

If you want to try to break into the established industry... I really don't know how much a game design school will really help. I really don't. I am not an industry guru... but I do know that from what I've seen, game companies are allergic to hiring anyone unproven, except maybe as QA Testers. I have seen tester jobs where they want years of experience, even. Getting a job will probably be based a lot more on what you've got in a portfolio than what education you have, even if it's in a special college.

But then, I could be wrong. I'm not really trying to change your mind about game design college, I just hate seeing intelligent people ending up caught with awkward surprises. I'm averse to specialization, really, so take what I say with a grain of salt.



And yeah, economics can be applied to games like MMORPGs, SimCity, and so on. It's actually also a pretty useful subject to take a few intro classes on for its concepts on things like government and personal spending, the way money is used, and what a lot of words that people say but don't know what they mean actually do mean. At least, it was here, from the prof I took it from. Your mileage may vary.

Gayo, explanations will help. :)

A portfolio is basically a sample of the work you've done. I would say that the sort of things you're applying for would give you a good idea about what sort of things to put in there. Anything to convince your prospective employer that you're good enough at what you want to do that you should do it for them.

Since I am currently just a lowly CompSci student with dreams of bigger things who has done a bit of research, I'll use someone else's words rather than mine:

A summary of a roundtable discussion of computer game developers from '97

I think that gives a pretty good (short) overview of what sort of things to have in a portfolio (plus other things about getting into the game industry). You may have to sign up for Gamasutra, but it's free and well worth the time. It has some very good articles.

As for including games made with GameMaker or Verge, I think it depends. If you're applying for a programmer's job, I'd say that it probably wouldn't be that much help. As a designer, artist, writer, etc., I'm guessing that it would be; it still displays what you're trying to sell in yourself.

Is there anyone with actual industry experience that could add to this? All I'm going on here is what research I've done and some (possibly wrong-headed or idealistic) hypothesis.


And thanks for the compliment on my avatar. Ah drew it meself, yuh'see. :)

might wanna take a look at that:

http://www.blizzard.com/jobopp/bn-lead-game-designer.shtml
http://www.blizzard.com/jobopp/game-designer.shtml

for the actual game designer job. For anything else game-related you can look at that page:

http://www.blizzard.com/jobopp/

I think it pretty much sums up what a good game company is looking for. And I think they describe under certain sections what they want in portfolios...

Everything is as I've expected. The resources sure are accurate.

One interesting new fact is how much a highly respectable company values prior experience. I knew that it is important, but not first-priority. I guess it's true then that the ladder is very tall.

Statospherically, huh? Thanks for the tip. :)