Before I say anything, I will say this.
Gaming industry is really impacted.
Don’t be surprised by this because the field of CS is already in the road to over-population again.
But gaming industry is the MOST impacted right now in the computer industry.
Sure it’s fun to do gaming and such but when your pay after long tiresome hours of morning to night (and yes, many times during the “sleeping hours like 2-4am” emergencies) is less than a standard high school teacher, then I really doubt that such a job is a good ‘outlook’.
People might rage that “you don’t go pursue a major for the monetary things”. And yes, that is perfectly true and I absolutely agree with you. But the fact that you study really hard like everyone in CS and then get paid 1/3 of your peers is not the best feeling while you are undergoing an environment that is harsher than your peers.
There is WAY too many people in CS gaming. Don’t bother. Seriously, unless you are super passionate and do not care getting a wage that feels just a bit over the minimum wage (and it kinda becomes like this if you actually compute the hours OUTSIDE your worktime (GASP!)), then do it. Otherwise, I think there are other similarly interesting fields that do just as well.
Don’t follow your passion. This I think is a horrible advice… No. Use your passions and interests flexibly on any career. Most successful people in life did not have such a narrow view. So ya… and also, there is the internet that actually has resources.
For instance, even if you truly love making 1G phones, if no one is buying, then the outlook is not going to be as great no matter what. You can be the best 1G phone maker right now and… it still won’t be anywhere near as possible as today’s 4G LTE smartphones -.-
Just a saying…
And oh ya, the gaming degrees in the top colleges are pretty much CS degrees so unlike most universities in the US, they actually give students a broad opportunity for careers outside gaming once you graduate. So ya, GamerGal’s son though he majored in gaming will also have the opportunity to apply for like Google, etc. (and even big business companies. Gasp!). The power of brand name is… a noticeable advantage in the start of your career…
But seriously, if you aren’t getting into those super prestigious schools or prestigious CS schools, I really recommend not joining the gaming industry right now. It’s just… really horrible