Just thought I'd give a scam warning for anyone considering a course in video game designing.

http://train2game.com/

It's kind of obvious that they're worth **** from their mega high-tech website design, but just in case.

You can find proof that it's a scam course here:

http://forums.digitaltrends.com/showthread.php?t=16731&page=29

Anyone who actually thinks that these advertised "game design courses" are worth a damn in the first place need to be slapped.

That's true as well. I think the only valid game design education I've encountered on the internets so far is the SMU. Guildhall.

http://guildhall.smu.edu/

It's a uni though, not a course.

Sad that people fall for courses like these. Very akin to people believing in "get rich fast" schemes.

I think RIT has a video game design option for it's IT majors...

"Become a highly employable Games Development Professional"

hahahahahaha

WOW. These guys will go much lower than I can possibly conceive. GAME MAKER 7? OMG.

They should atleast teach some semi-useful language like blitz max. Thats about the only easy to pick up functional programming language that can be used with video games.

Honestly video game design has too many branches to just put into one course. If I could I would take a team based video game design course, where a team is formed, and each team works on a 1-2 year project. The members of the team are formed by people learning 3D modelling, programming, sound design etc etc. They are taught many different things, leadership skills, using standard industry software, etc etc.

Thats my dream university.

I think they actually do that. Except the time limit's 5 month, not 2 years.

Well im sure the project is something akin to a light platforming game or basic shooter.

I work with a guy who graduated from Full Sail.

Note that I do not have a game development job.

Games schools can't make you hireable--the best they can do is take your efforts to learn the craft and help focus them in the right direction

A lot of people think they can major in game design or go to one of these schools or something and just do the homework and come out as industry material. I mostly hang out on 3D sites and there's a fair few people who will come in like "I just finished graduate school in animation please critique my portfolio!" and then post some really terrible ****.

So while this course is obviously way more worthless than a "real" one, someone who wants to do game development and who can't tell that site is crap just by looking at it is probably not going to get that much out of a place like Full Sail either.

I graduated from Flashpoint... uh, it had good and bad things about it for being a two year program. Five of the other game students in our first graduating class now have jobs but they got it from networking - they met someone at GDC (Game Developer's Conference). Two of them got hired at High Voltage on their own, and four of them started their own company and will be releasing their first game soon.

Guildhall turns out some great students and I work with two of their graduates now.

Finally, Thrawn's right, the best thing you can do is focus in a certain direction and build a good portfolio around that.

I know Cambridge do one over here.