Has anyone had any experience with the Game Institute?

[Sigillimus]

After spending many frustrating hours trying to decide which engine I wanted to begin programming on as an extreme beginner, I came upon this little website called The Game Institute. For $99, it gives you a slew of resources, online textbooks (with the option to purchase the real things for an additional fee), presentations and projects that are said to be guided by 'industry professionals' - just click the tabs on the top and expand the ones further down to view the material. Knowing the internet, I immediately think this is a scam of some sort.

But after reading further, it's actually looking pretty promising. They give a detailed list of all topics covered in each of the classes in the package, as well as the amount of textbooks/presentations/goals to associate with the course. And I know that I work in a class setting better than by myself.

I was just hoping that someone had some experience or thoughts in regards to the Game Institute. It would be a big help for me to decide whether or not I want to shell out the $100 for this.

[tsloper]

Originally Posted by Sigillimus

I was just hoping that someone had some ... thoughts in regards to the Game Institute.

I have some thoughts.
1. $99 is dead cheap! Why not just give it a try.
2. You get what you pay for.
3. http://www.igda.org/games-game-september-2007

[Sigillimus]

Originally Posted by tsloper

I have some thoughts.
1. $99 is dead cheap! Why not just give it a try.

That's what I thought too! But your next point crossed my mind as well.

Originally Posted by tsloper

2. You get what you pay for.

Which is why I'm still worried. Does it being cheap mean that I'm most likely going to get a 'cheap' education? From what I can tell, the curriculum is a rather detailed one, and some of the testimonials that were posted on other game design forums - not the ones on the Game Institute website itself - were giving it high praise... but I still can't break this feeling that maybe it isn't all it's cracked up to be.

I guess I'll just have to give it a try. $99 isn't too bad for many weeks of classroom education.

[tsloper]

Watch out for hidden costs. Talk to somebody before you pay, make sure there are no hidden fees.

[Cod]

Just searching around the website, the number of textbooks and presentations you get alone is probably worth the price. Most textbooks for any subject cost around $60usd and you'll be get 8 textbooks from signing up. Also, you'll get more than 100 presentations over the subject matter. Even if the material is a little out-of-date, if you truly are an extreme beginner, there will be a lot of benefits.

With that said, keep in mind you still need to have access to Visual Studio and 3ds Max, which can cost a lot of money; however, if your a student, check to see if your school has a deal with Autodesk (http://students.autodesk.com).