So you wanna be a tester…

For as long as I can remember I have been critical about my games. We all are right? I mean come on, how many times have you played a crappy game and thought to yourself “C’mon, I could have made a better game than this!”? We’ve all been burned by a over-hyped game that fails to live up to expectations. There are dozens if not hundreds of websites and magazines devoted to reviewing games to prevent that from happening (ahem..), but inevitably we all get burned from time to time. That said, why not become part of the solution instead of just bitching on internet forums? I know, bitching is easier.

But for those of us, yes us, I’m digging into this one too, motivated enough to get a real job should check this site out! It’s a game tester guide and it’s a sweet site devoted to helping the uninitiated break into the awesome, if a bit daunting, world of video game testing. I know you are like me and probably think you need some fancey schooling or special degree to get a job in “The Industry”, but unless you want to be a programmer that’s just not the case. All you need is a love of gaming, good communications skills and a large dose of patience. I read all about this on the site and then did some further research just to see if they were legit and it all seems to be true!

We’ve all seen Grandma’s Boy and wondered “Hey if those stoner idiots can be testers, why not me?”. But in real life it takes a bit of work to make the contacts needed to become a game tester. I know I’m just kinda getting into the whole thing myself but this site really does have lots of good tips and advice to make the process as smooth as possible. And that’s just the website! For a very reasonable $39.95 you can buy the entire guide to getting a testing job. Check out the site to see what kind of juicy info you can expect to find in the guide. They go into detail about making contacts within the biz, and what you need to do before you even get started. Awesome.

Look at it this way, you know all the little bugs and glitches in your favorite games anyway, why not get paid to find them before the game even comes out? Yes that means you’ll be in the uber-enviable position of playing killer new titles before they even hit the shelves. Just imagine the gamer-cred you’ll have with your friends, they’ll be asking you for advice and insider info all the time and you can totally stonewall ‘em and be like “No way man.”. Sweet. Not only that, but you get to do it from home in most cases so you won’t have to worry about that pesky sun burning your pale, pale (I speak from experience) so very pale skin.

So all this sounds pretty awesome to me, frankly I’d take a testing job if it paid peanut butter and ass sandwiches but surprisingly testers make pretty good money. According to the Game Tester Guide testers regularly pull in anywhere from 8 to 12 bucks and hour. Not too bad if you’re like me with no degree and a poor work history. After putting in enough time with a company you can potentially get up to $120 and hour! No joke! This guide is the real deal and I highly recommend that you shell out the loot to get the full guide if you’re serious about getting one of those cushy game tester jobs. Game Tester Guide.com Check it out.

Game on!

The Gamer Hero