Comments on: Become a Video Game Designer: Everything You Need to Know Part 1

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By: Charin

Charin — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 06:50:14 +0000

“Hi Tony,

I just wanted to say thank you for sharing with us your personal experience with regards to the gaming industry. I love your note regarding the fact that one of the greatest rewards as a game designer is creating a vision and being able to successfully transform that vision into something that can be appreciated by many. That in my opinion is art in it of itself and seems to have been greatly overshadowed by a much bigger priority, profit. The notion of creativity and innovative gameplay seems to be lacking among the gaming industry today.

This is especially the case for the so-called “Blockbuster” games such as the New Super Mario Brothers for the Nintendo Wii. This game, while has sold to over 3 million copies in Japan, fails to bring any new form of creativity or innovation. Instead, the game merely rehashes the same style of gameplay from the classic Super Mario Brothers game released 15 years ago. The only difference here was adding a four-player mode. This is an example of how lazy the gaming industry has become. Making a profit seems to be of greater importance than creating something new altogether.

Lastly, I also liked your mentioning of the issue regarding the work-life balance. As when creating any art piece (even a video game), it is really about doing whatever it takes to achieve that vision that you, as a designer have set out to do. It shouldn’t just be about making money.

-Charin”

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By: Guy Gibson

Guy Gibson — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:39:54 +0000

I really appreciate your article. I know that there is nothing more I’d rather do than work in the video game industry, even if it means working from the bottom up at a studio. One question for you, I live in Texas, and degrees in game and art focused areas are hard to find and at the few places they are offered they are around 80k. I have found a few places offering associates degrees that are affordable for me (the degrees are called “Digital Media and Design, and “Game Design”) but I wonder if an associates degree, passion and a good work ethic would be enough to get my foot in the door, or should I get an online Bachelor’s in Game Design from a school like Westwood or ITT tech. So the real question is, would an Associates degree in digital media and design or game design be adequate for a starting position or would it be more beneficial to get a Bachelor’s and if so, Would and online school like Westwood or ITT tech be acceptable or would an employer look down upon the degree, and if it is acceptable which online school could you reccomend?

Again, you have no idea how much this is appreciated, thank you.

By: Jessie Broxterman

Jessie Broxterman — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 14:53:29 +0000

Fantastic article, easily the most helpful information I’ve found so far, and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your thoroughness. A couple questions I was hoping you could help me with:

1.) Are there gaming companies you would recommend, or one’s you’d strongly avoid? Personally I’m looking at PC based MMO’s, though I enjoy FPS’s as well and feel the gaming industry is getting close to developing something that successfully combines the two.

2.) In terms of a degree, are there any schools that seem to have a “renown” factor when it comes to producing / training game designers? Or, perhaps, could you recommend any schools or universities?

Again, thank you for all your help.

By: Coty

Coty — Fri, 08 May 2009 08:12:01 +0000

WOW, Tony i feel stupid on part 2 i left a comment and put Justin because i read justins comment that had that stuck in my head sorry hehe.

By: Tony Huynh

Tony Huynh — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 03:53:00 +0000

Hey Jim,
Thanks for the compliments. Blizzard is a unique company. They have a history of hiring hardcore theorycrafters of games in the same genre that they are working on. For instance Rob Pardo and Jeff Kaplan of Blizzard can trace their origins back to the Everquest guild Legacy of Steel.

It is never too late for a career change. If you make the decision to make the change, go all the way. Don’t half-ass it. Start talking with your friend and ask him how he did it. Play RTS games of all types and analyze them, write down what you are seeing, start learning the tools that come with the games and begin to make your own maps. Build out your portfolio.

Good luck!