Your email to Bill Harris introduces the site a lot better than your post here.
As a veteran game developer I have been asked this question repeatedly over the years, and I've thoroughly enjoyed helping others learn ways to get there. The request would come randomly - a friend of the family, a buddy from high school, a student at the local college, even the dental assistant at my dentist office. Each time I would craft lengthy emails sharing advice and offering to help them in any way I can. For some unknown reason though I rarely saved that information and had to re-write it each time.
After receiving this request last week from a twelve year old player of one of our games I was inspired by his passion to learn (and frankly his intelligence) and decided to finally do more. Hence this site has been born:
I Need To Make GamesMy hope is that over time this site can provide an interactive experience where students and professionals passionate about pursuing a job in the industry can come and get valuable feedback and guidance from existing and former developers via the comments and discussion section.
It's a great concept. I frequent the "Help & Advice" subforum at Penny Arcade, and while the posts asking for help run a wide gamut of topics, almost every other week there's a new person posting with questions on how to make a game or how to enter the industry. I'll start sending them your way.
