Leo Said:

What are the best game design courses that don't focus on writing, not coding or animation?

We Answered:

Game Design means you either must know programming or the be artistic in creating the visuals. Today's games are created a lot like Hollywood movies, there are all sorts of specialists working on specific parts. But most schools that teach game design expect you to focus on Development (programming) or the Visual / Audio parts(Creative) . It almost sounds like your looking for a Level designer or a storyboard designer. Both of those require strong writing abilities. The other possibility is to be a game producer/manager, but this is a position only open to senior developers with a lot of experience, much like you can't train to be a baseball club manager, you need to rise through the ranks, Game design work is the same.

Katrina Said:

How can I get a job writing video games?

We Answered:

I would advise caution in contacting video game companies with questions - not all of them welcome such emails. If you can find one which seems friendly and has an internet forum, I think that would be a better place to ask for advice.

Yes, of course there are people who write story, scenes and dialogue. However, in my experience these people are often sourced from outside games companies since they're not needed on a regular basis - freelance writers/scriptwriters, for example, who don't just work in the games industry. If you just want to write, that may be an option you want to look at (you'd probably pursue qualifications in English or writing, though it's not an easy business to break into so you may have to start with whatever you can get).

If you want to actually be a part of the design process of games - not just be involved with the writing, but also other planning stages, such as deciding what goes where, orders of events, storyboarding or designs of characters, etc., you will need to get involved either on the artistic side or the programming side. There are colleges which offer degrees in games design/production, so if you're interested in doing that, you may want to look those up to see if they will be useful for you. If you really want to work in games, wherever it is, a good working knowledge of how the production pipeline works is important, so that would be useful whatever you decide to go for.

Good luck. :)

Arthur Said:

Question about video game industry jobs?

We Answered:

The jobs in the gaming industry are limitless.
My friend is a beta tester for Naughty Dog and he makes 98,000 per year, so the pay is REALLY good.
The jobs in the gaming industry scale from animation, to coding, all the way down to forum moderation.
The most prestigious school for anything media related if Full Sail University.