Well not everything in the programming industry is easy, especially getting into it. I come from the 'Elite' years having started programming on a ZX81 (who can remember those) and going through Commodore Vic20, 64, Amiga to finally the PC's. Been coding for twenty nine years now.
I can code in C++, some ASM, Blitz (3d and Max), DBPro, PureBasic, some Cobol, Fortran and Pascal. I have also dabbled in Delphi.
The moral of this story is without a degree nobody will employ you, as I dont have a degree I cant get in. I have released games on iPhone, PC etc (iSmashem Galactic and Space Combat:WarZone) but still to no avail.
Im currently writing a cross platform OpenGL/OpenAL engine that will power more games I will be releasing over the years.
Remember get a Degree in programming something it will go a LONG way.