I don''t have a degree...and I even have a real job as a programmer.
But guess what, I''m finally heading back into the world of academia next fall. Why?
1) Recessions suck.
2) Working sucks. You''ve got the rest of your life to work, don''t rush in.
3) Learning rules, even if it''s not necessarily about computers (and more so if it is )
4) At interviews I''d like to present myself as an intelligent software engineer and not some home-brewed hacker.
5) There are a lot of jobs besides making games, and I''d like to be able to fall back on those if necessary. Many require a degree.
6) This whole industry is going to only get more competitive (just look at what a lot of the teenagers on this site are capable of). Why sell yourself short?

"So crucify the ego, before it''s far too late. To leave behind this place so negative and blind and cynical, and you will come to find that we are all one mind. Capable of all that''s imagined and all conceivable."
- Tool
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Definitely get a degree. Just make sure you major in the field of study. It sounds like Ibanez may have chosen the wrong major. If you major in programming or software engineering you will have the best chance for success. Plus look into co-op work programs that let you alternate work and study terms. This allows you to get experience as well as get paid while getting your degree. This usually also turns into a job offer when you graduate. Besides, you can always teach yourself the game programming side in your spare time and with university courses under your belt, understanding will probably come much quicker.

My vote goes in for: Get the degree. If you have the time now, get the education. You never know how things will be in the future (marrage, kids, etc - ofcourse depending on your circumstances) and you might not have the time available. Also, depending on the institution, you should have available to you an internship/coop where you can gain 12 to 16 months (as it is where I live) of work experience in the desired area of your choice.

In Game Development degrees don''t mean to much to the company hiring you. If there is a job opening for a 3D engine programmer, and you and 1 other guy are the best, and know exactly the same things on the topic (never will happen, will always be better or worse then the person), exact same social skills, exact same experience, exact same race, exact same gender, then it eventually comes down to, who has the degree.

That being said, degrees also offer a great feeling of accomplishment, you will love that degree when you finish college, you will hate it when you get student loan bills for the rest of your life, but you will like it at first!

If you want to be one of the best development studios around, leasing your engine that is on par if not better then Epic and id''s, then sorry to say, you don''t have time for college. Have you seen what is coming out in 2002, 2003, 2004? Where are to the point of Shrek and Antz. Shrek had an order of magnitude of 100x the poly count on everything in comparison to Antz. Had 10x the animation muscles, and applied to every part of the body, not just the face. Had realistic cloth animation, perfectly dynamic lighting, a great particle engine, and great physics to boot.. in fact it was a completely revolutionary step beyond Antz. But compare the 2 side by side.. you may notice one or 2 spots where shrek looks better.. but for the most part they look almost identical. If you want to have the best graphical engine around, you better have started a year ago and have ideas no one else even thought of.

But if you are just looking for a normal programming job, around 75K a year (being optimistic) have a pretty good house, pretty good car, and retire when you are 70 or so. You need a degree. If you are going to work for someone else, and you are not going to be in the game development business then you need a degree. But if you are positive you are going to spend the rest of your life as a game developer and/or create your own business you do not need a degree.

EVERYTHING college can teach you for 40k you can learn in books for less then 1k, and then some. But in almost every business except the game business, no one cares if you are Jesus Christ of what you do if you don''t have a degree. It is sad that we are judged by how much we spend on our "education" and not by what we know, but life is sad.

One last thing to put in, on-line colleges are GREAT.

Not only are they highly respected degrees, but you can get your masters in 1/10th the time of a normal college. Each class is 5 weeks long, 1 test per week, you can be enrolled in as many classes as you feel you can handle. So if you had no job, and didn''t sleep you could probally do an entire masters degree in a year. Of course everything has its downside.. and online colleges are usually about 1k$ per class (but if you get a job before you do it, you can usually get your employer to pay for it ).