by Leigh Goessl

Created on: July 21, 2009

The gaming industry is currently a hot one if you're looking to find a field where jobs are available. If you're creative and technically inclined, this career direction might be a good match for you. Currently the industry is experiencing rapid growth and there is a lot of potential for those who have an interest in becoming a game designer.

The first step in paving the ideal college path to becoming a video game designer is to decide on what type of education you want to pursue. This will be dependent upon your current skills, knowledge and what level of degree you hope to earn.

You have several options to choose from. If you already have a college degree and are just looking to enhance your skills or learn new ones, there are certificates which specialize in classes to teach you the ins and outs of learning how to design video games.

For hopeful video game designers who do not have a college background, an associates or bachelors degree is a better choice. This way your education is more rounded and diverse; this will make you more marketable when it comes time to start submitting resumes or portfolios upon your graduation.

Students who have a high interest in graphic design and media arts are good candidates. Those who have basic digital arts and are adept in these topics often find themselves becoming intrigued by the idea of trying their hand at gaming.

The gaming industry has become highly complex and gaming design enthusiasts spend their days involved in artistic design, programming, conception, development and using various types of animation to make the game come to life. It used to be a handful of courses and a developed skill set were enough to enter the gaming field, but today's gaming professionals are much more.

Gaming has become such a specific field there are entire degree programs geared towards students looking to enter this industry. Some of the larger game producers have entire teams developing individual games, each member taking on a specific function; while there are still many freelance gaming experts around, the field is continuously evolving.

Video game designers are typically expected to have taken courses and have knowledge in advanced Flash, a programming language (such as C++ or C#), graphics programming, artificial intelligence, intro to robotics, special effects programming, video game console design, and 3-D animation. These are just a handful of the options you'll have, but there are many different directions you can take your interest in video gaming to become more specialized depending upon your goals.

Due to the high popularity of video and Internet games, video game designer is a excellent choice to pursue for a career. You can start with some non-credit courses to get your feet wet and if this whets your appetite, continue on with more specialized credit-based courses.

Video game design is not an easy curriculum, but if you have the interest and the talent, it might be the right match for you. If you find your skill set supports what is necessary to succeed as a video game designer, you may want to consider a more formalized degree program and go for the higher level degrees because it will give you a competitive edge in the industry.

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