You sound like you are on the same path as I am. I posted a reply to the person asking about DigiPen and told him some of the same stuff you just said about Guildhall, though not as much. Email me if you want to chat more about this. If we both end up going to SMU, it would be great to know someone prior to arrival.
As far as I know, DigiPen is the first school to offer an actual degree in game dev. They formally call it "Interactive Real-Time Simulation." You heard somewhat right about Nintendo drawing from DigiPen. Nintendo helped create the curriculum, and it's also worth noting that DigiPen shares its campus with Nintendo in Redmond. DigiPen actually developed games on the SNES back in the day, though I'm not sure what they develop for now.
Do I go to DigiPen? No. Am I considering it? Yes. The now offer a M.S. in C.S. for people with CS degrees, so it's worth looking into for me. Also, they offer a B.S. in Computer Engineering.
I'm also checking out the Guildhall. They don't offer a degree program, but students get to work closely with industry professionals. John Carmack visited the Guildhall a while ago to give a presentation and to meet with the students, and John Romero helped with the curriculum. I've met a few people who were going there for the Art Creation program and they seemed to be getting a lot out of it.
You're right that you don't need a degree to make it into the game dev industry. Passion and drive are what you need to succeed. You can't hope to walk into a programming position at id Software just because you've got a CS degree. Employers want to see that you do this kind of stuff in your spare time, and they want to see proof (i.e., demos).
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You sound like you are on the same path as I am. I posted a reply to the person asking about DigiPen and told him some of the same stuff you just said about Guildhall, though not as much. Email me if you want to chat more about this. If we both end up going to SMU, it would be great to know someone prior to arrival.
As far as I know, DigiPen is the first school to offer an actual degree in game dev. They formally call it "Interactive Real-Time Simulation." You heard somewhat right about Nintendo drawing from DigiPen. Nintendo helped create the curriculum, and it's also worth noting that DigiPen shares its campus with Nintendo in Redmond. DigiPen actually developed games on the SNES back in the day, though I'm not sure what they develop for now.
Do I go to DigiPen? No. Am I considering it? Yes. The now offer a M.S. in C.S. for people with CS degrees, so it's worth looking into for me. Also, they offer a B.S. in Computer Engineering.
I'm also checking out the Guildhall. They don't offer a degree program, but students get to work closely with industry professionals. John Carmack visited the Guildhall a while ago to give a presentation and to meet with the students, and John Romero helped with the curriculum. I've met a few people who were going there for the Art Creation program and they seemed to be getting a lot out of it.
You're right that you don't need a degree to make it into the game dev industry. Passion and drive are what you need to succeed. You can't hope to walk into a programming position at id Software just because you've got a CS degree. Employers want to see that you do this kind of stuff in your spare time, and they want to see proof (i.e., demos).
--John