Quote: Original post by VildNinja
By great portfolio i mean small games and mods.
And it's better to have an uncool compleated game, than an uncompleted cool game.

Well, personally I'd rather see a completed cool game. If it sucks then no one will care, if it's not finished then it won't prove that you can get the job done (although if it's something really cool then it's probably still worth showing). Adjusting the scale of your portfolio games/tech/etc. is probably what you need to be most careful with so that you can get something meaningful AND finished.

As others have said, it varies greatly per company as to how much you are "heard" by the design department. I am a game designer and I always listed to everyone on the team. I can't always comply (even design doesn't have say so on everything), but if it is a good idea I am always willing to take it into consideration.

In regards to a portfolio, yes, you need one. A portfolio for a programmer will contain games you've made, tools you've made, and hopefully code snippets so that a lead can evaluate your coding style.