How to become a video game designer

It's next-to-impossible to get a game design job solely on the basis of being a good designer. As unSane states above, secondary skills are a must, and proving oneself through one's own projects is the best way to get noticed. If he's interested in casual gaming, then doing projects in Flash or any cell phone language (Java or J2ME, I think) is the way to go. If he's interested in console design, 3D skills are a must. Learning 3D Studio Max or Maya is pretty much a requirement of designers. And I also second joining the Mod world. Learning Lithtech, Doom3 Engine, or the Half-Life 2 engine are other good places to start besides Unreal (though Unreal is probably the most widely used). You can also work your way up through the industry into production by starting out doing QA. Having gone this route myself, though, I don't reccomend it unless he's willing to forego his entire life for a couple years and face all the worst aspects of the industry. http://www.sloperama.com/advice.htmlalso offers useful advice, and I second getting a gamasutra account, if for nothing else than the job listings.

If dial-tone's friend has an English degree, I'm guessing he doesn't want to go the programming route. Design is probably the hardest job in the industry to get into, and the industry is very hard to get into to begin with. There isn't a particular degree or course study that says "hire me!", but a well-rounded education helps. The most impressive thing one can do is actually make a game, or at least create some impressive mods. Find some friends who will do the parts he can't (programming, art, etc). There is a small but growing need for writers in the industry (again, I'm assuming the English degree implies a strong writing background). Typically they're hired by big-name studios that make role-playing or adventure games. Your friend also might be able to get in that way. http://www.gamasutra.com is a must-read, and an excellent place for game job listings. http://www.lostgarden.com/ is a superb blog about game design, though it assumes you're already in the business. Good luck to your friend!

A friend of mine who has his philosophy degree and has role playing game experience was looking at getting into http://www.bioware.com/. As I understand it, a part of their recruiting process is to have the applicant create a module for Neverwinter Nights. Even if your friend wouldn't be interested in a position with BioWare, that game might be worth checking out as apparently it's a very versatile game-story creation tool.

I know a handful of people in the industry and every one of them started designing games of their own long before they actually 'got a gig' in the industry. For all of them, it was the strength of these early projects that landed them their jobs. One of them made a proof of concept Flash piece that someone else saw and said 'Wow, that's cool!'. A few emails later and there was a job offer. Just start making stuff. Post it out on the web for people to see and possibly play with. School is nice, but a decent portfolio of work can open a lot of doors.

Just as a counterpoint to the doom-and-gloom perspective on the video game industry, my experience in the casual games sector has not been quite so sweatshop-like. Much of the meat grinder nature of the industry comes out of companies like EA, MS, and other first- and third-party AAA console producers. While these are the most high-profile places to work, they're not the only ones by any means. I got into the industry the "classic" way, by working QA for a few years and looking for any avenue to promote my other skills to employers. The benefit of working in QA is that you learn a whole lot about how video games come together (and, often, what it looks like when they don't). The downside is that your friend will be like 500 other people trying to work their way up. It can be competitive. Working on mods is a great way to gain experience. It has the beneficial side effect of creating a demo reel that shows off one's ability to envision and execute a project. The industry rewards people who can follow through; having a few finished modules provides that impression. I also recommend playing every and any game he can get his hands on, with analysis in mind. Having a broad range of knowledge about why some games work and others don't is crucial to design. Full disclosure: I have an English degree, I play lots of RPGs, and I currently design and program casual games. Good luck to your friend.

If he likes to program get a CS degree. If he is more artistic any or no(shutter) degree in any art related major would be fine. The big thing is passion and experience. Download Blender and start to learn 3D modeling and read up about game engines. I work closely with a game studio and their guys run the gambit. They even had a 16 year old kid in here doing a lot of stuff at one point. Just be agressive with trying to learn and trying to get hired.

There are also programs in http://www.cas.ucf.edu/CAS3/departments_academic_dm.php, like the one at the University of Central Florida, which was developed partly in response to companies like Electronic Arts moving to town. Schools like http://www.fullsail.com/ also specialize in both digital arts and design as well as game development. The nice thing about Full Sail is that once you've graduated, you can go back and take classes in new technologies for free.

Starting out targeting a design role is probably not realistic. When there is a position of designer or whatever, it's very much a leadership role. Mostly designers have other roles on the team and spend nearly all of their time doing non-design stuff.

The best way is probably to rase money yourself and pay developers, etc, to work on it.