Test or Die: The #Truth about #GameTesting part 1
#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @seven16
Being a nerd, I have been a gamer for a significant part of my life. The first game I ever played was Chip n’ Dale’s Rescue Rangers when I was 2 years old. From that moment, I was hooked. I played Mario, Zelda, etc. You name it, I’ve probably played it at one point or another. The best game I’ve every played is The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, but I’d like to leave that for another post/debate.
Last year, my family was hit hard by the recession, and I needed to pay my bills, so I decided to look for a job. I put my resume (which was rather small, but very good at the time) on multiple websites trying to figure things out. My community college stuff had fallen through, and I was relatively untrained for anything moving forward.
After having my resume up for a week, and my Dad sending me links for applications, I finally decided to really buck up and start seriously looking. Then, I ran across an ad on one of the sites, which in turn, lead to a link that was looking for Quality Assurance Testers for a rather large videogame company. I was excited because you only needed to have a resume and a High School Diploma to apply.
Unfortunately, like most jobs at that time (even now), it was in high demand, and I was unsure if I would receive any answer back regarding the job.
Later that week, I saw a post on one of my favorite websites about jobs that sounded awesome but really weren’t. I clicked through it, and lo and behold, at #5, it was Video Game Testing. The reasons it stated were long hours, hard work, and you’re not just playing for you’re the game, you’re playing to keep your job. I should have kept that link, because I was unprepared for how accurate all those things really were going forward.
I received word the next Monday asking me to call the number and set up an interview time. So I called in, got a time, and got prepared. I went and bought fancy paper to print my resume on, wore my awesome leather jacket, and the best collared shirt I could find, and sprayed my best cologne.
I walk in to the building, and the elevator took me to the 4th floor. The floor was a little dirty, but for the most part, it was clean. The walls were all white, and nothing looked like it had really been redone in a while. I checked in at the desk, and there were at least 30 other people, like myself all waiting to get into the interview room. But this was not your typical interview.
We all expected to be taken in separately, asked a few questions, and would receive word back whether we had gotten the gig or not. This was not the case. All 30 of us were lead into a large room with a white board, multiple computer monitors, and desks with consoles. We were told that we would be tested to find out if we were capable of learning/getting the job, and I proceeded to listen in on what needed to be done.
The first test was to describe how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for someone who had never made or heard of one before. Honestly, if you don’t know what a PB&J is, you should probably kill yourself, or you are a demon. So I wrote the best description I could of how to make one. You have to buy the bread, the peanut butter (crunchy or smooth), and jelly, then cut the bread, etcetera etcetera, so on and so forth.
By this time, I was getting a little nervous, and slightly confused. This is a mostly normal reaction for me, as I was an overweight individual with Asperger’s Syndrome and a Panic Disorder who had forgotten to take his meds that morning. Whatever the case may be, I just tried to keep calm, and do the best. “It’s all you can do”, I said to myself.
The next test was set up for us already, a demo of sorts, and we were to write as many things we saw wrong with it down on a piece of paper that was provided to us. We were playing as a famous hero who will not be named, and our objective was to fight our way to the front of a train. However, off the bat, something was off. The major female character did not appear in the cut scene that played before the beginning of the level, and the background was all pixilated. So I jotted it down. The next time I noticed was a lady that was literally being sucked into a wall Akira style. (Picture Caption: Yikes) It was shocking, but I then realized that I was going to be seeing this more and more if I was going to get this job. I had no idea that this would be the first off MANY times I would see similar things for the next few months.
I continued along the level, writing everything I saw down, and it ended up crashing at the end. I was sure that this would prove important, and proceeded to write it down as well. Little did I know, that this would also become a daily occurrence. Lovely.
After these two tests, we were told to fill out a little info sheet about ourselves, and leave any paperwork on the desk. If we had gotten the job, we would be contacted to begin training as soon as possible. I left my resume on my desk, and walked out. I near fainted on the way back to my car. I can handle a lot of pressure, but it had gotten to me that time. I was in a room with over 2 ½ dozen people, all of them were older than me, and all had college diplomas or associate’s degrees. I was unsure if I would get called back, and considering someone said over 1000 people applied, it seemed unlikely that I would be chosen.
Two days later, I received a call back, saying that I had gotten the job, and asking when I could start. I was ecstatic, I was proud that I had found this job, applied, persevered, and made it happen. I said I could start right away, and they proceeded to have me fill out paperwork, and train for about 3 days. Little did I know that this was the beginning of one of the most tumultuous experiences of my life.
Stay tuned for Part 2 coming soon!
- Henry Abrams aka @Seven16
