Games

by J.C. Alexander

Gaming is a fun activity or hobby (for a lot of people,) but make sure you like doing other things before you think about doing it for a living. The good news is that there are a lot of different types of careers in the video game industry, so there is bound to be something for almost everyone who likes video games. The video game industry is an industry that does not know how to sit still, because of this fact it is hard to find out what kind of jobs they offer. I have found some Ritalin and with it some information.

A game tester is a job that does not sound like a job at all. It also happens to be a good stepping stone into the video game industry. Most gaming teenagers dream of having this kind of job through high school, and come to find out high school would be a good time to get this job. Like any prepubescent job on the market this one is far from fun and pays just slightly over minimum wage. Now I bet you are thinking that you or someone you know would play video games for eight hours a day for free, throwing even a meager wage in to the mix is gravy. Before every gaming adolescent starts salivating at the prospects of this new found opportunity, information must be given. Try to imagine a video game that is not the best one you have ever played, or the worst one, just one that is…ok. Before any cash can be taken home someone is going to have to play this one game for five to eight hours a day every day for a couple months. Still sounds do-able. I forgot to mention that you will only be assigned one or two levels. I must state that it is not all bad, you get your foot in the door of the video game industry, and the other jobs out there that will hire with no experience or skill are not much better.

The other jobs in the video game industry require a smart mind, creative soul, and a love for the video game. I am not talking about the receptionist or janitor because every company with a building must have a staff to keep the place running, and a video game obsession is not a requirement for those kinds of jobs. The next job you might find your self applying for is in Tech Support. A Tech Support job will require talking on the phone with people trying to figure out what has gone wrong with your company’s software. A Tech Support job is not terribly fun but at least it is has less of a chance of turning you off of video games for the rest of your life. As you can see a Tech Supporter will need to know how a computer works and how the software works to be successful, a bachelors degree is usually required and a small amount of experience in the video game industry is a plus (See the job above.) As for the pay, how does 10 to 15 an hour sound.

All the rest of the jobs are salaried. They start at about $32,000 and go up to about $85,000 a year. There are the weird cases where someone is so good they pull a salary well into the six figures, but that is not the norm. The next job on the totem pole and strangely enough one of the highest paying but not most coveted, is the computer programmer. There are many flavors of this job like artificial intelligence programmers, sound and graphic programmers, engine programmers, and tool programmers just to name a few. These people will need to love video games and computers. Smarts are a must and long hours are usually required. The video game industry is fast paced like I mentioned above. and it takes a long time to get a video game programmed. Competition is fierce and long hours are usually the determining factor for what game hits the shelves first. Computer programming is a hard job and you will find that there is not much time for game play, but if you love programming and video games you will love this. The languages C and C++ are currently the most used languages so keep that in mind, but also keep in mind that everything changes. Computer programmers always are learning new languages.

The next type of job is an artist. An artist will do many different things like logos, boxes, characters, backgrounds, tools, and textures. The software that is used is very difficult to operate and the artist will need extensive training to be able to work efficiently. An artist makes a lot of money but not as much as a computer programmer. Getting your hands on this job is a different story though because there is only one job in the video game industry that is more desirable, and that job is the game designer. The game designer will need to be a person that has a wide range of skills. The game designer needs to be able to communicate very well with verbal and visual communication. The game designer needs to be very creative because this is the group that develops the game story and how it will be played. Game designers will need to be technically proficient because they need to be able to communicate their ideas to the artists, sound designers, and computer programmers. This is the ultimate job in the video game industry.

The video game industry might be hard to get in to and you will have surly have to pay your dues. Perusing this career is well worth the effort if you love video games and have the skills necessary to be a success.