By Alex J. Sternth
So you finished playing one of the best ever, mind blowing video game on your latest PlayStation2. The graphics, the sound, the gameplay, the starting and the ending of the game were so perfect!
But did you ever think how a game can be made so complete, so interesting and flawless? Did you ever noticed, while playing the whole game, you don't get to face even the slightest of problem? Ever thought why everything about the videogames is so flawless? And did you hear about video game tester?
Well, if you know the answer to the last question, you would get to know the answers to all the above-mentioned questions as well. And if you don't know the answer to the last question, its time you read this article.
As the video games are developed by the companies, they are not sent directly to the market. In fact there is a middle figure which controls this flow. And this middle figure is known as video game tester.
A video game tester is the person who is responsible for testing video games to find any errors, flaws, conflicts and bugs in the games. The basic job profile of the tester is to ensure the overall quality of the videogames. Don't confuse this job as an entertaining and effortless one. In fact it requires intensive and grueling testing sessions with strict focus.
Today, all these high quality video games that you play on your computer, take about 1-3 years to develop. The work of the tester starts when the game has been half completed or 75% completed. This late involvement of a tester is based on the fact that during the earlier stages of the game development, there is nothing much to check or test. As the testers start working on the game, they get weekly feeds from the developers about the different versions and find the errors in each version uniquely.
As the version is provided to the tester, they start playing the game. During the gameplay, the tester has to keep an eagles' eye and note down all the errors. The errors may range from logic errors to bugs, art glitches and stage bugs. Now some bugs can be easily explained for example a brick in the wall is missing in 5 room of the hotel. But some bugs are difficult to explain; hence they require elongated explanations so that the developer understands the correct format of the bug. Now, when the bug has been reported to the developer, the tester has to again verify whether the bug has been corrected or not.
As the release date of the game starts to loom, the job of the tester becomes exasperating. This near to deadline time is termed as "crunch time" and during this time the artists, the game designers, the programmers, the producers and the testers work heavily on the game. They even spend 14-16 hours working on their computer sets, to ensure that the game releases with flawless features.
When a big game is being developed, there are more than 2 testers working on the game and all of them literally become experts of that game as they uncover all the weakness and strengths of the game.
Despite so much effort, dedication and hard work, a tester's profession is not highly paid. Most people take on video game testing as a stepping stone to reach the level of testing management which is far more lucrative.
So now that you know, that how your games are so perfectly made, you can feel the regard for videogame testers in your heart. After all, it's them who ensure the quality of your videogames intact and accomplished one.
About the Author: Brought to you by http://www.comvideogame.com | A.J. Sternth
Source: www.isnare.com
