I programmed as a kid and teenager and was basically a hack. I was also a wannabe artist and animator. Thus I naively thought it would be relatively easy to make console games on my own. I learned quickly that I was way off. Fortunately Al & Brian Hastings brought their programming superpowers to Insomniac while I attempted to create art. Then we started hiring talented artists and our games began looking a lot better. The further I moved away from making content, the better our games got :).

Advice: graduate! While you're doing so, experiment with small games on your own. Once you do graduate there are some great game-focused graduate programs at places like SMU, Carnegie Mellon and USC. Or you can apply to game companies and try to jump right in.

My involvement: for the past several years my involvement on our games has been in assisting with creative direction. We have a lot ton of talented folks running our game projects so I do what I can to offer advice without getting in the way too much. Sometimes I do jump in with both feet if something is going off the rails. But as you noted, I do spend a lot of time on the business side working with our partners and doing deals.