Life of a Video Game Designer

I'm curious, to the ppl out there interested in this field,is attending school for it, or have a career in this field, tell me what's it like? I was doing some heavy thinking about tackling this field, for sometime, but I can't seem to make a full decision, so I'm kind of hoping someone else can fill me in on what it's like. I would love to make some fun adventure games like Zelda,Dark Cloud Ape Escape and more, I'd also love to make sidescrollers too, like the Mystical Ninja games,the Classic Marios and Kirby. I'd also like to use my own original characters for my games, bear in mind, my artstyle is more anime oriented which is frowned upon by the American gaming industry, So I'm wondering am I really at a disadvantage here? I'd LOVE to see my ideas come to life, but I'm honestly scared I'll fail and end up homeless and jobless. So can anyone give me any insight?

What exactly do you want to do in the video game industry? Character design or environmental? Animating it? Programming (Actually programming is the hot ticket right now, job wise)? There's a lot that goes on in making a video game so it's best to really see what part of the process you want to be in

It really will boil down to which one you really want to do since there's no real crossover unless you're working indie and are trying to get a game out by yourself/small small group. The most... mm pragmatic i guess is the best term, approach would be programming. They always need programmers and usually, when people are that good at programming, they go into like IT or engineering or whatnot. Digipen is a good school if you're looking into getting a more focused education but that in and of itself has it's pros and cons

If you want to make money, then programming is the way forward. Theres always a job waiting for you. If you want to do any kind of design, then you have to be GOOD. Better than that even! If you can look at concept art for some games and think you can do better, then its worth a shot! Having a portfolio of work is always helpful, even if youre just starting out with a college course (though not necessary). Modelling and animation was my better area but those jobs are common and not overly well paid. If you want to make classic kinds of games, buy yourself a copy of RPG Maker VX Ace. You can make your own Zelda-type games all day long and it does most of the work for you. Then you can go and sell of them on Steam if youre lucky! Lots of Indie games on the market atm are made using that program (or something similar) and as long as your story is good enough then of course the graphics dont really matter. But if you do want to see your own work come to life, be prepared to dance with homlessness/joblessness etc... since youll likely be putting everything on the line to get your stuff out there! I know a guy that threw almost everything on the line to get his MMO going. Luckily its stable, even if its numbers could be higher but he balances things all the time between keeping his cats and keeping his game running!

Honestly though, if you want to get into this career, you'd better be ready to network your ass off. Especially if you're going to try character design. While there's a certain expectation of skill involved, in most creative (and generally any job really) jobs, a good chunk of you getting hired is who you know, who's recommending you.

Thanks for the info guys. It'll certainly help me think more about tackling this career, I have other careers in mind besides this one, But I really needed new info on this, if anyone got more to share please feel free to. Much obliged :)