Breaking into the gaming business.

[Medeor]

In a recent Newsweek article, it appears that gaming colleges and game design departments in major colleges are starting to gain some traction. It brought up some questions for me:
1. Are people in the business open to bringing in college grads or is it like the guys from a military academy jumping into an enlisted arena with higher rank over the people who have been in the trenches?
2. Do you know anyone who has attended these schools and was it a successful venture? I have visited a gaming college and while I think they provide a good foundation for someone wanting to get into the business, the colleges themselves don't seem to have an "in" with the gaming companies.

Are you going to go to one of these schools? I wish I were a little younger (ok a lot younger), the credibility of the schools is growing and it might be interesting...

[Cody Bye]

While I think gaming colleges are a nice step forward, I also think there is still a lot of benefit that can come from attending a general college, earning your BA or BS, then simply working your ass off to get into a studio.

Attend shows, right for solid networks, and generally make contacts in the industry.

[Sardu]

I've researched a good number of programs for game design, and most of them are at best an extension of general art or animation departments. They tend to be a good place to learn different tools like Maya or 3dsMax (and get them cheaply via student discounts ) but like most forms of art school fall terribly short in the area of job placement. Until we start seeing more programs run by industry vets, a lot of them face a potential future of becoming their own self-contained pyramid scheme much the same as 'fine arts' majors tend to be. In other words a degree in fine arts grants you the ability to pursue a graduate degree in fine arts, which in turn grants you the ability to teach fine arts at the undergrad level ...

While I think gaming colleges are a nice step forward, I also think there is still a lot of benefit that can come from attending a general college, earning your BA or BS, then simply working your ass off to get into a studio.

I completely agree with this. I'd also suggest picking up just about any game that ships with it's own SDK, which is becoming more and more common. NWN, Oblivion and even UT3 all have solid toolsets (loads of other recent games do as well). Modding, especially if you can put a project together as a team effort, is a good practice to get into if you're truly focused on getting a job in the industry. You'll not only get a better feel for what areas suit you best, but you can eventually produce something playable to show to studios as an example of what your skills are.

[Spare]

Also you can get extremely lucky and find the wonka bar with the golden ticket.

I think Cody hits the nail on the head. Get your education and then work your ass off to get into a studio.

MMOs and Gaming is still really a new industry so I think a gaming college at this point would be just a buzz word. While USC has a program if they never produce a golden child than they will never get credit for having a good program.

In 10 to 20 years Gaming will have its Harvard or MIT but at this point the program foundations are still being built.