Do You Dream Of Working In Game Industry?

Post by **Yackom** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 3:02 am

Here is an article about a good friend of mine in the game industry. It gives light on non programming and art jobs in the game industry.

http://www.gamecareerguide.com/features ... other_.php

what do you guys think?

Post by **Pullmyfinger** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 12:36 pm

game programming isn't as glamorous as it sounds in most places and QA does suck....a lot, I really feel for the poor guys when they have to test the really shitty games.

Post by **Curlypaul** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 12:50 pm

Isnt it the main job of the tester to spend hours doing all the stuff no one else would think of like driving round a track in reverse 20 times to try and make the game crash or do something quirky. That sould pretty tedious whether its the best game ever or some pile of old dog shit.

Post by **philipofmacedon** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 12:48 am

I think that being a video game journalist would be interesting but I'd really like do something more with my life. I imagine that covering games exclusively could grind someone down.

I thought it would be useful to do some freelance writing but I don't know who would buy my articles. I've been wanting to write some articles about J.R.R. Tolkien theological ideas and video games lately. His writings are an accessible point both for Christians to think about video games and gamers to think about Christianity. I'd argue Tolkien would approve of video games if he were still around today.

It seems like every time I hear about Christianity and video games it's Jack Thompson or someone on Fox. It makes us look like a bunch of kooks. I'd like to give them the benefit of the doubt but what they're doing is far less productive than intelligent dialogue about games.

I've got accounts over at Kotaku and Destructoid but I'd be blogging for free and I feel like those sites wouldn't exactly be the proper place for this material. Anyone have an idea who'd want to buy this material? Failing that where could I submit that and just get them posted without having to worry about people stealing them? Maybe it's pride, but I feel like putting some really good on some tiny blog somewhere is just asking to have it stolen.

Post by **Yackom** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 3:04 pm

Pullmyfinger wrote:game programming isn't as glamorous as it sounds in most places and QA does suck....a lot, I really feel for the poor guys when they have to test the really shitty games.

Personally I probably wouldn't ever work in the game industry and I have had offers by a few good companies. I know what kind of work cycles they do 100+ hour weeks, relatively low pay for the hours your doing, high stress plus in all likelihood you wont be working on the best games you would be really proud to work on.

The thing about testing games is that its really a gateway into the better jobs, design ect, for some people its the entry level to work your way up to the top.

Post by **discoalucard** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 2:43 pm

I used to be too. That's why I got my Computer Science degree. Of course, after a few years, I realized I wasn't that great at programming, and getting a job in the industry would require that I leave my home state, which I didn't want to do. (There are very few development houses in the east coast.) And since I don't find programming that interesting unless there's some game design involved (I did do a game for my senior project, which worked out pretty well), I didn't want a job in non-game computer industry, because it's all web development and other creatively stifling stuff.

Any "game journalism" stuff I do as a hobby. I prefer to keep it part-time, because it's less stressful, and my day job is much better at paying the bills. Mostly, again, for the reasons brought up before - I don't like getting burnt out on it.

Post by **discoalucard** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 2:46 pm

philipofmacedon wrote:Anyone have an idea who'd want to buy this material? Failing that where could I submit that and just get them posted without having to worry about people stealing them? Maybe it's pride, but I feel like putting some really good on some tiny blog somewhere is just asking to have it stolen.

Sorry for the double post, but maybe get in contact with Simon at Gamesetwatch. He has a lot of people doing columns on a variety of interesting subjects. I'm not sure if the columns over there are paying, but it would likely get your writing some exposure if he likes it.