As a programmer in the industry I'd like to talk about languages. Cuppa mentioned C++, but a lot of industry titles are still written in C and in some cases (the mobile market), Java. It's impossible to have too much math, programming, and problem-solving in your educational and work-experience background when it comes to coding games. You never know WHAT you'll need to pore over and understand for the next big thing.
Also, prior to looking for a job, work with as many mod kits, SDKs, and game construction utilities as you can. Stuff like UnrealEd, Bioware's Aurora toolset, Quake engine mapping utilities, that sort of thing. They give you a better idea of how every piece of the puzzle fits together and how things are implemented. You learn a lot just tinkering with them.
Programmers also need to know how the artists and musicians work their magic, as we're the ones who have to put their assets to code. Being able to understand your musician when he starts telling you about octaves and beats or being able to tell the difference between a spline and a mesh in a 3D model will be invaluable, especially if you plan on doing any engine programming.
I don't recommend going to game-specific schools, to be honest. A good, solid university computer-science background and some textbooks (Prima press has some excellent books) are enough to get you started. Worked for me, anyway. 
Good luck! And may the Force be with you.
CuppaJo, I would gladly start out in any of those support positions, if CoH is in need of any; just let me know! After I get a little experience with support, maybe I can move on to writing or music, as I have experience in both. 
You know, with all the people I see looking for programming positions, artistic positions, writing, music, design, whatever... I'm surprised all these people don't just lump together and start their own development team instead of trying to get into existing ones. That seems to be the easiest way to start in the business...
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You know, with all the people I see looking for programming positions, artistic positions, writing, music, design, whatever... I'm surprised all these people don't just lump together and start their own development team instead of trying to get into existing ones. That seems to be the easiest way to start in the business...
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Speaking as someone in the industry, this is, sadly, a common misconception. I say sadly, because I wish that it were true The fact is that development teams depend upon publishers, and with development costs spiraling, finding a publisher has never been harder. Publishers look for proven teams with multiple shipped titles; a cool game idea doesn't just isn't enough anymore. Look at how few finalists from the Independant Games Festival (IGF) get published for evidence of this. And these are very good games.
Back on the topic of how to break into the industry, I've seen two common routes:
-Wait for one of the larger companies to do a huge hiring spree and try to get your toe in the door. Ubisoft Montreal did this recently (and might still be doing so, not sure). The advantage here is that there aren't nearly enough experienced people to go around, so a very large percentage are entry level. Keep in mind that a company like this is BIG, so you will generally end up as a 'cog in the machine', and the experience might not be everything that you hoped for.
-Or, apply to a 2nd-rate developer; they tend to be much more willing to take a chance on entry level employees (and, frankly, there's a lot less competition). While this may not be your dream job, it's a great way to get your foot in the door. You may not end up bragging about this job to your friends, but it's good experience nonetheless. No decent interviewer will turn you away because your shipped titles weren't AAA-quality.
Either way, the key thing is to get experience and some shipped titles. Once you have that experience you can then start working your way up the ladder to the dream job. It's very important to realise that nowadays very few people land their dream job right out of college; it can happen, but you can't count on it. Truth be told, there are as many routes into the industry as there are people in the industry; these are just two of the more common routes.
Ask yourself: are you in this for the dream job, or the career? If you're in it for the career, you can afford to be patient and not rely on luck.
One final tip: for heaven's sake, in your interview, do NOT lie or hugely embellish your experience; as interviewers it's our JOB to notice this. It's amazing how many people try to pull a fast one. Any guesses on how many of these people we ended up hiring? 
-b
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Speaking as someone in the industry, this is, sadly, a common misconception. I say sadly, because I wish that it were true The fact is that development teams depend upon publishers, and with development costs spiraling, finding a publisher has never been harder. Publishers look for proven teams with multiple shipped titles; a cool game idea doesn't just isn't enough anymore. Look at how few finalists from the Independant Games Festival (IGF) get published for evidence of this. And these are very good games.
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Brooz is right. I attempted to found my own game development company a few years ago and even in the mobile (cell phone) market the startup costs were pretty substantial. If you can't fund a multimillion-dollar project on the scale of Half-Life 2 or Knights of the Old Republic you won't even get noticed because the bar's been raised so high. It takes years to make a quality title nowadays, and a substantial investment in staff, money, and time up-front.
Plus, as was mentioned, you need a publisher and it's very hard to get your foot in the door with anyone established. All of the publishers my old company were able to get were third-rate fly-by-nights who didn't have the clout to get my titles the exposure they needed to really hit it big.
The days of two guys who love games writing one in their garage are long over...
