Video Game Art Design And Other Careers In The Video Game Field

Despite the dismal economy, the video game industry is big and getting bigger. Boutique video game retailers such as Gamestop are forecasting 10%-12% sales growth for 2009 (source: Marketwatch). This means that if you're looking for a job in the video game industry, now is the time.

But what would you do in the video game industry? What career path? Want to be in game art design? How about video game programming? Hey, want to be a video game tester?

Making a video game today is kinda like making a movie. In fact, some video games have budgets that are as a big or bigger than movies. Popular games like Halo or Star Wars take a couple of years to make and require budgets in the millions of dollars. But that's ok because they return back ten times more.

What do video game makers spend their money on? Well, in a movie, for example, actors, directors, camera crew, make-up artists, wardrobe consultants, sound specialists, and other production personnel are hired. Video games are the same, except they hire video game testers, game art designers, video game producers, character designers, and others with proper schooling and training.

What are the video game jobs?

When it comes to choosing a career, it is good to find out as much as you can about it before diving in. In the video game industry, there are various positions that are needed in order to create a finished product. Below are just some of them:

VIDEO GAME TESTERS -

2-D CONCEPT ARTISTS - These guys almost always have an arts degree or a strong portfolio of making creative images, whether digital or not. They are artists and they flesh out ideas on screen or paper before any real work takes place.

3-D CHARACTER DESIGNERS - These are the guys who made Master Chief come alive. They take the character design on paper and translate it to the computer. They make sure that the character's look is consistent as a gamer pans 360 degrees.

3-D OBJECT MODELERS - Do you like how that Brute Plasma Rifle look (Halo 2)? How about the sharp new Manslayer of the Qiraji two-handed sword (World of Warcraft)? Well, the people to thank are the 3D object modelers who designed not just cool weapons that gamers can buy or quest for, but also space ships, tavern buildings, command consoles, cars, etc. Of course, this is another job that requires training or schooling in image rendering programs.

INTERACTIVITY DESIGNERS - In any video game, there is always a way to reward the gamer. Whether it's killing the dragon, vanquishing evil demons, or defeating an invading horde of orcs, a gamer has to do something to beat the game. Even in open-ended games like World of Warcraft, a quest has a reward at the end. Interactive game designers are the ones responsible for setting up the game play rules so that the experience is challenging and cool.

BACKGROUND ARTISTS - When walking around Raccoon City, did that creep you out (Resident Evil)? And when running around the Flayer Jungle on your way to Mephisto (Diablo 2), did you feel the mugginess of steamy tropical jungle? Well, the job of background artists is to immerse the gamer in a new world that is experienced from a computer screen. It requires a lot of creativity and imagination. This job typically requires someone with an art degree or a strong portfolio in creative digital images. Some schools call their programs game art design degrees.

The list above is not exhaustive. But it should demonstrate to you that there are more than one position within the video game industry. For some of these jobs, the skills necessary can be obtained through experience, but many of the companies who hire for the position requires a degree in game art design or something similar. Researching the position that you want will help you a lot because it may have different requirements.

Lastly, whether or not video games have recession proof careers is still a matter of opinion. The trends certainly favors it. And time will tell.

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