Welcome avid reader, I'm Stoic and I'm a games tester.
Well i never really wanted to be a games tester, i mean i got into the industry with hopes and dreams of being a designer, But here i am the despotic ruler of a dysfunctional QA department. This first post will actually deal with the nature of games testing and hopefully will get more interesting from there.
Its important to note that whilst games testing sounds like the ultimate job akin to testing ice cream or being a test dummy for new easy sleep mattresses its not., Games testing is about repetition, from the minute i walk in to the minute that clock finally hits 6'o clock.
So here it is the top 3 myths of the games industry
1. Games are fun, games are not fun they are forged from the bowels of hell by people you'd cross the road to avoid. For example, every company has a smelly tester. Now when i say smelly i don;t mean oh a little whiff here and there, imagine spending your entire working day next to someone who resembles the gluttony sin from seven. Yep when the wind changes direction you notice.
2. The games industry is young and hip, in reality people in the games industry are bitter jaded and cynical. Like a Vietnam thats just seen to much. As Coupland writes in "generation X", the games industry is yet another McJob. We sit in our little veal fattening dens, been plied with candy and drinks until we resemble something closer to Kobe beef than people.
3. The games industry is hard to impossible to break into, ok this ones true. However for those of you interested in one day running your own despotic kingdom i have this advice. Perseverance is golden, you can't get refused forever. I have absolutely no background in computing what so ever, i;m a philosophy graduate who spends a little too much time on the PC. Build up your CV as much as humanly possible, i wrote for websites, designed by own game and even solicited my local paper to try and write a gaming column. They declined of course but thats not really the point, eventually someone will take a gamble on you and then the worlds your oyster.
Ok first blog done, please bear with me i promise it will get more interesting
In the meantime checkout http://www.kongregate.com/games/raitendo/doeo, and turn your music up loud
Well i never really wanted to be a games tester, i mean i got into the industry with hopes and dreams of being a designer, But here i am the despotic ruler of a dysfunctional QA department. This first post will actually deal with the nature of games testing and hopefully will get more interesting from there.
Its important to note that whilst games testing sounds like the ultimate job akin to testing ice cream or being a test dummy for new easy sleep mattresses its not., Games testing is about repetition, from the minute i walk in to the minute that clock finally hits 6'o clock.
So here it is the top 3 myths of the games industry
1. Games are fun, games are not fun they are forged from the bowels of hell by people you'd cross the road to avoid. For example, every company has a smelly tester. Now when i say smelly i don;t mean oh a little whiff here and there, imagine spending your entire working day next to someone who resembles the gluttony sin from seven. Yep when the wind changes direction you notice.
2. The games industry is young and hip, in reality people in the games industry are bitter jaded and cynical. Like a Vietnam thats just seen to much. As Coupland writes in "generation X", the games industry is yet another McJob. We sit in our little veal fattening dens, been plied with candy and drinks until we resemble something closer to Kobe beef than people.
3. The games industry is hard to impossible to break into, ok this ones true. However for those of you interested in one day running your own despotic kingdom i have this advice. Perseverance is golden, you can't get refused forever. I have absolutely no background in computing what so ever, i;m a philosophy graduate who spends a little too much time on the PC. Build up your CV as much as humanly possible, i wrote for websites, designed by own game and even solicited my local paper to try and write a gaming column. They declined of course but thats not really the point, eventually someone will take a gamble on you and then the worlds your oyster.
Ok first blog done, please bear with me i promise it will get more interesting
In the meantime checkout http://www.kongregate.com/games/raitendo/doeo, and turn your music up loud
rydell:
Thanks for the comment
stoic69:
No problem was a pleasure, love those eyes