The easiest way into the industry is through QA, just don't be surprised when you end up staying there for 5-6 years before moving up and out because everyone else had the same idea.
QA is not the answer to everything. The only career you can aim for when starting as a game tester is to become a game designer. And that is only if you're extremely lucky AND talented AND versatile AND experienced. Level designers don't start in QA, neither do sound designers, nor programmers, nor anyone else... There is more than 30 different jobs in the video games industry, it would be completely wrong to think being a programmer/designer gives access to any job in this industry. There is no "easy way", and if there is it's absolutely NOT through QA.
bad all people care about now is graphics... gameplay is WAY MORE IMPORTANT. graphics should be on the bottom of the list.
...Obvious troll is obvious?
Play more indie games, XenoYoxa. I'd suggest you try the Humble Indie Bundle first, before paying $60 for the latest blockbusters. Not every gamer is ready to pay that much money for a game that won't last more than 10 hours. The indie, casual, and social/serious games industry are much stronger than you think.
the "general" game industry, I will agree with XenoYoxa on. It is all about graphics. I read somewhere (cant find where, it was months ago) that the majority of the gaming industry was gear for shorter, easier games. This is because the average gamer who can spend the money on games, doesn't have the time to play through the 200 hours of a game like Oblivion. It is much easier for them to sit through the 15 hours of Dragon Age 2; with stellar graphics, and a game that plays itself. The main argument they were focused on, was that many people will never beat oblivion. They get side tracked, forget what they were doing, and after 60 hours of play, move on to a different game.
Personally, I dont see why they would think 60 hours into a game and not beating it is worse than 15 hours into a game, and beating it with little effort. But it is true. People will pay 60 dollars for 15 hour installments of a game; and spend a few weeks beating it; then wait for the next release. Look at... idk... every popular Xbox game that has more than 2 games in the series. Compare the play time of the first installment to the latest.
I agree that amazing graphics sell games though. Hardcore games who are all about the gameplay will go back and play classic Zelda, Warcraft 3, Super Mario World, Minecraft, Diablo 2... ect. However, really, those games do not profit. They are all very popular, but compare the hours spent on them to the money earned, per hour spent on them. If you can get someone to spend 60 dollars every 6 months, opposed to 30 dollars every 5 years; you are profiting. Game making is about profits.
To continue with the concept of profits; game makers also have to market to what will sell the most. Leaving you with an unfinished story lone, and making many, many installments is a great way to profit (SC2?). Marketing great graphics is... well.. always great. First impressions are important in anything.
Gotta learn to face the music; games are no longer made for hardcore players. It isnt about good games, it is about what the public wants. Look at the most popular maps on SC2; are any of them challenging? Are any of them even well made? For the most part, no. But that is what the general public wants, is terrible games.
To be even more accurate, the problem in the video games industry is the fact that it's "yet another media" that has fallen under the influence of marketing/advertising. When the main objective of video games was still to entertain, there was almost no advertisement at all and the games still made good sells. It's not the case anymore, that's also why the indie groups are taking much more risks than big companies (innovation = people talk about it = free advertising). Big companies have chosen to make massively online games and/or DLCs because that's the quickest way to make profit, considering the huge cost involved in creating AAA games (you can't blame them for that, they need to make a living).
Just look at how each trailer tells that this game is "the best game ever of its kind! never seen before, awesome gameplay!" everytime a game comes out... It's obviously bullshit, but as long as people keep being fooled by these videos you can be sure the video games industry will keep making shitty games for $60. The day they'll realize their trailers are not fooling anyone anymore, they'll invest their money in correcting bugs and providing 50+ hours of gameplay instead of spending millions in advertising. But we're far from it... People keep dreaming while watching trailers without a single picture of gameplay footage inside!
i was not trolling and game play and mechanics are more important than bloody graphics... and if gamers are that stupid then its clearly something that needs to change. but games that last 10 hours are lame i do agree on that but i think you are seeing something wrong with me that is not there. i never said i liked short games. but your newest post is actually goes along with what ive been saying... so why do you say crap about me i must be misunderstanding you.
