Job as a Games tester (Rather funny listing)

Just thought I would share this with you guys, found it during my usual games tester job search.  Anyone here a games tester or aspiring to be one? Giving up my crappy job to play games would be pretty awesome.

 

Oh! does anyone want to try guessing what game it is and who is the company making it? I'm saying its Birthing Mama: Virtual Chldbirth simulator.

its probably a dancing game of some sort

What the...?

@the_OFFICIAL_jAPanese_teaBAG said:

its probably a dancing game of some sort

OK, that makes sense.

Sounds like a shady ass developer. 
 
Probably some dollar store wii game developer.

o people, i thought of guys just checking out the one girl at a company. sounds pretty bad if they are asking for a girl.

They actually want a stripper.

Wow, people actually want to work as testers?

One of my friends actually was a game tester for Nintendo for a while. He said it was one of the worst jobs he'd ever had. One of the rules was that you had to be in your assigned seat ready to play the game on the minute your shift starts or you would be fired. No second chances. No I was in the bathroom. The minute your shift starts. He said he never really got to play any of the games. Instead you had a checklist of things you were doing over and over again to try to break the game. He also said the bosses basically treated you like you were a child. I'd skip this unless you're really desperate.

I didn't know there were still people that thought game testing was a great job.

For the folks saying "lol tester shit job" I see it as a gateway to the games industry. You would be amazed how much more valued people with a few years of testing under their belt are than people fresh out of education with every degree under the sun and have not worked a day in their lives. Besides I live in the UK, every place I have worked tends to be laid back as long as you do your job well. It cant be any worse than managing a charity shop with constant scumbags coming in messing the place up looking for something to ebay for 10x what we're selling it for. 

@Zabant said:

For the folks saying "lol tester shit job" I see it as a gateway to the games industry. You would be amazed how much more valued people with a few years of testing under their belt are than people fresh out of education with every degree under the sun and have not worked a day in their lives. Besides I live in the UK, every place I have worked tends to be laid back as long as you do your job well. It cant be any worse than managing a charity shop with constant scumbags coming in messing the place up looking for something to ebay for 10x what we're selling it for.

Do people really value testers more highly? I always thought that was a dead end job noone wants that they try to sucker people who play games into.

@Zabant said:

For the folks saying "lol tester shit job" I see it as a gateway to the games industry. You would be amazed how much more valued people with a few years of testing under their belt are than people fresh out of education with every degree under the sun and have not worked a day in their lives. Besides I live in the UK, every place I have worked tends to be laid back as long as you do your job well. It cant be any worse than managing a charity shop with constant scumbags coming in messing the place up looking for something to ebay for 10x what we're selling it for.

Do people really value testers more highly? I always thought that was a dead end job noone wants that they try to sucker people who play games into.

@Vodun said:

Wow, people actually want to work as testers?

That is why the show The Tester exists

For the folks saying "lol tester shit job" I see it as a gateway to the games industry. You would be amazed how much more valued people with a few years of testing under their belt are than people fresh out of education with every degree under the sun and have not worked a day in their lives. Besides I live in the UK, every place I have worked tends to be laid back as long as you do your job well. It cant be any worse than managing a charity shop with constant scumbags coming in messing the place up looking for something to ebay for 10x what we're selling it for. 

@Ragdrazi: I personally think you're being overly dismissive. A jobs a job. If I got a tester position and didn't enjoy it there's nothing stopping me from quitting. Going through life with a negative attitude wont get you anywhere.

@Ragdrazi said:

One of my friends actually was a game tester for Nintendo for a while. He said it was one of the worst jobs he'd ever had. One of the rules was that you had to be in your assigned seat ready to play the game on the minute your shift starts or you would be fired. No second chances. No I was in the bathroom. The minute your shift starts. He said he never really got to play any of the games. Instead you had a checklist of things you were doing over and over again to try to break the game. He also said the bosses basically treated you like you were a child. I'd skip this unless you're really desperate.

I recently left testing at Nintendo a few months ago, I was laid off one too many times and didn't want to deal with it anymore. And your friend is making shit up.

1. Showing up like 5-10 minutes late is frowned upon, but you only get a talking to if you do it too often. Showing up a few minutes late because you went to the bathroom or got stuck in traffic is fine. They definitely don't fire you immediately with no second chances (literally the only thing that gets you fired on the spot is if you're caught talking about your project outside of the department, aka breaking your NDA). Either way, it isn't a strange thing for your employer to want you starting your job on time, go figure.

