I'm looking at college options right now and as you might expect (If your familiar with my obsession to mod everything) I was looking into a game design career. I live in Kansas so there isn't many opportunities to pursue such a education locally. I keep seeing DeVry commercials and one of their selling points are game design classes. I searched about it and the nearest DeVry isn't even in my state and doesn't offer the course. So I figured why the hell would they advertise this in my local area? Well I found out they also offer online classes and they claim to have a 90% success rate of their graduates getting jobs in the game industry. They even secure jobs for their graduates. So I was wondering if anyone has or knows someone who has done DeVry game design and if this is the route to take. I would also like to know if anyone has any better recommendations or ideas or thoughts on the subject. -lllsondowlll
Not for game design, but when I was studying networking, the DeVry guy came and was a load of crap. Even the professors said it really wasn't worth the money.
Well if your going to shoot it down surely you have a recommendation or something as an alternative...?
For a while I was looking into Game Design as well, and DeVry was the only college in the area with that major. I originally thought it sounded great, and I signed up to go visit a campus near Chicago. That facilities seemed nice, but the housing options they had there were just terrible and outrageously expensive. After my visit I talked to somebody who was going there for networking, and he said the campus was terrible, and advised me to go anywhere else. I eventually though changed my major idea anyways so devry no longer even became an option. If I recall though there are a few good colleges out in California or Washington for game design, but if you were wanting to stay close to home, like I was, that would be out of the question.
Well I'm 18 I'm not ready to jump full force into life and move to the gaming capital of the word (Washington). Man this is pretty bad if I can't find anything else I'm going to join the Navy. So taking Devry online classes are a no go or is it just the campus that sucks?
Yeah, I wouldn't recommend DeVry either. Take classes online or at a local community college and get all your required basic classes out of the way then transfer to a university or something.
Don't go to any school to get a degree in "game design." Figure out what you want to focus on and go into that area instead. If you like the programming side, go into computer science. If you like modeling or writing, go into an art program. A degree in "game design" is simply useless if you ever find yourself looking into alternate industries (and most people either don't get into the game industry or burn out after a couple of years). A CS or art degree (among others) will give you exposure to a much wider range of knowledge.
Thanks for the advice and the concern, however I am well aware of the benefits of opening my horizon but what you must understand is the degree in "Game design" Features sub categories such as programming and Art and this is what the degree's will be recognised as but in a "game design" Degree it forces you to open your horizons to art and programming and to learn the basics even though it isn't your primary. The "Game Design degree" simply offers the degree's you recommended but in a molded way that gaming companies will be interested in. Most of these degree's secure you a job upon the time of leaving the college. To tackle your concern of being "burnt out" in the likely case that does happen what ever area I took in "Game Design Degree" such as programming will also help in the outside world of creating games. I thank you for your concern and interest and I will bare in mind how bad DeVry sucks since I have heard it from several people, I guess if all else fails I'll take your advice in taking another road and if that fails... hello navy.
These schools are nothing but vocational schools. You can't teach game design in a literal sense. College teaches you real world skills and Devry, etc. really don't in my opinion and through my friend's experiences. YOu cannot transfer credits from Devry to any public/private university (Stetson, Yale, etc). Those schools have one purpose - to make money. I recommend the military route you mentioned. They will pay for your school, and you can learn while you're in the base, too. So it's win win if you can handle the physical aspects. Plus a military boy who's fit and in college attracts the hot girls. Trust me on that. I'd seriously consider it. Are you REALLY good at math? Then you will go far in the Navy with that.
Take the ASVAB and see how well you do. If you score high (especially in the math section like madhatter said), they'll definately want you. As a matter of fact, you won't be able to get them to leave you alone if you score high enough. :lol: Military is one of the few reliable careers right now and you will get alot out of it, but it's not for everyone. I definately didn't think it was for me, so I didn't go even though what they offered me was really good. Think very hard about this though as it is at least 4 years of your life you're putting in.
No, I dont recommend schools if I haven't personally researched them, so sorry But really, you can double major if you really like programming along with the art side. A gaming 'degree' would shoehorn you into one thing, gaming, that may not even have taught you all that well. Major in some sort of programming, and you gain far more knowledge, same with art. I know people who walked out of a 4 year college with at least 3 majors, and these are people that dont exactly work that hard.
DeVry University is one of the biggest jokes around. If you go to any major company trying to pawn off that you went to DeVry, you might as well kiss that job goodbye. Seriously, if you need to have TV advertisements late at night to get people to go, you know that kind of education is going to suck. All the reputable places get people by actually giving a good education thats respected. No need for 1am commercials to drum up enrollment.
Aren't those the commercials with those two guys playing a really bad looking cheap video game, and they are like "LOOKS LIKE WE NEED TO TIGHTEN UP THE GRAPHICS ON LEVEL TWO!" or some shit?
That may be the marketing, but the general perception/reception by the game industry is as stated above: a game design degree is nothing more than a vocational degree. And sadly, the majority of "placements" with a 2-4 year game design degree seem to be in QA/testing (where you don't normally need a degree to begin with). It looks like you are seriously interested in getting into the game industry (and are actually doing the right research). You should really take a look at the IGDA forums, particularly the "Breaking In" subforum. And, because half of the topics point there anyway, also look at Tom Sloper's advice.
You're far better off with a standard computer science degree, or working in film/movie-related studies. The games design courses are pretty crap. I know because I graduated from one :lol: (although it was from a real university, not a vocational school) Also, I second the DeVry having a bad reputation in the industry. You're better off somewhere else, even if you have to wait another year or two.
I agree with the other responses given here. I went to a "trade" school back in my college days. It was the worst mistake ever and I wish I would have gone to a real university. These schools teach you a lot of good things, but nothing that will help you get in the gaming industry. Find a university that offers programming or art depending on what side of gaming you want to get involved in and get a degree in one of those fields. Provide the gaming company an art demo reel if you want an art job or if you want to program for a game make sure you know the languages and have the skills required. If your gaming job doesn't work or you change your mind you will still have a respected bachelor's degree and get a nice job.
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