How to Become a Game Developer for Consoles

Video game consoles are ultimately just another kind of computer.

For every game you have ever played, there is a person -- and likely a team of people -- who worked to bring it from idea to reality. It might be relatively easy to understand how a PC game is made, given the open file structure of the system, but what about consoles? Those are rigidly specific hardware systems. Console development might seem like a closed-off world to the upstart game developer, but it is possible to crack the shell and get inside.

Things You'll Need

• Personal computer or Apple computer
• Blog account
• High-speed Internet connection
• USB gamepad controller

Instructions

1. Develop a foundation in PC game development, even if it's just small-scale mods. Experiment with several genres. The most basic principles of game design do not change just because you switch platforms. The advantage to starting with PC development is the wide availability of Software Development Kits for commercial engines like Unreal, Source and Torque, unhindered by the requirement for specialized hardware.

2. Download a platform-specific Software Development Kit, such as those available for XBox Live Arcade, Apple's iOS for iPhone -- or derivative game development kit Cocos2D -- and for Android phones. All are free development kits for specific computing platforms, or in the case of Android, a phone-specific operating system. Why phone games? Because the key to console development is working within the limitations of a specific hardware system. Explore the features of the software, taking note of how to fashion a Graphical User Interface into a game, setting controls to a small fixed input system, and the graphical limits of the hardware.

3. Develop at least one game with the development software. Keep it simple; the idea is to show that you can take an idea, and fully realize the concept as a start-to-finish project. Once you finish a project, compress it as a ZIP archive.

4. Start a new blog using a site such as WordPress, Blogger or Weebly to show your portfolio of work. Start a new post and upload your ZIP archive as a downloadable file. When you send your resume to video game development houses, include a link to your blog.

Tips & Warnings

• The expense of developing for an AAA title for a modern console prevents up-and-coming game developers from gaining specific experience, and a development house will typically have to allow some of its employees time to learn how to use a console's development kit if they haven't before. In other words, they understand if you haven't developed for a particular console before, so long as they see that you have competence in console game design. An alternative to using a console-specific SDK is to design a PC game that utilizes a USB gamepad controller, showing that you know how to design around console controls.

References

• "Game Design: The Art and Business of Creating Games;" Bob Bates; 2001
• Microsoft Developers Network: XNA Game Studio
• iOS Dev Center
• Blog City: How do I upload files to my blog?