hOW these people get into game dev?!

[test84]

Whenever I read those famous or rather infamous people at game dev's biographies and search for the factor that they have/had that made them into the industry, I come across simple English sentences like, "He got out of university and then started to work for Capcom" (Shinji Mikami) or "He was working at a advertisement company and then got hired by Square Co. for monster design" (one of main guys behind FF VII's compilation). There are numerous examples that I read that the people get into dev so strangely/easily/whatever-ly.

And I demand and answer!

 

[Mangofett]

They look for job listings.

For example: There is a job listing at Bungie.

http://www.bungie.net/inside/jobs.aspx

 

[Twiffles]

Sometimes they take jobs at video game magazines. Like the people in the 1UP network.

 

[test84]

If you say so, How would SE hire someone who is working on an advertisement company to work as a monster designer? someone with no resume about games or so. Most of these people are like this, their first company is somewhere big and they demand good resume and published games from you.

 

[TrolleyDave]

If you say so, How would SE hire someone who is working on an advertisement company to work as a monster designer? someone with no resume about games or so. Most of these people are like this, their first company is somewhere big and they demand good resume and published games from you.

For character design it's the art rather the experience in gaming that counts. Who better to make a monster that people think is cool and want to buy than somebody who creates ads that convinces people that things are cool and want to buy them!

 

[test84]

Do you hire someone who is working on advertisement to work on your game?

what about others, like Mikami or those two at SE, who's just got out of uni and got accepted into SE.

 

[Mangofett]

Do you hire someone who is working on advertisement to work on your game?

what about others, like Mikami or those two at SE, who's just got out of uni and got accepted into SE.

1. SE was smaller when they were accepted(or was it recent??)
2. They were most likely outstanding students

 

[Moots]

Well maybe they are interns.......

Who else is a company gonna hire? People who have yet to goto university?

Gamers? HA

 

[ackers]

Nobuo Uematsu was hired by SE to do the FF music cuz a friend of his working at Square told him they needed a musician. This was because Uematsu's friend noticed he could play the keyboard.

 

[test84]

Well maybe they are interns.......

Who else is a company gonna hire? People who have yet to goto university?

Gamers? HA

Most, if not all, people who apply for companies are graduates and thats what wonders me, how did these get into there and there are alot of them, just read any on SE's employee's entry on wikipedia.

 

[noisound]

@test84
can you post me links to what you're looking at ? i did a few wiki search and google but arent getting nice results ;O
thanks

 

[Shinji]

Wait, isnt the Shinji at SE Shinji Hashimoto ant the Shinji at Capcom Mikami?

 

[Da Foxx]

Maybe they have good portfolios?

 

[nephdj]

It would proberly be a jr position at first, IT is a funny industry.. you could be the best student in your class but still be useless in the field u were trained in

 

[Psyfira]

Same way you get every specialist job; know your shit, and be able to talk about it at length. Job applications really are just huge sales pitches, getting any job at all is a lot harder than you think. And if someone already working for the company's willing to vouch for you that's pretty much a guaranteed place.

About graduates; that's just a tick box to weed out applications. Companies don't give a shit about degrees, they want people with experience. Or more to the point; they want both. It's a very difficult industry for newcomers.

 

[Maktub]

Whenever I read those famous or rather infamous people at game dev's biographies and search for the factor that they have/had that made them into the industry, I come across simple English sentences like, "He got out of university and then started to work for Capcom" (Shinji Mikami) or "He was working at a advertisement company and then got hired by Square Co. for monster design" (one of main guys behind FF VII's compilation). There are numerous examples that I read that the people get into dev so strangely/easily/whatever-ly.

And I demand and answer!

I have a rather stupid/weird theory that may explain this partly:
What if those wikis were made by people translating from Japanese biography wikis or plainly by Japanese people with not a high degree of English knowledge? That'd explain why they skip the proccess, since it's harder to describe how someone did something rather than just stating someone has done it.
Example:
1- Little red riding hood was going through the forests, then found a wolf and he told her that she was teh hawt. She didn't believe him but then he showed him his pants and then she had to admit puberty was no longer her stage of life. Then she decided to go ask her gramma about how to become a supermodel just like she was back in her younger days. Then she got there and she was so hot and got such a good piece of advice that she became something you'd come just by looking at.

2-Little red riding hood was going through the forest, then she got to her gramma's place.

 

[CockroachMan]

I've been thinking this myself.. I've graduated in Computer Science last year and I've been sending my resume to game companies around the world.. the best I received was an automated response

I noticed that most job offers ask for "at least 2 years experience in the game industry" or "at least 1 shipped title".. and that's really a kick straight in the balls when you're just out of college :/

For me the thing is even harder cause there are very few brazilian companies in the business and most of them are new and don't pay very well.. not that I care much about the salary, but in most cases they're out of my city and I would have to move so the salary would have to compensate that.. and for companies in other countries, I have to show them that I'm worth the time and cost that they'll have to get me a working visa, relocation, etc.. :/

I'm really starting to think about starting my own company over here..

 

[rest0re]

at finland some folks i know got into gamebusiness thru demoscene. you got some demos programmed and stuff. you can show them that you can program 3d effects.

 

[test84]

So, How much having homebrews do you think will help in contrast with higher degree.

 

[CockroachMan]

So, How much having homebrews do you think will help in contrast with higher degree.

A good homebrew game would certainly help.. a little creative game, well made.. sure!
Shows that you are good at programming and that you can adapt well to other platforms..

Something like a bugged "Tic-Tac-Toe DS" wouldn't get you anywere though

Forgot to mention in my last post.. http://www.gamasutra.com/jobs/
Good place to look for a job on the game industry..