Do you know all the game consoles in the market and spends hours playing video games with your friends? Your parents would probably think that you don't have a viable future since you have obviously become addicted to that video game in your computer. But what your parents didn't know is that you are so addicted to video game playing that you and your friends have started localization company for video game considering looking for video game tester jobs.
You are not just the regular bum or that lazy good-for-nothing game fanatic after all. You do have a future in the game industry. Flipping through the pages of the latest game magazines, you've discovered that as console manufacturers develop more and more games, they are also in the look out for staff. From computer programmers, quality assurance team or staff who as that intense passion to video game playing, the video game industry is expanding and taking on more people to fill in the video game tester jobs in their human resources list.
Video game tester jobs can either be regular or temporary positions. Some companies accept high school graduates for temporary posts. Depending on the qualifications, from game video tester to quality assurance to a more complex position like the actual game developers which require advanced studies and a college degree related to computers and gaming.
Here are stages that modern computer and video games undergo before the manufacturers release them to consumers. The first two stages are localization testing and then beta testing which where most game testers come in. Beta testing can happen off-site or within the offices of the company. Beta testers are the first line of bug finders. Once the bugs are detected the game testers need to play that level again and again in order to reproduce the bugs and create a complete report on it. A certain level on knowledge is important in beta testing but an even higher qualification is needed for quality assurance testing.
After beta testing, the regression testing begins wherein the coders who have fixed the bugs will send it back to the testing team for another grueling task of checking if the bug has been completely fixed and if the correction created other bugs in the game. This type of testing is called the halo testing. The next types of testing include compatibility, load, unit and soak testing.
Bottom line is, being a video game tester is not a kid's game and computer and video game development is not a big playground where everyone can just chill and do localization company for video game what excites them for a fee. Being in this industry requires diligence, patience and technical expertise. It is not as lucrative or as fun as everyone wants to think. Who wants to play video games repetitively and the same level for hours at that? Most temp staffs are paid a minimal amount by the hour.