That list missed the biggest mistake all Game Programmers make: They write code for the games industry. If you can program a videogame, you can program a shitty webapp, and the shitty webapp industry pays twice as much. Video games are great, but that's an argument for making your own game, not working for the soulless meatgrinder that is the games industry.
Working a job is about money, but even besides that the gaming industry has downright abominable conditions relative to the rest of tech. You get treated worse, paid worse, and none of it matters because there's an endless line of dumbass college kids behind you who are absolutely stoked to be treated like shit because they learned to program because they loved Call of Duty.