2. You are not given a specific checklist and are forced to only do that. The first few weeks of a project is a free for all, and then stuff gets divided but you are never cut off from the entire thing. You get guidelines on things that usually cause issues and can choose to attempt them, but it is not required. Testers who have been there awhile (years) get further trained and then do specific checklist things, but even that isn't all they can do.

3. The testers are treated like children, he's right about that, but for good fucking reason. 100% of the testers are contract workers. 80% of them are there just there to jerk around, 10% are there trying their hardest not to fall asleep but eventually do and get sent home, and the last 10% are working really hard in order to get promoted but that rarely happens and instead they just burn out.

4. You are certainly allowed to talk, just don't yell and act like a maniac.

@Ragdrazi said:

One of my friends actually was a game tester for Nintendo for a while. He said it was one of the worst jobs he'd ever had. One of the rules was that you had to be in your assigned seat ready to play the game on the minute your shift starts or you would be fired. No second chances. No I was in the bathroom. The minute your shift starts. He said he never really got to play any of the games. Instead you had a checklist of things you were doing over and over again to try to break the game. He also said the bosses basically treated you like you were a child. I'd skip this unless you're really desperate.

I recently left testing at Nintendo a few months ago, I was laid off one too many times and didn't want to deal with it anymore. And your friend is making shit up.

1. Showing up like 5-10 minutes late is frowned upon, but you only get a talking to if you do it too often. Showing up a few minutes late because you went to the bathroom or got stuck in traffic is fine. They definitely don't fire you immediately with no second chances (literally the only thing that gets you fired on the spot is if you're caught talking about your project outside of the department, aka breaking your NDA). Either way, it isn't a strange thing for your employer to want you starting your job on time, go figure.

2. You are not given a specific checklist and are forced to only do that. The first few weeks of a project is a free for all, and then stuff gets divided but you are never cut off from the entire thing. You get guidelines on things that usually cause issues and can choose to attempt them, but it is not required. Testers who have been there awhile (years) get further trained and then do specific checklist things, but even that isn't all they can do.

3. The testers are treated like children, he's right about that, but for good fucking reason. 100% of the testers are contract workers. 80% of them are there just there to jerk around, 10% are there trying their hardest not to fall asleep but eventually do and get sent home, and the last 10% are there trying to work really hard in order to get promoted but that rarely happens and instead they just burn out.

4. You are certainly allowed to talk, just don't yell and act like a maniac or blurt about what you're working on to anyone not on your team.

@Ragdrazi: Brah, the Nintendo testing department is literally one department, one big room within the NOA compound. They don't have varied policies throughout this one big room.

@Ragdrazi said:

@Geo7877 said:

@Ragdrazi said:

One of my friends actually was a game tester for Nintendo for a while. He said it was one of the worst jobs he'd ever had. One of the rules was that you had to be in your assigned seat ready to play the game on the minute your shift starts or you would be fired. No second chances. No I was in the bathroom. The minute your shift starts. He said he never really got to play any of the games. Instead you had a checklist of things you were doing over and over again to try to break the game. He also said the bosses basically treated you like you were a child. I'd skip this unless you're really desperate.

I recently left testing at Nintendo a few months ago, I was laid off one too many times and didn't want to deal with it anymore. And your friend is making shit up.

1. Showing up like 5-10 minutes late is frowned upon, but you only get a talking to if you do it too often. Showing up a few minutes late because you went to the bathroom or got stuck in traffic is fine. They definitely don't fire you immediately with no second chances (literally the only thing that gets you fired on the spot is if you're caught talking about your project outside of the department, aka breaking your NDA). Either way, it isn't a strange thing for your employer to want you starting your job on time, go figure.

2. You are not given a specific checklist and are forced to only do that. The first few weeks of a project is a free for all, and then stuff gets divided but you are never cut off from the entire thing. You get guidelines on things that usually cause issues and can choose to attempt them, but it is not required. Testers who have been there awhile (years) get further trained and then do specific checklist things, but even that isn't all they can do.

3. The testers are treated like children, he's right about that, but for good fucking reason. 100% of the testers are contract workers. 80% of them are there just there to jerk around, 10% are there trying their hardest not to fall asleep but eventually do and get sent home, and the last 10% are there trying to work really hard in order to get promoted but that rarely happens and instead they just burn out.

4. You are certainly allowed to talk, just don't yell and act like a maniac or blurt about what you're working on to anyone not on your team.

