Lets face it, the real reason why you need game testers is because the people who make video games are just that, people.  And people make mistakes.  In fact, you would be amazed at the huge amount of bugs and errors that you can find in a video game even after it has been released.  Just imagine what its like in the beginning stages of video game testing.  Or during the “alpha”  stage of testing, when the game is still in its rougher form.

The thing is that programmers and coders make mistakes all the time.  Code  for video games deals with lots of formulas and commands and even if the guy is a genius, he will at some point, type in something wrong.  Or even if its right, it will somehow interfere with something else that is right and combine somehow to make something that is wrong.

Okay, so coders and programmers make mistakes and that is why the jobs of video game testers are so important.  Now, I know what you’re thinking, everyone is so excited about video games that a whole bunch of people will just test video games for free from their homes right?  Well, you would be part right if you said that.

There are plenty of volunteers who opt in to test beta versions of games, and do so for free and that can be  a great low budget strategy for a company. So why doesn’t everybody just do this?

Well, video games and the industry is serious stuff and by that i mean that they don’t like to take chances.  For instance in the alpha stage of testing all game testing jobs are done inhouse, which means that they go to some type of headquarters to do their game testing instead of lying in bed playing the games like you might have imagined.

This also goes for serious beta testing.  And you get paid instead of doing it for free because of your professionalism.  For example, if you’re just a volunteer you would not really be inclined to write a detailed report on your findings and what you found wrong in the game.  The volunteer idea is leaning more towards testing the market’s response to a new game, rather than the actual development of the game like the paid in house positions. (that’s why they don’t get paid).

You see, as an in house game tester you absolutely must get paid.  After all, the environment can be very grousome in terms of the workplace dynamic.  You may be testing games under a rigorous schedule of long hours as you approach an essential deadline and you might get bored repeatedly. You will be following your assigned tasks, your mission, and you must follow through.  You have to be responsible and complete your duty and that is what gets you paid to play video games.  To get a comprehensive manual on this subject visit this video game tester jobs website.

So why in the hell would anybody want to learn about game testing? Well, there are actually several mind boggling reasons for it.  One is because I recommended it, and i do so to anyone who is interested in video games and or sleeps with an xbox next to him.  I know some people that did that even though they had teddy bears, but those bears just don’t do it anymore.  Anyway here are some reason to learn about video game testing:

1. Because You like video games: duh! You would never have found this such website if you didn’t put something inside a search engine that had the words video game, game tester, video game tester or some type of similar combination.  You obviously enjoy playing video games so much that you are  thinking about making it part of a career or at least an interesting job.  But don’t get it twisted, being  a beta test gamer doesn’t mean its all pretty pretty princesses.  Its a real job with real competition and you want to come out on top.  I won’t tell you its your dream job where you play video games in your underwear all day without leaving your house and you just play for entertainment because that’s just not the way it works.  This is a business like any other and if you are a paid game tester you need to deliver real results to the company that you’re working with.

2. You may also want to learn to understand this business:  The whole video game industry is a gigantic puzzle or at least it can seem that way when you first begin because you just don’t have the experiences necessary and the knowledge of how things work to put everything neatly together inside your head.  Once you get your foot in the door, you’ll have plenty of learning opportunities where you will learn lots of the behind the scenes stuff in the gaming industry.  You will never look at the same way again.  You’ll see how the funness comes out of a video game that took many people’s abilities and talents to create, design, and even test for gameplay, graphics, and glitches.

3. You may want to become a beta game tester as part of your master plan to become a video game designer, programmer, or high position in game development.  Starting as a video game tester allows you to have extra valuable experiences that will serve you once you get into that career.  You might also come across some very important people in that industry and word can get out of how you’re such a bad ass game tester and dependable worker to work on a project.  If you get really involved with the people who are insiders you may get to places you never thought you could have before.

4. Maybe you just want to test video games because you don’t want to sell insurance.  Hell, when worse comes to worse, with the tedious parts of game testing I would still prefer that job over selling insurance.  Who wants to be out cold calling door to door and getting those things slammed in your face?  Not me, and hopefully not you.  If you are one of those people that likes getting doors slammed in their faces, congratulations you are unique and should stop reading this right now. Good luck.

For the rest of you who are interested in getting a video game tester job. Tony has you covered, in a step by step fashion he guides you through the entire process of securing that position you want as a game tester.  No BS just the real deal.  Go here to learn more about video game testing.

So we all know that being a game tester does not require you to get a college degree.  But what if you’re a real school type of person?  You were born to go to school and you have to go to make you feel like an adult.  Its either that or someone forced you into it right?  Alright, you might just be going if you want to get a good job, Grown ups always ran that line while you were growing up right?

Well, going to college isn’t that bad at all.  So you want to major in the video game related fields?  You want a career out of it? Where should you be looking?    Here are  a few career paths that you can go after you get some education:

Video Game Producer- these guys have to be educated in order to do their job, which is basically to run an entire operation.  They are the people that bring it all together and see the big picture.  The whole forest and not just a tree…. you get it.  They have to be organized and have some type of programming knowledge so they can effectively pick the right people for the tasks that must be done.  And it just so happens that you can start building the knowledge base and experience for this career by starting as a game tester.

Computer Programmer- these guys are all about coding and the building blocks that make up a video game.  You can become one of them by going through their college rituals.  It can also involve lots of mathematics as well.  Some skill can be learned by working as a game dev tester, although to become one of them you really have to know your stuff.  Things like C++ programming, using Java and XNA will do wonders for your learning.  Just keep at it and you’ll be done in no time.

Writer/Artist- The writers are the creative writing people that will make up the storyline for gameplay.  You can become one of them simply by focusing on this area.  Artists, however do the graphics and animation of the gameplay (which are freakin important) and that’s most likely for the art majors.

Designer- The designer is basically an idea junkie.  They just talk to everyone like writers and artists and try to pull together common elements to provide the best gameplay possible.  They do consult the programmer as well and its their job to get the creation phase rolling so that a video game could be further developed and then later tested and released.

So there you go, five career paths you can contemplate on your way to work in video game testing and development.  And the best way is to start as beta game tester. ta da! There you go, once again you have won.  You can actually go to college just like your parents told you to and play video games all day just like they told you not to.  Half and half, that’s all you need.  Now you’re all cool and balanced.  Thats right.

If you want to get started as a game tester find out the best strategies and steps to take to winning as a beta game tester