Who else here is studying to get into the game industry.

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Well where are you from, teeside is said to be a very good place to go to: http://www.tees.ac.uk/

A degree is pretty much useless, you need a good portfolio to, But if you don't have that good of a portfolio and have a degree that can boost it a little on the interview, it really depends on the company that is gonna interview you, it varies allot around the companies of what is required.

All-though I know that programming is the most required now in the industry, but I don't have the brain for that kind of stoff, I'm studying to become a level designer.

The concept and story are put together by the Creative Director, Lead Designer and the Producer. The Senior, Junior, Mission and Level Designers are expected to flesh out the concept that can and usually will change a great deal during production. They'll hire a professional writer for the big projects (for smaller ones or sequels/addons they often do it themselves) to do the writing per se and the dialogues but they may have very limited to no creative freedom. Unless it's a big name or someone with significant experience they'll just do a scribe job.

You can be hired for any of those positions without a computer related degree or any degree at all if you have solid experience, a good CV/credentials and several published games. With or without a degree and no experience you won't be hired by a large company even as a Junior Designer. The best chance is to start as a QA tester, learn on the job and work your way from there. But you'll need to convince them you're good and work hard while being poorly paid.

If you are an experienced professional writer you can be hired to do the "scribe" job I mentioned.

What Mr Sallamandrina who did some hiring for his team several times also said is that once in a blue moon they'll hire someone with no experience (the degree doesn't matter much if at all) if they come with a solid concept they created or a mod/addon for an already existing game but they need to present a working prototype. That's how he was hired in the first place by a small company. After a published title and 3 years of experience he managed to get a Junior Designer position at Ubisoft and one of the requirements was fluency in both English and French.

I know many people see it as a dream/glamorous job, but they should keep in mind that this is entertainment/show business - extremely competitive and cut-throat. You must be prepared to work long hours (often unpaid), not take your vacation when you want, keep both those above and under you happy and brace yourself for the usual backstabbing/others taking credit for your work that seems to be an unavoidable part of working for the big corporations. The only way out of it is to become a freelancer, start your own business or be so passionate about the job itself that you're willing to put up with the rest. A lead or managerial position will require above the norm social and communication skills even for an NT. A good designer must also be able to negotiate and compromise while working through problems with all those involved: the artists, coders, producers etc.

Don't you only get vacations at the end of a big game project, how long are normally vacations or is it like it varies from company to company.

It actually varies from country to country, companies have (at least in theory) to respect the laws of the country the studio is based in. Basically it's just like any other job, you get 4 to 6 weeks of vacation in an year and you arrange with Human Resources when you want to take them. Problem is that release dates often get delayed and you end up being asked to postpone your vacation even if you made plans/reservations etc. I think it's more a big corporation issue than one specific to the Game Industry.

Your husband what studio in Ubisoft is he at EU, or Canada.

He used to work for one of the studios in Europe - he also worked for Dice after Electronic Arts bought it and now he's some place else.

Has your husband been to GDC in San Francisco, I've heard allot of good stoff about the conference I plan to go there in the future:

http://www.gdconf.com/

No, he never worked in the US and neither of us would be willing to move there.

You don't need to live in the US in order to attend to CES, developers from all over the world go to CES to see the conferences and meet new people.

Sorry, I misunderstood your question. He went to E3 once and likes the Leipzig conventions.

Its okay, I haven't heard that much about Leipzig but people say its almost as big as E3, I would think that entry tickets for develops is much cheaper at the Leipzig convention.

I don't know about the tickets, he was participating. I went with him twice at Leipzig and I liked it a lot .

I also would like to be a game writer, if not Narrative designer. However, I am finishing my degree in Journalism, rather than a BA from a game design program.