Game testers are a new breed and although many people would frown upon this kind of activity and consider it to be childish and with no real value on the long run, they are wrong. Being a games tester involves playing the games and there is a great deal of fun associated with it, but there is in fact more than meets the eye. It requires experience, skills and attention to details, because the end result is not simply to complete the game and defeat the enemies, but to draw astute conclusions.
Game developers are using this method during the creation of the game and as soon as the product is close to release date, the game testers start doing their job. The focus is to detect hidden flaws that might have eluded the developers and to determine which bugs would ruin the gaming experience for the customer who purchased the product. The game mechanics are arguably the most important and also some of the trickiest, because there are many things that can go wrong. From idea to execution is a long way and even if the team of programmers is skilled and experienced, errors are bound to happen.
The testers will work in teams and play the game over and over again, trying to expose the bugs and enable the developers to fix them well before the release date. The same applies to the video and audio area, since the final product has to be excellent to receive good reviews and appeal to the broader audience. It is possible to fix the errors even after the game is released by using patches and updates, but if the media thrashes your title and tags it as being bug riddled, it’s too little too late.
By now, it should be fairly obvious that being a game tester involves a lot of responsibility and the ones who sign up for this job will not simply have fun and get paid for it. If you know what you are supposed to do and have some experience in this field, then you won’t have any problems in performing your duties and you’ll even have a lot of fun in the process. There are always new games to be released, so the chances to get bored eventually by doing the same thing over and over again, are reduced.
One of the frequent critiques that game testers have to deal with is that they don’t have any real chance of climbing the career ladder and advance in their profession. This is one of the popular misconception about most of the jobs that revolve around making money online and is of course very far from being true. A game tester with experience in this field and with a strong command of English will find it easy to apply for a job as a games reviewer for one of the important websites that cover this niche.
There are plenty of such companies willing to hire people who know exactly which are the most important things in a video game and talk about them in reviews. It’s like having an inside man, who understand precisely how the system works, can search for flaws where it’s most likely for them to occur and then debate about their impact. The same procedure is being used, with the contractor being asked to play the game at least once and explore everything it has to offer, then comment on the overall quality.
Those who make this step forward will enjoy a much better job, both in terms of payment and sheer fun. You no longer have to place a lot of emphasis on technical issues and can focus on the bigger picture, trying to experience the same thing the customer will. Basically you are paid to have fun playing the game and then comment whether the title is worth purchasing, which are the downsides and what are the alternatives for the ones who love the genre.
Source: Azblogtips
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