There is a couple of reasons.
1. You get paid about double that of even a MCSD programmer

2. Having people like your games

3. It is 10x more challenging then normal programming

4. Fame

5. Its an addiction

The fact you're overlooking is that business apps are BORING.

I want to do games professionally because I want a "creative" career. Yes, there's creativity in everything, but there's a big difference between using creativity to optimize a database schema and using creativity to imagine entirely new worlds, characters, and plots. I want both kinds.

Mason McCuskey
Spin Studios
www.spin-studios.com

I guess I should probably throw in my two cents ...

First, let me say that I doubt the people who are "in it for the money" are seriously planning to get rich. I look at that statement more like --- "To get paid for doing something I have loved since I was a toddler." Of course, there are always going to be a few who think they will be the Bill Gates of PC video games ... oh well.

Second, the "because I love games" people are, in my opinion, the majority. You mention an open source project so you can keep a life. But, for many people ( myself included ), I don't mind having this be "my life."

Currently, I get up around 5-6AM and that is when I start coding -- right after my wife and I eat breakfast. I do not get off the computer until between 11PM - 1AM every night ( unless my wife demands we watch a movie or something ). But, my point is I own my own business, yet work these incredibly insane hours ... and I love it. The only thing I would trade it for is the opportunity to get paid for doing it. I know there are many people who feel the same exact way.

Game programming is something that is challenging, fulfilling, and never stagnant. Why would any one of us give up our dreams for "business" programming unless absolutely necessary.

I am remember being 16 and working at a local Arby's for 8, or so, months. Screw that. It wasn't fun, and for me neither is business programming. I don't give a damn about an extra $20k-$50k a year if I hate coming to work everyday like when I worked at Arby's.

I have done business programming and game programming. For me, the biggest challenge in business programming is dealing with clients. Which is more of a headache than a challenge. At least, with games, I have the opportunity to push the PC, or console, to its ultimate limit ... and then push some more, just because I can.

So, it was quite a bit more than 2 cents ... but I hope it gives you at least some idea of why some of us are so hell-bent on working for a large, established company.

Oh yeah ... and Ben, would this be a bad time to point out that "a couple" == 2.

- Chris

Well, the reason I began is that I LOVE to play games but as in all games I thought always on some kind of improvement. Or doing things that games weren't programmed for (like doing SONIC's ways with KNUCKLES).

And then when you learn programming you try your first game.
After that you're ADDICTED for sure.

Ever since the ol' NES and GameBoy, iv'e always wanted to create my OWN games and implement my OWN ideas into the games I play, instead of playing with someone else's creation. Money isnt even half the reason I program games, its the addiction and satisfaction in seeing what you have created on screen in full 24bit color!! Unlike the boring greyscale palette, mixed in with "seen it before" dialog boxes, displayed in ""business software"". Some people obviously havent actually sat down and attempted to make their own graphical creation ... very sad indeed.

-SikCiv

The problem with stephpet questions is that he assumes we would rather enjoy spending our free time doing something other than programming. When i was doing business programming this was the case cuz i couldn't wait to get home to do some really enjoyable game progamming vs static/boring/work business crud. Not to mention that i'm sure that most would agree that your average business progammer doesn't go out of their way to learn new stuff. For instance at the last place i worked doing business apps most of the programmers there didn't have a clue as to what activex was all about much less have any clue as to what directx was or have any clue as to the overall windows architecture.

I'm just 16 years old, and started programming C++ about a year ago. I really regret that I didnt join my brother and learn BASIC when we got our comodore 64 about.... alot of years ago =). Currently I have read, and I'm reading some books on DirectX programming and I have started on my first game. It will take some time to get it finnished as school is really killing me =)
But the few hours at the computer every week I sometime has a real hard time deciding if I should play Half-life with friends or programm. So I guess I'll continou with making games.

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Martin Björklund

Ok, here's a different angle:

I AM what you would call a corporate developer. From some of the posts I have seen I am the epitamy of what a lot of you would despise being.

I would like to take just a moment to counter a point or two I have seen, and then give an explanation of why I am working on games in my spare time.

1) game programming is 10x more challenging that biz programming.

Well, yes....if all your doing is dragging a button onto a form and coding a "hello, world" message box. That is not what anyone can realistically call "software development".

There are a lot of similarities in the challenge's I face daily to the ones I face when I am "coding my game".

2) business programming is boring

Ahhh.... I think this cliche came about from anyone who has to have ever maintained legacy code. I would have to agree with this one. Slogging through thousands of lines of someone elses code (or, even your own for that matter) is not a lot of fun.

However, the majority of my day is doing new and exciting things. Otherwise, I would burn out and find something else to do. I find it hard to believe anyone would continue working in a career just for the money (including games).

I get the opportunity almost daily to be as creative as I want to be.

Of course, I consider myself lucky in that I have never had the sort of job that was what I call "dialog stuffing".

I am always working with the cutting edge tools and technologies. In my experience, those that can't adapt and change to face the next challenge are left by the roadside.
(note: there was a time there when I had to deal with "throw away technology", ill conceived technologies that MS threw at us that didnt' work, but the client wanted, so it had to be done, then was obsolete in 3 months...you get the idea).

By now, you have got to be saying "Well, if your so happy with it why don't you just keep doing it then?" (probably the polite version).

Like alot of people, I have played games and thought "man, this is so cool! Now, if only you could do this ...".

I started programming to make a living, it looked like (and is) an excellent career for me. Trying to make games is a natural expression of something I like to do.

Do I really want to work for a game company? nah...probably not. I mean, it would have to be for a game that I would love to play.. Not just to get to say "I'm a game programmer".

I just want to make fun games. I am not looking to be the next Carmack or Sweeny.

-mordell

[This message has been edited by mordell (edited September 14, 1999).]

I have to agree with Mordell.

When I left The TV Guide Channel to become an "independent software developer" it wasn't too either (a) get away from business programming or (b) to only work on games.

I enjoyed the problems I was working on. I especially enjoyed creating software to make the lives of my end users more productive. If they were going about something the "hard way" I would put out a lot of effort to make their jobs easier. In numerous cases, I took tasks that had been taking them hours with the existing software and was able to reduce it to a button-push and a review of a printed report.

What I have discovered is that I simply want the freedom to work on the projects I *want* to work on, and to choose the people I work on them with.

I don't consider myself just a game developer. My projects include online multi-player games such as Artifact and Paintball NET , and shareware like The Journal . So long as my projects are successful enough to fund the next ones in the queue, I'll be happy.

So I make games because I like making games. I don't expect to get *rich* from my games, but I expect to make a living from them and my other projects.

And if you don't think Really Good database designers/programmers are as hard to find as good 3D programmers, you are *sorely* mistaken.

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DavidRM
Samu Games

Ahhh, too much to respond to here at once.

First off, to address the original post, for me, programming business apps for the money and programming games on the side for fun is not an option. I just don't nearly enough time outside of work to do all the game programming I want to. The only way I can have enough time to make games and to take care of my other responsibilties is to get paid to make games. Getting rich is not a priority. I just want to do something I enjoy for a living.

And to add to what mordell and DavidRM have said, "conventional" programming isn't as boring as most people here think. I recently finished a project in which I converted my company's primary product to several Asian languages, and seeing hangul and hanja on a handheld terminal screen was quite satifying. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't want to spend the next 40 years doing this, but programming is programming, and as long as you have some degree of creative control, it can all be fun.