@XenoYoxa: Go
No reason to get offended, really. :)
I think "all they care about is graphics" is extreme though. Not every company cares about awesome graphics, just look at Nintendo games on Wii or DS, or even their previous consoles. If you want my opinion, I think gamers are not really ready to play games "just because they're fun" (despite what they say), or else the Wii would have had more success worldwide. It failed in the US and a few other countries, PS3 and X360 just crushed it. It kind of proves people are not looking for good gameplay alone. And the PC is dying (more or less) because MMOGs and console games conversions are everywhere.
Don't forget the indie games scene though, which often combines both good gameplay and good graphics. You can't say "all they care about is graphics" just by taking blockbusters into consideration. The video games scene is the #1 media worldwide (the movies scene is 2nd), so there is obviously much more to it than just big blockbusters with boring gameplay and awesome graphics. There is much more than Hollywood in the movies industry. The problem is there is much more advertising for blockbusters, because big companies can afford it.
Right now, the only way to find good games is to get informed (through Steam or websites offering reviews for example). Hopefully, in the next few years casual gamers will realize there is not only blood on your face and guns pointed at terrorists in the video games industry, and the indie games scene will be able to grow...
slightly off topic; but has anyone here ever heard of Earth Defense Force 2017? For Xbox360? It was made by a small company, and was a no-name game. It was one of those games that ended up floating around in 5 dollar bins until none were left. My brother managed to find a copy in San-Diago after he moved. (he is in the Navy). It got eaten by the dog just before he moved up to Washington. Spent 3 days there store-hopping to find this game. When I got back to NY(after visiting him, and playing the game), I managed to find the game online, for 20 dollars. Remember, this is a game that used to exist in 5 dollar bins at your local gamestop. Was selling for 20 dollars years after the fact. You can buy it through the xbox store now also; for 20 dollars.
After such a success, the rights for the game were sold off, and a new company made the sequel; which hit the market at 40 dollars. Not a bad game by any means, but in playing it, you can see all the ways in which it was modified to support the average gamer. The classic had 70 levels, 5 difficulties, HUNDREDS of unlockable weapons. The new one, has 4 different units you can use, only a few non-useless guns per level, but they only get 8 levels (level 8 being 10 hours of grinding the same level over and over, which unlocks a super OP HAX weapon for the class) and only 15 map levels across 3 difficulties, that you have to be certain levels to actually beat at all. Me and my friend played through the entire game, all 3 difficulties in 3 days, 1 weekend, 2 work days.
Prolly the best example of the transition of the game industry's transition that I have experienced.
I do have a Wii but ps3 and Xbox 360 need to go... aka they need to be sent back to hell where they came from. i hate when people say the following: cartoons are for kids... and the wii is for kids. because it gives people excuses to attack it in many different ways... (and yes the cartoon comment was off topic sorry...) anyways i hope Nintendo will outright beat Microsoft eventually. I used to have an Xbox 360 which is why i know it sucks. it has terrible games. the only one i ever played was Perfect Dark Zero. which in itself got boring eventually.
You obviously have a lot of knowledge about the game industry and you are at a senior level. Indie game companies seems like the best way to start but the main problem is that, Aussie indie game companies are quite dull and the only significant game I heard made by Aussies is, L.A Noire and I heard massive amount of terrible stories by the developers that it took them 7 years to make the game with extremely long hours (E.G http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.A._Noire - go to staff complaints) and how crazy the boss was, with many falls and broken relationships with Rock Star (facepalm) !
Now if an indie Aussie game company is willing to do that kind of crap, my hopes of going into the game company is diminishing.
...I only wish! I'm still junior actually. :)
About Australian companies though, I think I heard of a few names in Sydney and Melbourne. If I wasn't already planning on moving to Canada this year, I would have probably moved to Australia instead. It would have been a great opportunity to work for Sega, Konami, 2K Games,... To anyone interested, you can check for companies worldwide (indie groups included) on this website:
http://www.gamedevmap.com/
QA is not the answer to everything. The only career you can aim for when starting as a game tester is to become a game designer. And that is only if you're extremely lucky AND talented AND versatile AND experienced. Level designers don't start in QA, neither do sound designers, nor programmers, nor anyone else... There is more than 30 different jobs in the video games industry, it would be completely wrong to think being a programmer/designer gives access to any job in this industry. There is no "easy way", and if there is it's absolutely NOT through QA.
