Paid to Play: An Insider's Guide to Video Game Careers (Paperback)

~ Alice Rush (Author), David Hodgson (Author), (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

*Unique - Currently there are NO OTHER video game career guides with over 100 interviews from current, working game professionals. They are fully candid and give readers an unvarnished look inside the industry. The biggest secret? It's actually work.
*Written by Insiders - The authors are a professional, registered Career Counselor and two game writers who have worked on over 1000 game reviews, 70 strategy guides, and scripted storylines for over five different video games.
*Total Coverage - The authors will be interviewing over 100 professionals, all of them in different jobs within the video game industry. This will give readers a complete overview of what jobs there are in the industry and which ones may be suited to their talents. Rather than a vague list or a focus on programming and development, Paid to Play will blanket the various fields that are utilized in the world of video games.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Prima Games; illustrated edition edition (October 10, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761552847
• ISBN-13: 978-0761552840
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #299,835 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Finaly the 100% blunt ugly truth about making video games!, November 29, 2006

By	Metal_SlugX (Kansas City, MO USA) - See all my reviews

I can just imagine gamers walking into Game Stop seeing this guide and getting big dreams of getting paid to play video games. This book crushes those dreams once and for all. The book tells the good and the bad of what it is like in the video game industry. And the reality is that making games isn't easy or always fun.

However if you feel like you can cut it and the warnings don't scare you the book does list practical no nonsense tips about how to approach breaking into the industry. That's where this book differs from other books about getting into video game making (Like the Game Career guide from Game Developer Magazine) this book gives specific tips relating to each sub-field of the video game industry it covers.

This book is not a technical guide however. I would have liked to see recommended reading for each job category. The book struck me as just a large compilation of opinions of video game industry members with some weird comments thrown in by the authors. The comments can be amusing but at times they where distracting and at worse condescending. As a programmer I was irked at the stereotyping of programmers and repeated usage of the words code monkey throughout the chapter "Technical Jobs". Overall enjoyed the book and found valuable info but I was expecting a little more professional presentation of the material so I gave it 4 stars instead of 5.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This fine guide needs to be on the shelves of any high school career library, February 8, 2007

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This is no singular treatment of the industry: over a hundred video game industry pros were interviewed and over 50 careers are profiled for Paid to Play, an insider's survey of how to obtain real jobs in the gaming industry. From self-assessment exercises and sample resumes to insights on salary, educational requirements, training, and employers, the aspiring video gamer receives everything needed to pursue their game-playing as a career. This fine guide needs to be on the shelves of any high school career library or public library strong in business and career planning.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

5.0 out of 5 stars Helpful , December 27, 2008

By	B. Espinosa - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I bought this book for my avid video gaming husband who has always talked about working in the gaming world as the ideal job. I liked the reviews I read so I bought it. My husband has read through most of it and has come to the conclusion that he definitely would NOT want to have a job like that anymore. I'm so glad I bought the book! He found it very helpful in that people "in the business" laid everything out about the good and the bad. Seeing what a dream idea really looks like provided all the right insight. A good read.