In my neck of the woods, I'm the video game king -- I'd like to turn my awesomeness into a career. Are there any potential jobs for people good at video games? How do I prepare for one?

ANSWER:

Ten years of explosive growth has fueled a demand for adding new talent into the game development world. Coupled with the most powerful consoles in history, HD capabilities of the Xbox 360 and the PS3, and the explosion in the hand-held and smartphone market, games are everywhere! And so are jobs for people good at video games.

The employment upside is tons of opportunities for living the dream of getting off the couch and into game development. The industry has a constant demand for animators, visual effects and environmental artists, AI, core and game play engineers, level and systems designers, sound designers and writers.

Getting a game on the shelf takes a village, so there are opportunities even if you’re not a techie. This includes jobs handling business, legal, finance, operations, marketing, public relations, sales, quality assurance, etc. If you’re strong at organizing, communicating and leading, game production or production management may be your ticket.

There are over 50 North American colleges and universities offering undergraduate game design programs, and larger game publishing companies typically have staff building relationships with these programs. One resource worth checking is The Princeton Review, which lists schools offering focused gaming degrees. (The “Top 50 Undergraduate Game Design Programs” list is available at PrincetonReview.com.) Interning is another option for breaking into the biz. Check out the game companies’ Web sites or call their human resources departments for more information.

If you have the passion for video games and want to make a career out of it, find a way to get your foot in the door and work your way into the job of your dreams.

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