Video Game Jobs?

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Celes

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Well I'm a senior in High School and I'm still kind of deciding in what to major in college, but was wondering, what are some of the majors that are popular in the video game business? I suck at art and I don't know shit about programming so what else is there?
 
if youre not artistic, cant program,and dont really know anything about the industry, become an art director;)

that or go apply at EB.
 
Business or English.

You wont be able to make games, but you could get a job in the business side of things or be a video game writer/reviewer.
 
I was thinking of going for business earlier but wasn't sure. I don't have to be making the games, just be part of it.
 
Design is generally good for Concept Artists, i believe.
Music is generally good for composers, obviously.
and Art/CS major for those doing programming i'd believe.
Computer Design/Art /CS for the Graphics and 3-D modeling and such. ]

just do a google search.
 
Marketing is your best choice. Also, if you dont get that video game job you can apply for other jobs.Americans will buy anything. If you got good marketing skills you can sell designer bags for $3,000 and people still be paying for it even with a 3 year waiting list.
 
Thanks. I'm leaning more towards business right now, but would it be a wise choice if I'm not exactl great at math? I'm okay, but not great.
 
Marketing doesn't require much math skills. All you have to understanding is how to play the game correctly which include many of the following skills.

1)Advertisement-a good catch phrase or image that will stick to your brain
2)Understand Regional Differences-

example(video games doing very well):
Us-violence,action games
Japan-weird and inovative games
Europe-soccer and ww2 games

3)Age differcences-On how to market to a certain crowd
4)A bit of Psychology-

ex)
free sample supermarkets-people buy more
music in supermarket-make people to buy more stuff
 
[quote name='Odenat']Not good at math, programming, or art hrmm ever think about becoming a politician?[/QUOTE]

I didn't say I was that stupid lol
I said I'm not exaclt greay at math but I am above average. I'm not one to take all those advance math classes in school. I just stopped at Triginometry/Pre-Calculis.
 
My successful businessman dad says marketing is useless and that accounting is the only business-related degree that's worth anything. But then again, he works for a bank, not a video game company, so it may be different for that.
 
business management is always a good way to go....and about applying at your local game stores...yeah....good luck with that
 
[quote name='Dagnabbit']business management is always a good way to go....and about applying at your local game stores...yeah....good luck with that[/QUOTE]

You know what I always fine weird is that stores like EBgames and Gamestop only hire people who DON'T know anything about gaming. What's up with that?
 
You should major in Japanese. All of the big game companies need translators for both in-game stuff and PR stuff whichever way you would prefer... and they pay pretty well from what I understand because not many people can speak both fluently.
 
[quote name='Dead of Knight']My successful businessman dad says marketing is useless and that accounting is the only business-related degree that's worth anything. But then again, he works for a bank, not a video game company, so it may be different for that.[/QUOTE]


:lol: Sorry for laughing, but of course if your old man works at a bank he would believe that accounting is the only good business-related degree. :lol: Why would a bank want to hire someone with a marketing degree over someone with an accounting degree? :lol:



Back on topic, if you are only average at math and have no artistic skills then you should consider a different industry to go into. I'm not being mean but I'm being rational.
 
Man I'd love to be a voice actor. You can make really good money doing that. I definitely have the face for it!
 
assuming that your going to college, im sure that there are computer and graphic majors you can choose. I got lucky and my school (Depaul) has a major celled GAMING!

OMG im a freshman but i saw classes like strategy programming (RPG?), and cool stuff like that. But i will have to take 3 math classes too so blah!
 
[quote name='javeryh']You should major in Japanese. All of the big game companies need translators for both in-game stuff and PR stuff whichever way you would prefer... and they pay pretty well from what I understand because not many people can speak both fluently.[/QUOTE]

While that sounds like a great idea, it also sounds like the most difficult path if you don't know any Japanese. The language is very diffrent from English and could take several years just to speak it, forget about reading and writing. Besides Most companies will just hire a Japanese person, since they teach English over there at a very young age. Sorry to be a buzz kill.
 
[quote name='Rodimus Donut']While that sounds like a great idea, it also sounds like the most difficult path if you don't know any Japanese. The language is very diffrent from English and could take several years just to speak it, forget about reading and writing. Besides Most companies will just hire a Japanese person, since they teach English over there at a very young age. Sorry to be a buzz kill.[/QUOTE]

He's a senior in high school - isn't that what you go to college for? To learn something you can apply in the real world? I think if it is something he might be interested in then he should go for it. I don't see how learning Japanese is any harder than learning to be an Electrical Engineer...
 
[quote name='javeryh']He's a senior in high school - isn't that what you go to college for? To learn something you can apply in the real world? I think if it is something he might be interested in then he should go for it. I don't see how learning Japanese is any harder than learning to be an Electrical Engineer...[/QUOTE]

I'm not trying to sound like I know what's best for him and I'm not saying it's impossible, but to me it just sounded alittle to difficult for a guy just wanting to get his feet in the door.
 
[quote name='6669']Try Computer Science, its not that difficult[/QUOTE]

WTF?! Perhaps, at a community college.

