Do newb groups actually work?

I haven't been part of anything like this, but I see how it may be a good learning experiance. The thing is, something like pong is really quite simple and not too far away from the reach of even the biggest noob. If a few get together and work on something like it, at the very least, they will get some good experiance. It is also quite likely that some know things others don't and will be able to communicate this knowledge to them (and, quite probably, recieve knowledeg in return). Collaborative efforts are alos good because they force people to work together--a must if one is seriously considering game development.

I see what you mean, but it seems like it would fall apart if the leader doesn't have any experience.

depends on if they all want to learn something, or jsut get their names in soemthing some other person is gonna accomplish :)
ive seen many of those at university: "lets do the assignment together" then they just copy what you did

I think the skills and expertise required to bring together a group of programmers in a project isn't necessarily programming knowledge. I imagine alot of sucessful project managers managing game developement may not have the experiance to replace any of their team, if the need arises, but yet they help production because of their social/logistical/administrative skills. So why can't a beginner programmer group succede even if the lead has little knowledge about the language/platform/whatever? I think it's very possible.

I've seen these threads, and I haven't said my opinion there because I didn't want to be considered pessimist, but I think those groups are not likely to succeed or help the members learn faster. I could be wrong here, since I have no similar experience, but I think that when you begin learning programming, you must do it alone or/and have someone much more experienced to teach you. Just as being in a team with other experienced programmers helps you incredibly, being in a team with other beginners will confuse you incredibly, because you have to deal not only with your own ignorance, but with others' as well.

My first one I ever got together worked until some people decided after making Pong together completly, it was moving too slow. two others branched off on their own for a different game making "company" and the rest including myslef parted on good terms. So yeah, it CAN work.