You do need to realize that making games is very different from playing games.

Very VERY different. And designing games is different from developing them. I love playing games and I love designing, but developing? Makes me miserable. And I didn't understand this until I'd been trying out different development roles for over 10 years, trying to find one that wouldn't burn me out.

I suggest reading a few books like Masters of Doom. Read about how they worked 16 hours days for weeks on end, researching, learning and writing code, they used to sleep under their desks for a few hours for weeks on end. Read, or watch some videos, from Bjarne Stroustrup or from some of the lead Microsoft architects, they will be the frirst people to tell you that coding is difficult and that they make many mistakes and that it's an ever ongoing learning curve.

So coding can be difficult yes, but you have to be committed and put in many hours of practice and learning and expect to make many mistakes but your certainly not too old. Many people are taking up programming at all ages. So work hard, be humble, don't be afraid to make mistakes, learn from your mistakes , don't be intimidated by programming and enjoy it.

No making games is not strictly for geniuses.
There are some geniuses and there are also some complete idiots and there are many people in between.

You are only 18. If you want to make games then just make some games. If you want to decide to do it as a career then do some research and find out what kind of position in the games industry you'd like to work and then what you need to do to make it a reality.

It takes an 18-year-old to think that 18 is too old for anything. About the only thing it's too old for is picking up gymnastics with the intention of winning an Olympic medal. For those of us who aren't 18 but still enjoy picking up new hobbies and broadening our skill set, this mind set just comes off as obnoxious and generally dickish.

18's not too old unless you live in the year 10000BC, where you'd be considered a village elder at the ripe old age of 25. Then again, 18-year-olds in 10000BC didn't have to worry about writing computer games anyway.

Being brilliant helps, but in lack of brilliance, I find being stubborn enough to keep trying to be a useful substitute in my own case.

That.

You can excell at game development and programing. It is time and work that will develop your own advanced intelekt, there are really no predispositions wanted or needed or maybe even benefitial. I honestly consider myself unsmart, but maybe that is the reason I can solve any math and can code anything. Carmack is a great programmer who did hard work, speculating about his inteligence is not apropriate.

I'd also say no, with some remarks:

- how do you define game development? Is it programming, art, design, audio, production?
- I believe one can shine and excel on 1 of these, being the one where your talent and deepest motivations lie
- anything can be done, but don't underestimate what you need to do for it, don't give up
- if you're trying to start with a mmo rpg or first person shooter, forget it :)
Start small, think asteroidz, platformer etc and build up from there. You'll have bumps but managable, when you start (too) big, the bumps will be too

Seeing the answer to what I asked is "No" I can feel good, also for realizing I started seeing a phsyciatrist for another right reason as my own reasoning is getting out of place.
I'd like to tell you I agree with everything you just said But it wont mean much from a noob of my lvl at the moment.
I do appreciate the honesty in answers (and I will try the sciense fiction medic game).
Also I want to mention that this subject and with the replies spoken can truly be great motivation for all forms of people looking for all forms of people and having a "start" of life mid-life crysis.

There are no intellectual prerequisite above most office jobs really, unless you're really somewhat "challenged" you can do it depending on the role you're looking at taking in the process, it helps to be somewhat clever but it's certainly not a requirement and clearly it doesn't require any "Genius". For the technical jobs in the field they lie somewhere between "technician" and "engineer" in other fields with very few positions in few companies bordering on "researcher".

Programming is the ability to solve problems.