Ed Boon, Mortal Kombat co-creator, gives advice on how to enter the industry. Wanna-bes and hopefuls, take note. Boon knows what he's talking about:

• Most people won't be able to start at the top. You need to decide which discipline you want to be involved in (programming, art, animation, design..etc) and then figure out a way to get your foot in the door somewhere.
• Don't expect to join a company as a game designer or lead programmer if you have no experience. Companies rarely roll the dice (with big positions) on people who have no experience.
• Even though passion and talent are the biggest contributors to someone's success in the industry, I would suspect that a college education will probably open some more doors that might not be available to someone without a formal education.
• Nobody wants to work with someone who doesn't respect them. I would be most impressed with someone who asks more questions than they express their opinions. That person is a lot more likely to pick things up and get better at their job.

More peals of wisdom after the jump.

• To me, those university courses probably do have value. But if someone shows up with a laptop that has a (working) great game that they made, that speaks louder than any education.
• While you are in school, it's probably important to establish some relationships in the industry and get as much exposure to the actual game creation process as you can. This will give you a better idea of where you should focus your energies.
• Even though I do very little programming now, I've always felt that my background has helped me communicate my ideas to the technical people on our team.

Words to program fatalities by. Brian Ashcraft

More Here [David Perry] via GameSetWatch