Gaming Companies want me, they just don't know it yet.

[Kudama]

Sorry I'm being so conceited in my thread title, I just wanted people to check it out.

I’m interested in getting in on the ground floor of a game company to cut my teeth at the job. I’m good at designing fantasy and science fiction things and would like to make a living at it. I know I would need to start in an administrative capacity and sort of soak in the feel of the business before being considered for an artistic position.

I’ll be honest about my aspirations going in and I’m hoping they would see potential at least in the conceptual nature of my artwork. The problem with the Bay Area is that nobody wants artists who use old school tools like pencils and paint. You need to be a good artist with good ideas who also knows the latest 3D software and how to construct a computer blindfolded.

My question is: Does anyone know of a site that lists gaming companies and has contact information?
It’s worth a shot at least.

[Trigger]

working for a game company makes you not like games anymore.

[Kudama]

I bet! I just wanna make monsters for a living.

(I wonder if Stan Winston still uses people to design and make physical prosthetics.)

[Outlaw]

I will only help you if you make a sequel to Vagrant Story or Monkey Island



(just kidding, I don't know, sorry)

[karnblack]

Check out this site:

http://www.gamasutra.com/

[Tigger]

Keep those ideas in the back of your mind and go to a gaming company and begin as a tester. When you test and find bugs and make a good rep at it, the Producers will take notice and come discuss with you more. A good tester, who understands the process and can be flexible, patient and not demand their ideas be implemented, will make it in the long run. You can't just walk in and start designing. Takes a long time to get there, years. So if you have patience and you don't mind maybe testing Barbie Horse Rider for up to 80 hours a week for a month, sometimes 100 in the final week, that determination will keep ya goin.

Oh and you should live in NY, LA, SF or the Seattle areas. :)

[Tigger]

One more thing... Trigger is right.... if you go work for a company that you absolutely love their games, you'll have no desire to play them ever. I've been lucky enough to work for companies where their games are good but not the type I put down $50 the day it's released.

[Groucho]

Bear in mind that this industry is very competitive. Like the movie industry, jobs go to those with the best connections (old boys network), not those with the best talent and ideas.

[menaz]

That is too dang true groucho, sad but true.

[finbogg]

Originally posted by karnblack
Check out this site:

http://www.gamasutra.com/

This is definitely the site to go to. Sounds like you 've got good skills for the pre-visualization part of game design. Characters, sets, vehicles and weapons are all drawn or painted out to find a look that suits the game. All this stuff is done traditionally before they hit the 3D level.

Also check this place:

http://www.igda.org/breakingin/home.htm

[El-Kabong]

Originally posted by Tigger
One more thing... Trigger is right.... if you go work for a company that you absolutely love their games, you'll have no desire to play them ever. I've been lucky enough to work for companies where their games are good but not the type I put down $50 the day it's released.

I can confirm what T&T say - I've worked at Electronic Arts for 4 years and Sierra for a year now. The hours are brutal (I just did my 79th hour of the week today, we ship in a week and the project is nowhere near done), I've never liked a game that I've EVER worked on - and you get no respect. But the money is fat and frankly, I play video games for a living. How bad can that be?

[Kudama]

Thanks youse guys.

Game testing pays fat? Is it just the sheer overtime hours involved? Is it 80 hours every week, or just at crunch time?

[~~ PAL ~~]

I think you got to go a few steps above game testing before the check even start to get fat.

[Revoltor]

Yeah, make sure to check EB and Gamestop.

You never know, you might become Assistant Manager one day.

[Tigger]

.. the pay is just ho hum for testing, the hours during crunch time (depending where you work varries on the OT hours) is crazy.. 80+ at times. PAL is right.. gotta get into upper development in order to get a good salary.

[Trigger]

You could always develop your own game or mod and be 'discovered'. That's how alot of people do it.

[El-Kabong]

Originally posted by Kudama
Game testing pays fat? Is it just the sheer overtime hours involved? Is it 80 hours every week, or just at crunch time?

Depends on how you define fat. I'm making 15 an hour at normal pay, while my previous testing gig did 20 an hour before OT. The 80+ hours is not the normal state of affairs, usualy only towards the end of a project (The End, of course varies from project to project - I've been doing my hard core hours since about the start of June).

[shizawn]

FYI level designer/scripters and assitant producers, which would probably be the logical step upwards from QA if you wanted to get into game development, don't get paid well either (and they're normally salaried positions).

Once you move up to lead designer, or associate producer, or producer, then you'll start making decent money. And, of course, if the game sells well, you'll get royalties.