...Obvious troll is obvious? Play more indie games, XenoYoxa. I'd suggest you try the Humble Indie Bundle first, before paying $60 for the latest blockbusters. Not every gamer is ready to pay that much money for a game that won't last more than 10 hours. The indie, casual, and social/serious games industry are much stronger than you think.
the "general" game industry, I will agree with XenoYoxa on. It is all about graphics. I read somewhere (cant find where, it was months ago) that the majority of the gaming industry was gear for shorter, easier games. This is because the average gamer who can spend the money on games, doesn't have the time to play through the 200 hours of a game like Oblivion. It is much easier for them to sit through the 15 hours of Dragon Age 2; with stellar graphics, and a game that plays itself. The main argument they were focused on, was that many people will never beat oblivion. They get side tracked, forget what they were doing, and after 60 hours of play, move on to a different game.
Personally, I dont see why they would think 60 hours into a game and not beating it is worse than 15 hours into a game, and beating it with little effort. But it is true. People will pay 60 dollars for 15 hour installments of a game; and spend a few weeks beating it; then wait for the next release. Look at... idk... every popular Xbox game that has more than 2 games in the series. Compare the play time of the first installment to the latest.
I agree that amazing graphics sell games though. Hardcore games who are all about the gameplay will go back and play classic Zelda, Warcraft 3, Super Mario World, Minecraft, Diablo 2... ect. However, really, those games do not profit. They are all very popular, but compare the hours spent on them to the money earned, per hour spent on them. If you can get someone to spend 60 dollars every 6 months, opposed to 30 dollars every 5 years; you are profiting. Game making is about profits.
To continue with the concept of profits; game makers also have to market to what will sell the most. Leaving you with an unfinished story lone, and making many, many installments is a great way to profit (SC2?). Marketing great graphics is... well.. always great. First impressions are important in anything.
Gotta learn to face the music; games are no longer made for hardcore players. It isnt about good games, it is about what the public wants. Look at the most popular maps on SC2; are any of them challenging? Are any of them even well made? For the most part, no. But that is what the general public wants, is terrible games.
Skype: [email protected] Current Project: Custom Hero Arena! US: battlenet:://starcraft/map/1/263274 EU: battlenet:://starcraft/map/2/186418
@GlornII: Go
To be even more accurate, the problem in the video games industry is the fact that it's "yet another media" that has fallen under the influence of marketing/advertising. When the main objective of video games was still to entertain, there was almost no advertisement at all and the games still made good sells. It's not the case anymore, that's also why the indie groups are taking much more risks than big companies (innovation = people talk about it = free advertising). Big companies have chosen to make massively online games and/or DLCs because that's the quickest way to make profit, considering the huge cost involved in creating AAA games (you can't blame them for that, they need to make a living).
Just look at how each trailer tells that this game is "the best game ever of its kind! never seen before, awesome gameplay!" everytime a game comes out... It's obviously bullshit, but as long as people keep being fooled by these videos you can be sure the video games industry will keep making shitty games for $60. The day they'll realize their trailers are not fooling anyone anymore, they'll invest their money in correcting bugs and providing 50+ hours of gameplay instead of spending millions in advertising. But we're far from it... People keep dreaming while watching trailers without a single picture of gameplay footage inside!
@ZealNaga: Go
i was not trolling and game play and mechanics are more important than bloody graphics... and if gamers are that stupid then its clearly something that needs to change. but games that last 10 hours are lame i do agree on that but i think you are seeing something wrong with me that is not there. i never said i liked short games. but your newest post is actually goes along with what ive been saying... so why do you say crap about me i must be misunderstanding you.
