4 Game Testing Myths Revealed

For avid video and computer game lovers out there, the thought of getting paid to play and test out new games makes you drool. You always hear about some guy on the Internet who makes over $100,000 a year, just testing video games at home, hanging out in his sweat pants and eating pizza all the time. You want that job, right? Well, the truth is, most of the stuff on the Internet about video and computer game testing just is not true. So, here are 4 of the main game testing myths revealed to help you get a better grasp on the realities of becoming a video or computer game tester.

1. They do not get to simply play the newest video games and then tell the company or developers what they think. It is actually the game developers who decide what a good game consists of, and then hires testers to find the glitches and bugs in the game.

2. They do not get to work 10-20 hours a week and pull in over one-hundred grand a year. This simply does not happen. In fact, right before games are released, you will find yourself working 70-80 hours a week to complete all the tests you are assigned and the average income of most game testers is around $35,000 a year.

3. They do not get to just hang out at home and work whenever they want to. Most of the basis behind being a game tester is to work as a team, and you can not do that if you are not sitting there with other testers and the developers. Game testers actually have to be at work at a specific time and have a set schedule.

4. They are not just lazy, high school drop outs who only want to play video or computer games. Actually, game testers have to have a lot of education in gaming, graphics, and other areas plus experience to even land a good paying game testing job.

Now that these top four game testing job myths are out of the way, are you still ready to learn how to become a video or computer game tester? There are good jobs out there in this field, and you can make a decent living at it, as some of the top game testers actually make upwards of $60 an hour.

When you are ready to learn the real steps that you will need to take to become a video or computer game tester, head over to http://www.becomeagametester.com and take the five part course that will get you on the right path to really becoming a game tester and not just waste your time.
MD Weems has been a professional writer for over a decade and is an avid MMO gamer. She also runs the MMORPG/MMO gaming web site, Zownder.com, and is the head of an elite MMO gaming team. She has several MMORPG gaming guides to her credit and is constantly writing articles and information about all types of MMORPG and MMO games.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mandi_Weems

The 4 Main Tasks Of A Video Game Tester

When it comes to video or computer game testing, the game testers play a roll that is just as important as the developers and designers. Without anyone experienced to test the new games and find the bugs, games would hit the market and the gamers out there would be upset when certain weapons, tricks, cars, and so on, do not work properly. Without game testers to find the problems in video or computer games before they are released, the gaming industry would be at a serious loss. So, what is it exactly that video or computer game testers actually do? Well, they have a long list of tasks that they do for video and computer game companies, but here are the top 4 main tasks of a video or computer game tester:

1. You will actually play through the entire game and make sure that everything works properly. This means that they have to test out all the weapons, objects, cars, trucks, animals, backgrounds, etc, to make sure that everything works right and that there are no glitches. When you think about all the different components that go into video and computer games, there can be hundreds of thousands of different combinations that have to be tested by a game tester.

2. You also have to test the "limitations" of the game. This means that many of the players who eventually buy the game will try to do things that the game was not really designed to do (such as creating the largest army or getting to an extremely far away point on the map). So, the game tester has to anticipate these things and try out some of the crazy or odd things that other gamers might try to do to be sure that the game can handle the stress or not.

3. You have to make sure that the game can actually be beaten. This means that they have to try to beat the game itself in all the possible ways, since there are all different types of gamers who will try to beat the game in many different ways. Game testers have to anticipate this so there are no glitches or bugs when gamers try that particular path.

4. You will also be responsible for making sure that the game works correctly on the system that it was designed for. Such as in the case of computer games, a game tester has to make sure that the game will work with a large combination of different brands of hardware, video cards, memory, and so forth.

There are many different aspects of a game tester's job, but these are the four main areas that a game tester has to be great at. Without these four basic areas to a game tester's job, most of the video or computer games on the market would not work right.

If you are thinking about getting into the video or computer game testing market, then there are many other things that you need to learn about becoming a video game tester. Do not be fooled by some of the so-called "guides" that are online today that promise you can get a job making $100,000 a year in just a week after reading their guide. This does not happen. But, if you are willing to learn and try hard, then head over to http://www.becomeagametester.com and read the guide that will really help you become a legitimate game tester and make real money doing it.
MD Weems has been a professional writer for over a decade and is an avid MMO gamer. She also runs the MMORPG/MMO gaming web site, Zownder.com, and is the head of an elite MMO gaming team. She has several MMORPG gaming guides to her credit and is constantly writing articles and information about all types of MMORPG and MMO games.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mandi_Weems

4 Things You Need To Know To Become A Video Or Computer Game Tester

Sure you have probably read all the different stories and sales letters out there on the Internet that tell you that they can make you a game tester earning $100,000 a year without any type of experience or education. But, do you really believe this? Of course, not. Game testing is a real job, with real requirements and real pay - not $100,000 a year. There are some things that you will need to know and have experience with before you can become a video or computer game tester. So, here are the top four things that you will need to know before you apply for a game tester job:

1. You have to know how to test software. When I say "software", I mean any type of software out there since different games will run on different types of platforms. You will have to know how to test software to get any type of game testing job no matter if you only want to test video games or computer games. By knowing how to test all types of software, you are almost guaranteed to get a better paying game tester job.

2. You have to know game programming languages. This means that you will have to learn all the jargon of the game development world, along with some basic computer language, such as C or C++, to help you truly understand the different things that are going on in the game. You can learn most of these different types of languages from online courses or from local schools.

3. You have to have a good working knowledge of PC hardware and software. This means that even if you want to be a video game tester, you will need to know how to work with computers and be familiar with everything about them. You will need to know different programs as well, such as databases, spreadsheets, and word documents.

4. You have to have a good working knowledge of the video or computer game industry. This does not mean that you need to know what titles are releasing next month, but you need to know how the developers go about designing a game, how the programmers, artists, composers, and others do their part of the game and so on. This will require that you do some studying on your own, and most of this knowledge you will expand upon after you get a game testing position.

Well, there you have it. The top four things that every game tester needs to know before landing a job testing video or computer games. It is not an easy process, and if you are really serious about making it as a game tester, then you may need to take a couple of classes online or off line to gain the skills that you need to succeed in getting a good game tester job. Of course, there are other aspects that go into getting a game tester position. When you are ready to learn all about becoming a video game tester, you can find a full course at http://www.becomeagametester.com
MD Weems has been a professional writer for over a decade and is an avid MMO gamer. She also runs the MMORPG/MMO gaming web site, Zownder.com, and is the head of an elite MMO gaming team. She has several MMORPG gaming guides to her credit and is constantly writing articles and information about all types of MMORPG and MMO games.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mandi_Weems