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So your teenager tells you they want to 'make video games' for a living

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Re: So your teenager tells you they want to 'make video games' for a living

#2

Post by unimpressive »

Funny story. I wanted to make video games, until I learned all about the prerequisites to do it.

You might think I balked and bailed. But the reality is I found out that the stuff that goes into making a modern AAA video game is way more interesting than the resulting product.

I now consider wanting to make video games a negative indicator of ever actually doing so professionally, even if the person understands the requirements to do so.

Especially if they understand them in fact.

Re: So your teenager tells you they want to 'make video games' for a living

#4

Post by kybernetyk »

I wanted to make games and that's how I got into programming. I dropped the game part a few years after that but I kept programming.

If a grey haired computer programmer would have told my 12 year old self "just give up because you're not a math genius" I probably wouldn't be a programmer today.

So no, don't tell kids they shouldn't want to make games. Because making games is a gateway drug for programmers.

Re: So your teenager tells you they want to 'make video games' for a living

#5

Post by BryantD »

That's a great piece. Cranky but good.

I will offer one disagreement: he's thinking about single-player games. There're also good jobs available on the server side for any online game (which is almost all of them these days). Server engineers don't need as much math as game programmers, and there are a lot of system and network administrators working in the game industry. Making games? Not exactly, but certainly working in gaming, with all the pros and cons that go with it.

Re: So your teenager tells you they want to 'make video games' for a living

#8

Post by cuppy »

BryantD wrote: post #5

That's a great piece. Cranky but good. I will offer one disagreement: he's thinking about single-player games. There're also good jobs available on the server side for any online game (which is almost all of them these days). Server engineers don't need as much math as game programmers, and there are a lot of system and network administrators working in the game industry. Making games? Not exactly, but certainly work…

There are also web programmers in the game industry.

Re: So your teenager tells you they want to 'make video games' for a living

#9

Post by andrewroycarter »

kybernetyk wrote: post #4

I wanted to make games and that's how I got into programming. I dropped the game part a few years after that but I kept programming. If a grey haired computer programmer would have told my 12 year old self "just give up because you're not a math genius" I probably wouldn't be a programmer today. So no, don't tell kids they shouldn't want to make games. Because making games is a gateway drug for programmers.

Same experience here! Got started with Qbasic games -> web dev -> iOS

Re: So your teenager tells you they want to 'make video games' for a living

#10

Post by BryantD »

cuppy wrote: post #8
BryantD wrote: post #5

That's a great piece. Cranky but good. I will offer one disagreement: he's thinking about single-player games. There're also good jobs available on the server side for any online game (which is almost all of them these days). Server engineers don't need as much math as game programmers, and there are a lot of system and network administrators working in the game industry. Making games? Not exactly, but certainly work…

There are also web programmers in the game industry.

Yes! Excellent point.

Note also that all those careers are fungible insofar as you can take those skills outside the gaming industry relatively easily.

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