| When I was at school I was asked by my | | | | reported to have a budget of $100 million and |
| careers teacher what I wanted to do when I | | | | with that sort of money at stake, the |
| grew up, and I answered without hesitation, | | | | development studios have to ensure quality |
| "make video games". | | | | assurance. That's where game testers come in. |
| It was a no brainer. I had been interested in | | | | If a game goes to market with mistakes, bugs, |
| computers, and games, for as long as I could | | | | or bad gameplay it will get bad reviews, bad sales, |
| remember. Some of my earliest memories are of | | | | and lose the studio potentially a lot of money. |
| playing Qbert and Scramble in the local arcade, or | | | | Therefore it's in the studio's interest to invest in |
| sitting on the floor of our living room, with a | | | | testing to ensure that the games they produce |
| Commodore Vic 20 plugged into the old | | | | are of the highest quality. This has opened up the |
| wood-effect paneled television. | | | | new job position of "game tester" which is not |
| At school I chose IT as a GCSE option and aced | | | | only a dream job (or certainly would have been |
| it, at college I took computer Science and quickly | | | | for me when leaving college 10 years ago!) but |
| realised that I knew more about the subject than | | | | can also act as a gateway position to other jobs |
| my tutor, and then went on to study computer | | | | in the industry. |
| science and electronic engineering at university. | | | | Game testing is notoriously difficult to get into, |
| However, as I progressed through my education | | | | and the reality of the job is certainly a lot less |
| my love of the subject waned, as I found myself | | | | glamorous than the title might suggest, with long |
| being taught more and more about managerial | | | | hours and very repetitive work. However, game |
| roles and work flow than about what I really | | | | testers have the same advantage I had by |
| loved - games, and programming. | | | | developing independent games - industry |
| In fact I dropped my computer science degree | | | | experience! 2 or 3 years as a game tester will |
| after the first year, later graduating in audio and | | | | teach you a lot more about game development |
| video engineering, and it wasn't until several years | | | | than the average college degree, and the games |
| later that I got involved in the games industry. | | | | companies know this. |
| While several of my friends had gone on to work | | | | The best part about game testing is that it's |
| with games development companies, I had gone | | | | possible to do it part time from home. Now, in |
| into web design, and it wasn't until I started | | | | reality these "teleworking" casual positions don't |
| developing Flash games that I eventually found | | | | pay as well as full time in-house testing jobs, and |
| myself doing what I had dreamed about as a child. | | | | the experience is nowhere near as good, but |
| The strange thing is, I progressed faster in the | | | | again it's a great gateway and allows you to gain |
| games industry than several people I knew who | | | | experience while continuing an education - the |
| took the more "traditional" route of a university | | | | best of both worlds. |
| degree. While they were working their way up | | | | A friend of mine recently asked me whether I |
| the ranks, I drew the attention of big clients not | | | | would have finished my degree, if I knew then |
| because of my education, but because of my | | | | what I know now and had the chance at a |
| experience. | | | | games testing position instead. Certainly the game |
| More recently I've got to know 2 people who | | | | testing job would have given me more |
| came into the industry via yet another path, and | | | | experience and probably got me further in the |
| it's one that simply wasn't available to me at the | | | | games industry faster. However, my answer was |
| time, but I wish it was. | | | | simply that I would have attempted to do both - |
| Back in the 1980's video games were developed | | | | get casual work as a games tester to build |
| by small teams, often with a single person playing | | | | experience, and complete my degree at the |
| the role of designer, programmer, artist and | | | | same time. With this approach you get the best |
| musician, They were simple games, often | | | | of both worlds, and massively increase your |
| produced on a very tight budget. | | | | chances of becoming a successful games |
| Conversely today's games often involve massive | | | | developer. |
| budgets and large teams. Grand Theft Auto 4 is | | | | |