Hey actually fuck you. You don't know my friend. And you don't know what he was going through with it. He was not making shit up. Now, maybe if you stopped to think a second, you'd realize that different offices are going to have different policies, and this holds true no matter how big the company is. So, before you accuse my friend of lying again, I'd like to suggest that you fuck off and go away. How does that sound. Fuck off? Go away? Fuck you.

Brah, the Nintendo testing department is literally one department, one big room. They don't have varied policies throughout this one big room.

@Ragdrazi: Brah, you're friend needs to relax about chairs. What kind of person stays awake at night stressing about chairs?

@Ragdrazi said:

@Geo7877 said:

@Ragdrazi said:

@Geo7877 said:

@Ragdrazi said:

One of my friends actually was a game tester for Nintendo for a while. He said it was one of the worst jobs he'd ever had. One of the rules was that you had to be in your assigned seat ready to play the game on the minute your shift starts or you would be fired. No second chances. No I was in the bathroom. The minute your shift starts. He said he never really got to play any of the games. Instead you had a checklist of things you were doing over and over again to try to break the game. He also said the bosses basically treated you like you were a child. I'd skip this unless you're really desperate.

I recently left testing at Nintendo a few months ago, I was laid off one too many times and didn't want to deal with it anymore. And your friend is making shit up.

1. Showing up like 5-10 minutes late is frowned upon, but you only get a talking to if you do it too often. Showing up a few minutes late because you went to the bathroom or got stuck in traffic is fine. They definitely don't fire you immediately with no second chances (literally the only thing that gets you fired on the spot is if you're caught talking about your project outside of the department, aka breaking your NDA). Either way, it isn't a strange thing for your employer to want you starting your job on time, go figure.

2. You are not given a specific checklist and are forced to only do that. The first few weeks of a project is a free for all, and then stuff gets divided but you are never cut off from the entire thing. You get guidelines on things that usually cause issues and can choose to attempt them, but it is not required. Testers who have been there awhile (years) get further trained and then do specific checklist things, but even that isn't all they can do.

3. The testers are treated like children, he's right about that, but for good fucking reason. 100% of the testers are contract workers. 80% of them are there just there to jerk around, 10% are there trying their hardest not to fall asleep but eventually do and get sent home, and the last 10% are there trying to work really hard in order to get promoted but that rarely happens and instead they just burn out.

4. You are certainly allowed to talk, just don't yell and act like a maniac or blurt about what you're working on to anyone not on your team.

Hey actually fuck you. You don't know my friend. And you don't know what he was going through with it. He was not making shit up. Now, maybe if you stopped to think a second, you'd realize that different offices are going to have different policies, and this holds true no matter how big the company is. So, before you accuse my friend of lying again, I'd like to suggest that you fuck off and go away. How does that sound. Fuck off? Go away? Fuck you.

Brah, the Nintendo testing department is literally one department, one big room. They don't have varied policies throughout this one big room.

Brah, fuck you. My friend was not fucking lying. The chair policy was a huge part of his life. He was doing this around 2005. I don't know. All I know is fuck you. Oh and brah? Don't fucking call me brah.

Brah, you're friend needs to relax about chairs. What kind of person stays awake at night stressing about chairs?

@Ragdrazi: Maybe if he went to sleep, instead of staying up all night stressed out about being late, he'd actually get to work on fucking time.

@Zabant said:

@Ragdrazi: I personally think you're being overly dismissive. A jobs a job. If I got a tester position and didn't enjoy it there's nothing stopping me from quitting. Going through life with a negative attitude wont get you anywhere.

It's a fine job. Extremely repetitive and boring, but a generally laid back atmosphere and decent pay for what little work you're actually doing. Expect to be out of work frequently, especially with a company that doesn't make a lot of games.

I'm glad to have done it, but I'll be glad to never do it again.

@Ragdrazi: I am just pointing out the falsities that you were telling the OP. Giving him wrong (or simply outdated) hear-say information isn't exactly helpful when he's legitimately asking if it's a good idea to try to get a job doing this.

Also, guess what? If someone is paying you to work for them, it's generally expected that you show up when they tell you to. Not being late is pretty standard... for everything.

@Ragdrazi: I am just pointing out the falsities that you were telling the OP. Giving him wrong (or simply outdated) hear-say information isn't exactly helpful when he's legitimately asking if it's a good idea to try to get a job doing this.

Also, guess what? If someone is paying you to work for them, it's generally expected that you show up when they tell you to. Not being late is pretty standard... for everything.

