"The Games Game"

Does it really matter if a company wants an art based student or a game art student. each type has its own place, downfalls and benefits as the game industry employees many people from different backgrounds, some of which are from animation, movie, and business backgrounds that in later life found a love for games. all walks of life get into the industry with different backgrounds in which some are totally unrelated to games but those of us that are just starting out with a small portfolio and no experience in the industry can gain this from the careful nurture of experienced people already in the industry.

there are always people there than can teach and there is always someone to learn. this basis gives a slightly opened door to the chosen path that people may chose to take as some people are stuck in this position;

"How on earth do you get game experience if you don't already have game experience? Isn't that a chicken-and-egg kinda problem?"

without some basis we are (relatively speaking of course) screwed. thats where higher education with the aid of knowledgable people come into play to give people like me a kick start when its well and truly needed, where as some people with art degrees have the skill, would this benefit them in a company that doesn't teach time management, game art history, game culture. its like jumping head first into something you thought you knew but ultimately wasn't.

a keen knowledge and drive for the industry was well as an arts background helps, sadly not all people posses god like powers, that allow them to be good at everything (although some do, damn them!)

if games centered educators decided to get up one day and quit. who would be left to teach the knowledge of old, you would find art graduates asking "whats a game culture?" and our link to games history would be lost to a select few that keep it to themselves.

at the end of the day many people have different talents weather it be in art or in games, different companies take on a diverse range of talents and skills to suite them and before long everyone will realize that games and art are fundamentally the same concept but expressed in different ways.