PART 2: GAME TESTER

This is just simply spectacular.

The Job


Now back to what a video game tester is, I'll explain how games are made and where the tester fits in. When someone has an inspiration for a video game, the first thing that happens is the prep work for the game itself. Also, which engine or program to be used, what will be the story line or theme of the game; what will the game entail and what do we need to get the game off the ground and kick ass. There are a lot of public opinions that looked into the current video game craze and often try to catch a glimpse of the future to see if the game could make it big.



This is all paper work and to be done at offices at the video game companies. This is then completed by executives and company owners asking designers and programmers about what the game would do and they all ask the publishers what would sell in a year or two. That is how long this will take at a minimum. A video game is like publishing anything else.

Now that the thing is made, which could take more than a year or so, it is then advertised and marketed into the world. It is all pretty much hyped up and such but this also occurs during the design and creation process. New clips and mouth dropping trailers are being released about with the upcoming game. When the company making the game has actual video of the game they come out with screen shots to further entice the public.

When it is completed, a company then publishes it and sells it to the us (the gamers!!) using the media to sell the game and getting reviews from gaming magazines and online sites to further improve the sales. In addition, ads are produced in an advertising department and put out in ways to promote the game.

There are indeed many testers in different stages of this process but they do not just play games, having fun and sipping soda as they blast their way to money while playing. A tester that works for the game designer and making company will work sometimes associate closely with the programmers and developers of the game, at other times they will give feed back and advices to the level designers and artists about what could be better and what just totally stinks in the game. They do not get a choice about what project they want or will play.

Now don't get me wrong, this is over simplifying the whole field but can you imagine if your boss asked you every time what you wanted to work on? You heard me right, ever single time.

If you are fortunate enough, you do get to choose what genre or area of games they want to be involved with but otherwise you don’t really have much choice. Some companies tend to ask if a tester would want to work on games this time around. And this will be the only game he will work on, say a year or two. This is not industry wide but for the tester that works for a company that is making a game, the testers usually work on the same game for awhile, as one tester put it, "to know the game inside and out".