Customer Reviews

Game Creation and Careers: Insider Secrets from Industry Experts

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So many times I have picked up books on game programming and game design and how to get a job in the video game industry only to be let down. This book is basically for beginners and amateurs that need some guidance in game design and breaking into the industry. This book is a compilation of interviews with professionals in the video game industry. The author, Marc Salztman, has broken down these interviews and placed the relevant portions into their respective chapters. It flows quite nicely and you can get the information you need without sifting through interview after interview. You won't find a lot of detail here on programming specifics or any of that, which is nice, because this book is geared towards people that want to design games.

You get a Q/A with some of the best in the industry like Sid Meier(Civilization), Will Wright(SimCity), John Romero(need I say more), Peter Molyneux(Populous, more recently Black and White and Dungeon Keeper), Scott Miller(Duke Nukem), Shigeru Miyamoto(billed as the "Spielberg of video games", known for the Mario bros. series, Zelda and Metroid), Brad McQuaid(EverQuest), Richard Garriot(aka Lord British, creator of the Ultima series and Ultima Online), Alexey Pajitnov(Tetris) and dozens of others.

I found the information on breaking into the industry the most valuable and entertaining. Actual stories of how some of the most famous names in the biz got their start. Bill Roper, formerly from Blizzard, got his start by trading an alpha Rock Hydra(Magic: The Gathering) and doing voice over work on Warcraft: Orcs and Humans. Chris Taylor, creative genius behind Total Annihilation and Dungeon Siege, started out working on a baseball game. The advice these guys give is very pertinent, considering most of them run their own development studios and their opinion carries a lot of weight when hiring.

I would say the 35 pages devoted to breaking into the industry is better than most other complete books on the subject(Get in the Game, GamePlan, Break Into the Game Industry, etc). Simply put, if you want into this industry, get an entry level job doing ANYTHING and go get that job NOW. Then be prepared to put in 10 hour days, 7 days a week for months on end. Oh yeah, a college education doesn't hurt either.

...then this book is for you. It is loaded with interviews from the industry leaders, to help you gain an understanding of what are the different jobs in video game development and what a working professional can expect. I found it interesting how varied the industry is-some will assert that you should never work for a company that treats you poorly, whereas others will claim that's how it is and to be prepared for it.

In addition, there are anecdotal stories about lessons learned while developing games. These stories range from unintended behavior that became a prominent feature to how a promising game fell apart from feature creep.

If you already know video game design is for you, this book will not offer advice to enhance your skills. It will however provide encouragement as you find everyone has struggled on a project sooner or later. However, if you are unsure about the video game career field, I recommend borrowing from the library to help make your decision.

This book is a summation of interview questions and answers that are too general and have no topic construction. The book's chapter titles are unrelated to the content within the chapter and the same questions were asked over and over again. There are no objectives for what you are supposed to be learning from this book. And the advice given by most of the designers is pedestrian at best or let's just say extremely obvious. The book shows little organization and is written in a substandard format. If you like name dropping you'll love this book. I'm really surprised Marc Saltzman wrote this. Not worth the money.

This book is mainly disorganized garbage. If you want to check it out, you should just read it over coffee at Border's. It is not worth owning. Spend your money on real game design books.

If you don't believe me, check the review on Slashdot.org.