Yes, C++ generally is the standard language in the game industry. Although, that being said, there are companies using C# and Java successfully to make decent games. Most notably Notch, who wrote Minecraft in Java.

I found Java programming pretty easy after being experienced with C++. While there are certain tricks, shortcuts, workarounds and techniques that are language-specific, the actual skill of programming games is something that caries over to any language or format.

My advice would be to use Java to write more and more complex games. Once you are extremely confident programming games in Java, start learning how to achieve the same results in C++. This way, you get to learn the complex systems of games in a language that you are comfortable with.

I just want to know if C++ really is the standard language in the game industry and if I should start programming in it if I want a job making games?

Cheers

It is the standard language for one segment of the industry (AAA PC/Console game engines), For other platforms or market segments the situation is quite different. Webbased games are almost never written in C++, All android games use Java (Allthough some load native modules written in C or C++), WP7 games all use C#, VB.Net or some other .Net language.

Outside of engine code quite many PC AAA titles are moving towards higher level scripting languages.

Thus: You don't have to know C++ to get a job making games but knowing it will increase the number of jobs you're qualified for (Same thing goes for most other languages), Learning multiple languages is never a bad idea. More importantly though, get a degree if you havn't allready (Not having a degree is far worse than not knowing C++ when going for your first job and any decent CS education will push you into picking up a bunch of different languages anyway).

You will probably wind up learning several programming languages, they are each useful for different things.
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This. If you are going to have a career in software development, you will probably find you'll learn a dozen or more languages to varying degrees.

The real questions are 1) how experienced are you in Java and 2) how long before you are realistically looking for a job in the mainstream* game development sector.

A good measure for #1 is the size of the biggest project you have completed to date. If you haven't completed any big projects, I think you should concentrate on doing that first. The skill set required to solve problems as the project size scales up is different. You'll need to hone these skills if you want to become a good software developer, in any discipline. Having cool projects to show off can really help later on, too.

For #2, if you are young or starting out, I wouldn't worry about C++ yet - just get building cool stuff! However if you are in the middle or particularly coming to the end of a college degree and are hoping to join the mainstream* games industry afterwards, then perhaps you should be getting to know C++ now, and hope that you can get good enough at it to fulfil #1 to.

[size=2]* As others have mentioned, if you look outside AAA game dev you might find C++ is less critical a skill.

If we look at all areas, it's long been the case that it would be unclear if C++ is the most popular. Practically all phones have been capable of running games for about 10 years, and the most predominant language is Java (last I saw, the claim was about 2 billion Java smartphone devices, and that was a few years ago). Also web based games will use various languages. Though that doesn't mean C++ is useless, especially if one is more interested in computers and consoles than handhelds or web.

I was actually thinking of getting a job as a java programmer in the software industry after college. Maybe work there for a few years while doing some cool game projects on the side. After I've saved up some money and more experience from game making I'll try to look for a job in the game industry.
How does that sound?

But would you then be prepared to take a pay cut?

I mean, it's natural that over those years, you would hopefully increase your salary as you gain experience. But if you want to switch to a games career, and keep that salary - yes on the one hand you'll have more experience, but on the other, you're now competing against people who have previous professional experience in the games industry. OTOH you could go in at an entry level graduate position, but that comes with the pay cut.

I can't help thinking, if you want to work in games, then try to do so from the start. OTOH, another option is to always work in another field using Java, and always keep games programming as a hobby. (Not a bad thing - that way you can keep games programming as something for fun rather than work; and you avoid the problems of lower pay / higher stress that are associated with some games companies.)

Not sure why you need to save up money?