My dream, working for Nintendo, Nvidia, or ATi, is it possible

[dredg]

I am majoring in Computer Engineering right now at a Big 12 school. I'm finishing up my first semester doing pretty well. My dream is to work for Nintendo but I would also like to work at Nvidia, ATi, Matrox, or someplace similar. Do you need a lot of experience and have the right connections to get jobs at these places? Will I need atleast a Masters degree?

 

[Aharami]

you will most prpbably need a masters degree if you want to do anything worthwhile in those companies. and dont start slacking. comp engg gets really hard. try your best and you will realize later on whether you really still want to work for these companies or not

 

[kt]

Aharami is right. First year of computer engineering is nothing compared to the second and third year. Especially, third year. That's when you know whether you'll be a good engineer or just another engineer.

 

[WinkOsmosis]

So you are basically saying that you are a dumb computer geek who thinks he's going to work for Nintendo?

 

[dredg]

Yea this year I have math, chemistry, english, physics, and electives. I want to get into my computer classes so much.

 

[dredg]

Yep I'm a computer geek. I'm also a pothead, alcoholic and I chew tobacco.

 

[csiro]

For Nvidia or ATi, you might get a better chance if you're in electrical.

 

[Wuffsunie]

Last year our CS department put on a lecture from the head of Epic Games, makers of Unreal and -- surprising as hell to me -- a local company. Really, a facinating discussion of the industry. One of the pieces of advice he offered that should be most valuable to you is that you get working on personal development projects NOW. When you're applying to jobs at those places, if you can show them proof that you're already competent in the areas that they're working in, they'll likely be very interested in you. Education is nice, but they'll LOVE you for experience. Heck, one of Epic's programming heads doesn't even have a bachelor's degree; just an utterly wicked set of skills for programming.

The master's degree certainly can't hurt and will give you a chance to specialize a little more in the graphics area. But, really, if you want in to a company like that, start the work on your own right now.

-- Jack

Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a function.
-- Garrison Keillor

 

[newbiepcuser]

dp

 

[newbiepcuser]

If you have the right connections, anything is possible.

My buddy used to work for Blizzard back in the WarCraft I/II days, he never even finish college then again he was Caltech drop out.

He is awesome coder though.

 

[Aharami]

Originally posted by: csiro
For Nvidia or ATi, you might get a better chance if you're in electrical.

true. you'd need a firm grasp of how the circuitry works.
my dream was the same....work for a game developing company or a video card company. but 3rd year of college i realized i dont have the dedication and brains to be working in those fields. now im working for a big time financial firm. i know....but i find this stuff more interesting now

IMO, to be a real engineer, you would have to be really smart. and by real i mean engineers who are developing stuff...not working in an IT field maintaing a network or whatever

no offense to any of you out there

 

[FeathersMcGraw]

Originally posted by: csiro
For Nvidia or ATi, you might get a better chance if you're in electrical.

You can't neglect a software background entirely. Chips need firmware and cards need drivers.

And a background in advanced computer graphics goes without saying.

 

[SaturnX]

Several of my friends have jobs @ ATI from Jan - May next year (Good Ol' Co-Op), as well there are several upper year students here that have jobs @ NVidia for the upcoming term as well. I didn't make the cut for interviews (I'm in 1st Year Comp Eng.), but it's entirely possible, up here at the University of Waterloo we have our Co-Op program (4 months school - 4 months work, that's alternated throughout a 5 year program), and nVidia and ATi have MANY intern possitions open.

But you might want to try looking into intern positions, since it's a good way to get your foot in the door, but it is entirely possible. Also, between Comp and Elec engineers, most people I know working at nVidia and ATi are in Comp.

--Mark