3DSmacks... ick... I still can't believe that became an industry standard 
Maya is soooo much better
Of coure, the best modeller ever produced was Mirai... 
>>the hours can be long, and the pay can be less than optimal.
Last month's Game Developers Magazine has a pretty convincing article on unionizing that you might want to look at.
Wow...
Wonderful guide, thank you very much CuppaJo! 
I have considered seeking employment in the industry too, given that I'm creative (writer/musician) and I play a lot of games. I definitely appreciate the insight into the business that you have given us.
I used to work for an internet service provider years ago, and it had the same sort of generally laid back culture, and I learned a lot from everyone there. That was one of my favorite jobs. I'll check out those resources listed in the guide, and see what more I can learn.
I am a programmer in the industry. I have been in the industry for 5 years now with 4 shipped titles.
I thought I would add that I have seen a number of testers get promoted to designer or producer.
Alien 51 - Emp/Energy/Energy Defender
Average Bob - Rifle/Devices/Munitions Blaster
Fusion Avatar - Triform Warshade
Grumpy - Nec/Poison/Mu Mastermind
Metallic Guy - Kat/Inv/Weapons Scrapper
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Quality Assurance - QA. Like Vyvyanne says, making games better one bug at a time. You start in this field as a pool tester checking bugs. You get a sheet of paper that lists a million things to check and try. It can be rather tedious. As you gain experience you can move up to be a sr. tester, a QACC (Vyvyanne, Valdermic), and eventually, a lead for a game. Attention to detail, unconventional thinking, and patience are required in ample amounts. See also, overtime.
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Of everything on that huge list, QA is probably the easiest to get into (and if you know your stuff, get promoted out of). I started at Electronic Arts about 5 or 6 years ago now knowing nothing about the video game industry, or how to QA a product. I just got lucky with a friend who got a job from a friend - total happenstance.
The one thing that Cuppa doesnt point out (and very well may not be true with their company) is that 95% of QA positions are contract. Meaning that youre only with a company for 6-9 months before youre out of work. I've been very lucky, in that the two big jobs I've had have both elected to extend my contracts for considerably longer than that. Still - the sword of damocles could fall at any time.
Still, the money is good (escpecialy when the long hours hit), so I really cant complain.
***EDIT***
Oh - one important thing to remember! Whatever you wind up working on, odds are you will HATE after the end of the project. By the end, you know of a million bugs that were never fixed, you've just put in 7 weeks @ 80 hours each, you've played the game backwards and fowards and backwards again. In short, QA'ing a game burns you out on it.
I'm a big Star Wars fan, so people are always saying that I should get a job at Lucasarts - but that would be torture for me, seeing that I'd never be intrested in a Star Wars game again. Same thing with CoH - I'd never want to test it because it would spoil it as recreation for me.
Thanks for all the information. How do you guys feel about the various Schools catering to people who want to be game developers? Are there any reputable schools out there that will teach me what I really need to know to break in as a programmer?
I have programmed in c++ but I am by no means an expert or anything.
any advice for picking a school?
I personally don't have any experience with any of the gaming schools, but I did some research on one that I was looking at attending after I finish my Computer Science Bachelors. It's located near Dallas, TX at Southern Methodist University and it looks as if they work closely with several game design companies. You can visit the website here. From everything I've read it looks like an awesome school so it may be worth checking out. The main interest it holds for me (besides looking like such a solid school) is it is only 2 hours from my home.
Perfect Guide Cuppa,
As someone who's been in QA (as a tester and a lead) for about 3 years now, everything she says is spot on. In addition I want to further reinforce what Pandesal6 had to say about crunch time. It's very very important and very very hard work. My first 2 weeks as a tester, I started in crunch time and worked 180 hours over 2 weeks. One Hundred and Eighty Hours. That's roughly 90 hours a week or 12 hours a day, every day for 2 weeks straight.
It burns you out fast.
Now if Cryptic would only call me back about that Producer job...
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In the non-entertainment field these are called project managers or product managers. There are levels to this. If you can't stand stress, do not choose this path. Most producers have less hair than anyone I know from pulling it out all the time.
Producers - Where would we be without producers? Nowhere. I mean that. You have to have someone to coordinate all of these separate parts and make everything come together and out the door. Someone has to talk with the publisher.
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I have over 7 years project/product management experience in the tech industry and I have been trying hard to move over to the game industry. No bites in 5 months, sigh...at least I still have my hair.
Thanks for the write-up Cuppa. I agree with the previous poster that you should consider submitting this to Gamasutra, they could use a straight-forward pitch like this on their site.
-Q