Why Every Gamer Wants to Be A Professional Video Game Tester

[Isaiah Reynolds]

Obviously, you don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure out why
gamers want to be paid game testers. They simply want to be paid to
play video games, period. That is as far as the thought process goes.
They think, "As a professional video game tester I would get paid to
sit down, relax, and play video games." That type of job would be
truly great, but that's not what a game tester does. They may sit,
they may even relax, but they won't quite be "playing". They won't
actually be playing video games for money; they'll be testing them for
a paycheck.
"Whats the difference?" Well, in a word, work. Unlike testing, playing
a video game does not require you to do any actual work. While
playing, you sit back, relax, and just let the game wash over you. On
the other hand, while testing, you will have to actually pay attention
to the game you're playing. That doesn't mean paying attention to the
storyline or plot; it means being aware of everything that is going on
on-screen. It means watching, focusing, evaluating, and analyzing
everything that you are seeing.
Why must you have a heightened awareness when testing video games?
Because of what you have to do while testing the games; which is
filling out bug and glitch reports.
In order to find bugs and glitches, you have to be in tune with the
screen and know exactly what is going on; hence, the reason for the
awareness. You must be able to spot anomalies on the fly and be able
to determine "normal" from "abnormal". If you can't do that, well,
then you won't be able to continue in a career in video game testing.
However, before you decide to simply give up, try to practice &
improve those skills a bit more.
Practicing can be done with any game on any system; preferably a next-
gen console such as the XBOX 360 or the Playstation 3. You just have
to play the video game as a professional video game tester would, with
heightened awareness. Relax and take in the whole screen. Make sure
that you can clearly see every nook and cranny of the screen and that
nothing obstructs your view. Also, you should be sitting in front of
the TV and not at an angle. The best form of practice obviously comes
from actual testing jobs, but don't let that fact stop you from
practicing the "testing" process. Who knows, you may even find some
glitches or bugs in the game that no one ever came across.
Being a professional video game tester is obviously a dream job. After
all, how many people get to say "Time to Go to Work" and then just
flip on their video game console or computer?