Hi, I''d really like to know the best way to get into the gaming industry. should I join a team? or find a job with a well known game developer? or continue doing solo stuff and eventually going shareware? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks PaulJ

Personally I like the shareware route because I''m in control of my own destiny. But if you wanted to get a job in the industry I’d make sure you had some experience (and proof of it, in the form of a demo or what have you) then I would go to some industry conferences with the sole purpose of chatting it up with dev teams. 95% of the jobs in the industry are filled before they ever get as far as being posted on a website somewhere. It''s all about who you know.

For me the shareware route makes sense for a number of reasons. Firstly if you successfully make and market a game you may make enough to support yourself full time. If you aren’t able to market it successfully, a completed game is still an impressive demo when applying for an entry level position. Still you have to find out about the positions which require face time with people in industry. But I wouldn''t invest that type of money unless I had something concrete on my resume. This makes shareware seem like the way to go.

(Again I don’t have a job in the industry, that''s just how I would do it if I was serious about getting one)

Shareware is the best way. You''ll get to know what it takes to develop games and you''ll also gain experiences for the job.

Harish Save
www.harishsave.com

Ive worked for a big name developer and also done shareware. sharewrae is much much more satisfying, although not as well paid at the start

http://www.positech.co.uk