Ever heard of the infamous CS323?
 
you could teach yourself level design. a great way to get started with that is to buy a copy of unreal tournament 2004; it includes the unreal engine editor and a ton of tutorials on how to use the unreal ed. if you put in the time to learn this and maybe took some basic game design/3d modeling classes at your local community college you could at the very least get your foot in the door making a mod-game. its not a hundred grand a year, but its the game industry.
 
Why don't you first figure out what it is you are good at, and then see how/if you can apply those skills to the gaming industry.
 
[quote name='6669']Try Computer Science, its not that difficult[/QUOTE]

That's not really true at all, at least when it comes to video games. Programming in the game business is very competitive and you better be sharp if you expect to be successfull.
 
[quote name='b3b0p']WTF?! Perhaps, at a community college.

Ever heard of the infamous CS323?[/QUOTE]

Or CS315, EE316, CS352, CS341, or CS372 if you're in the UT area? CS has raped my mind for the past few years, but it's worth it.

To be fair, I have friends at UT: Dallas that have a bunch of free time during the semester (in CS)... unthinkable!


But OP, go for the business side and take lots of humanities courses. Who knows, you might end up as a lead designer, then those cultural courses would come in handy.
 
[quote name='spoo']:lol: Sorry for laughing, but of course if your old man works at a bank he would believe that accounting is the only good business-related degree. :lol: Why would a bank want to hire someone with a marketing degree over someone with an accounting degree? :lol: [/QUOTE]

This is very true.
 
Ask yourself this, "What do I like to do? What could I do everyday without complaining. What can I do that I will always wake up eager to get to work? What would I do for FREE!?"

Then you'll know.
 
[quote name='Morrigan Lover']No. If you want to do programming, major in Mathematics or Electrical Engineering. I know alot of CS majors that got stuck doing $10/hour brainless work after college.[/QUOTE]

It all depends on your personality. If you're smart and you work hard then you can always do better than that. I majored in CS and I've got an awesome job that I love making WAY more than that.
 
If you are full of sh...t and are comforatable doing alot of BS, then marketing is for you. Marketing takes no skill beyond what a retarded monkey can do. Or maybe a producer?
 
[quote name='j-fever']If you are full of sh...t and are comforatable doing alot of BS, then marketing is for you. Marketing takes no skill beyond what a retarded monkey can do. Or maybe a producer?[/QUOTE]

We don't use the word "retarded." They are "Special Monkeys."
 
[quote name='Rodimus Donut']I'm not trying to sound like I know what's best for him and I'm not saying it's impossible, but to me it just sounded alittle to difficult for a guy just wanting to get his feet in the door.[/QUOTE]

yeah, you may be right - I only learned to count to 10 in Japanese back when Karate was what all the cool kids were doing... it probably is very difficult to learn
 
[quote name='XboxHardcore.com']Ask yourself this, "What do I like to do? What could I do everyday without complaining. What can I do that I will always wake up eager to get to work? What would I do for FREE!?"

Then you'll know.[/QUOTE]

So you're encouraging him to become a porn star?
 
If you're a high school senior and haven't already developed any serious interest in programming it's probably too late to start. Unless you possess an untapped genius for the job unbeknownst to even yourself, you're already long in the tooth to get started. The skill level needed for serious game development is fairly high and the burnout factor is as well. Most of the guys writing serious code are under 30. Past that, they are either supervising a bunch of younger guys or have fled screaming from the game industry. It's rare to achieve the status of someone like John Carmack who has complete control of his career and has nobody cracking a whip and yelling about the schedule. Unless you're a hidden genius you be most of the way to burnout age before you've gotten your first serious job.

Marketing is always an option for those with no real productive talents but you have to take a good long look in the mirror and decide how attractive you think you are. While there are some less presentable high level execs in marketing the frontline hirelings are largely chosen on basis of looks. At E3 the difference between a booth bunny and the marketing ladies is that the marketing ladies are showing somewhat less leg and cleavage and know the difference between a platform game and a FPS. 9 out of 10 are named Jennifer. I'm not kidding. I've referred to marketing women as Jennifers to total strangers wearing press badge and they knew immediately who I talking about.

So you need to be pretty and reasonably well dressed to get the marketing gigs.

Foreign languages are very useful if they're the primary tongue of major markets. Being able to meet and greet Brazilian buyers from a big retail chain in Portuguese can be a big asset to a marketing operation, for example. And localizations are always needed for games. Again, if you're just starting now though, it could be many years before it really pays off. I have a friend who was a Japanese language major and may have been well on his way to getting some work in the industry but he started studying in his early teens when he first saw it as his sole likely entry to the business. (He died in a car accident before getting serious about finding a job, so that next chapter never gets written.)

Are you unusually athletic? Perhaps you could be a mo-cap model. Qualifications include the ability to jump straight up to at least your own height and change direction in mid-fall without touch any solid object. The ability to curl up in a ball and hurl yourself about fast enough to destroy large items like robots and cars is also highly sought after.

Seriously, the game industry has a rotten track record for exploiting workers ruthlessly. Most of the jobs offered to those without very specific highly trained skills are very low wage and unrewarding. They depend heavily on youthful enthusiasm to supply ever more bodies for those roles.
 
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