Pages like this are why the internet sucks. 

I feel even more stupid now.

@Zabant: Ask me anything and I'll be glad to answer.

Just thought I would share this with you guys, found it during my usual games tester job search.  Anyone here a games tester or aspiring to be one? Giving up my crappy job to play games would be pretty awesome.

I like QA, they make my job easier.

@Zabant: Nintendo hires contract testers through employment agencies and honestly the qualifications are pretty low. Literally the only requirements are that you like games, you show up and you don't fall asleep. This is because the number of people needed in the department varies drastically throughout the year, and they basically just need bodies more than anything else because they have three locations (NOA, NOE and NCL) all doing separate testing on the same products. But, that said, having a good attitude about it certainly helps filter out the people who will fall asleep or don't want to be there, they don't hire everyone.

Other testing jobs I looked at (places like Bungie and Sucker Punch) really just wanted testing experience as a qualification. Getting 1-2 years of testing under you belt can get you an interview at almost anywhere (for testing work, obviously). And, in WA at least, big companies like Microsoft, EA and Nintendo use hiring agencies and their requirements are generally lower.

This thread got really serious really fast.

@PeasantAbuse: Did it? I don't know if an argument about chair policies is all that serious.

@PeasantAbuse: Did it? I don't know if an argument about chair policies is all that serious.

@Geo7877 said:

@PeasantAbuse: Did it? I don't know if an argument about chair policies is all that serious.

And I'm supposed to respond emotionally with what you were actually doing, which was calling my friend a liar. See, this is the kind of trolling I miss. Keep on plugging away, Geo. I look forward to seeing you around.

When you're going for a QA Job you are significantly better off getting a job with an actual Developer rather than a Publisher (Larger Devs like MMO ones or so often have their own internal Publishing QA also though so be wary).  Publisher QA are the type people hear about most often, they have a much lower entry level requirement but they're also the source of pretty much all the bad stories - crap hours, little chance of progression, high burnout, etc.   Developer side you work a lot closer to the actual people making the games and as such there's a higher skill level required but the job is often a lot more involving and rewarding with a good chance to move up into other roles etc though that always depends on the company.  For Developer QA you'll often need a background in something like Programming or Level Design etc as you're working at a much earlier stage of the game and yeah ofc it can still be boring but then it sure as hell beats a typical office job!

@Seneku said:

When you're going for a QA Job you are significantly better off getting a job with an actual Developer rather than a Publisher (Larger Devs like MMO ones or so often have their own internal Publishing QA also though so be wary). Publisher QA are the type people hear about most often, they have a much lower entry level requirement but they're also the source of pretty much all the bad stories - crap hours, little chance of progression, high burnout, etc. Developer side you work a lot closer to the actual people making the games and as such there's a higher skill level required but the job is often a lot more involving and rewarding with a good chance to move up into other roles etc though that always depends on the company. For Developer QA you'll often need a background in something like Programming or Level Design etc as you're working at a much earlier stage of the game and yeah ofc it can still be boring but then it sure as hell beats a typical office job!

No need to have programming or level designing skills really. What you do need is overall technical knowledge of game development (what goes where and why and how stuff can break), analytical skills, the ability to take meaningful screenshots (So people know where the bug is, cant stress this enough :D). Bonus if you're opinionated and bring forth valid feedback to developers (may it be design, art or whatever).

But yeah, get in with the developers if you can. So much more fun.

Being a tester seems like such a horrific gig, and from what i've gathered you are more likely to move up in the industry by taking out the garbage in the activision building then being a game tester.

Am I weird for thinking doing the same thing over and over again looking for bugs seems like it could be fun? 
I guess I'm just insane...

@supermike6: No. I took it as a slight on my friend, because that's what it was. That's what was meant by "Your friend is making shit up." That's not ok. You don't know my friend and that's an insult. So from that you create the emotional reaction. Then he launched into a long list which generally distorted what I had already said. For example, the comment "Either way, it isn't a strange thing for your employer to want you starting your job on time, go figure" which is vastly different from what I had already presented. So from that you create the need to clarify, resulting in a cluster fuck. And that is by no means an elaborate attempt at trolling. That's trolling by the numbers.   I kind of wonder what's going on lately. Have people just grown so used to attacks like that it's not considered trolling anymore? That might explain why trolls aren't acting like that anymore.  Regardless, you don't insult my friends. And I don't need to be nannied about it, either. Thanks for... I guess, caring, though?

At least they could word it properly and all that.