@XenoYoxa: Go No reason to get offended, really. :)
I think "all they care about is graphics" is extreme though. Not every company cares about awesome graphics, just look at Nintendo games on Wii or DS, or even their previous consoles. If you want my opinion, I think gamers are not really ready to play games "just because they're fun" (despite what they say), or else the Wii would have had more success worldwide. It failed in the US and a few other countries, PS3 and X360 just crushed it. It kind of proves people are not looking for good gameplay alone. And the PC is dying (more or less) because MMOGs and console games conversions are everywhere.
Don't forget the indie games scene though, which often combines both good gameplay and good graphics. You can't say "all they care about is graphics" just by taking blockbusters into consideration. The video games scene is the #1 media worldwide (the movies scene is 2nd), so there is obviously much more to it than just big blockbusters with boring gameplay and awesome graphics. There is much more than Hollywood in the movies industry. The problem is there is much more advertising for blockbusters, because big companies can afford it.
Right now, the only way to find good games is to get informed (through Steam or websites offering reviews for example). Hopefully, in the next few years casual gamers will realize there is not only blood on your face and guns pointed at terrorists in the video games industry, and the indie games scene will be able to grow...
A story of a great game:
slightly off topic; but has anyone here ever heard of Earth Defense Force 2017? For Xbox360? It was made by a small company, and was a no-name game. It was one of those games that ended up floating around in 5 dollar bins until none were left. My brother managed to find a copy in San-Diago after he moved. (he is in the Navy). It got eaten by the dog just before he moved up to Washington. Spent 3 days there store-hopping to find this game. When I got back to NY(after visiting him, and playing the game), I managed to find the game online, for 20 dollars. Remember, this is a game that used to exist in 5 dollar bins at your local gamestop. Was selling for 20 dollars years after the fact. You can buy it through the xbox store now also; for 20 dollars.
After such a success, the rights for the game were sold off, and a new company made the sequel; which hit the market at 40 dollars. Not a bad game by any means, but in playing it, you can see all the ways in which it was modified to support the average gamer. The classic had 70 levels, 5 difficulties, HUNDREDS of unlockable weapons. The new one, has 4 different units you can use, only a few non-useless guns per level, but they only get 8 levels (level 8 being 10 hours of grinding the same level over and over, which unlocks a super OP HAX weapon for the class) and only 15 map levels across 3 difficulties, that you have to be certain levels to actually beat at all. Me and my friend played through the entire game, all 3 difficulties in 3 days, 1 weekend, 2 work days.
Prolly the best example of the transition of the game industry's transition that I have experienced.
Skype: [email protected] Current Project: Custom Hero Arena! US: battlenet:://starcraft/map/1/263274 EU: battlenet:://starcraft/map/2/186418
@ZealNaga: Go
I do have a Wii but ps3 and Xbox 360 need to go... aka they need to be sent back to hell where they came from. i hate when people say the following: cartoons are for kids... and the wii is for kids. because it gives people excuses to attack it in many different ways... (and yes the cartoon comment was off topic sorry...) anyways i hope Nintendo will outright beat Microsoft eventually. I used to have an Xbox 360 which is why i know it sucks. it has terrible games. the only one i ever played was Perfect Dark Zero. which in itself got boring eventually.
Wow ... lots of thoughtful responses people :)
@ZealNaga: Go
You obviously have a lot of knowledge about the game industry and you are at a senior level. Indie game companies seems like the best way to start but the main problem is that, Aussie indie game companies are quite dull and the only significant game I heard made by Aussies is, L.A Noire and I heard massive amount of terrible stories by the developers that it took them 7 years to make the game with extremely long hours (E.G http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.A._Noire - go to staff complaints) and how crazy the boss was, with many falls and broken relationships with Rock Star (facepalm) !
Now if an indie Aussie game company is willing to do that kind of crap, my hopes of going into the game company is diminishing.
...I only wish! I'm still junior actually. :)
About Australian companies though, I think I heard of a few names in Sydney and Melbourne. If I wasn't already planning on moving to Canada this year, I would have probably moved to Australia instead. It would have been a great opportunity to work for Sega, Konami, 2K Games,... To anyone interested, you can check for companies worldwide (indie groups included) on this website: http://www.gamedevmap.com/
@ZealNaga: Go
That's a hell of a good site!
I actually discovered a few local companies I didn't know about :)