A Gamer's Dream Come True: Becoming a Character in a Video Game

I can't tell you how I got into my privileged position except I found a link on IGN.com that changed my life. I didn't believe it until I got a letter telling me I was heading for Oahu with a $150,000 stipend.

Upon arrival in Hawaii, I found myself behind the wheel of a sexy rental supercar, a ruby-red Ford GT. It was my dream come true.

After driving the rental around the winding coast of Hawaii - still not believing my luck - I visited a Chevy/Saturn dealership to buy wheels. I chose a blue Saturn Sky. I was sold after my test drive, and paid cash.

Now? I'm a member of an Oahu car club, and to advance in rank you'll have to outdrive me. Well, not me, but my likeness.

Welcome to the world of "Test Drive Unlimited."

I've been a gamer most of my life - from the days of the Commodore Vic-20 and "Gorf" to "Gears of War" on the Xbox 360. I love transforming into Walter Mitty, spending a couple hours a week in a fantasy world where blasting aliens and running over baddies get you achievement points instead of federal investigations.

And I'd always wanted a chance to develop games, test them and look for glitches - what's known in the gaming world as "beta testing." But as a married man and father of two, I thought my days of beta-testing were gone before they ever arrived.

Until last summer.

I saw an advertisement on IGN.com that said Atari was looking for game testers. I shot off an e-mail, figuring I wouldn't make the cut. But within a couple weeks, Atari said I was selected to participate in a private PlayStation 2 beta test for the game "Test Drive Unlimited."

I was shocked. I had been following the game on the Xbox 360 and I had the demo already, so I had a pretty good idea what to expect.

In the demo, players can choose a car or motorcycle, and they are assigned a house. The player can take part in online races against other players or compete offline against the computer. In the retail version of the game, players can choose several different types of cars, motorcycles, houses and clothing.

The players also choose whether to cruise, race or take part in side missions, including playing chauffeur for fashion models, delivering cars and dropping off packages.

Within a day or two, I got a demo disc and instructions. It wasn't long before I was online and testing.

It was an intense process - the test build of the game we received (there were 1,500 testers) was still raw.

But the tester's job is pretty clear. You look for any mistakes that slipped past developers. You are instructed to start races and try to lose them. You soon realize you are not just playing an unfinished game - you are doing work.

The graphics were subpar compared to most games on the market. The game was glitchy (trees in the middle of highways) and the auto-save feature sometimes wiped out your progress.

One of the most commonly reported bugs involved steering. Other testers complained of our vehicles' missing interiors, but Atari told them that aspect hadn't been finished in the version we received.

I found some bugs and glitches, too. I didn't mind the steering one bit, but I did notice several visual mistakes. Like how a road faded into a green graphic. I drove through it several times and ended up reappearing in different places in the game.

One cool glitch was at the entrance of a highway tunnel. The car I was driving would hit a small bump and go vertical, get transported into a parallel world and then tumble for a few seconds.

We reported glitches, mistakes and graphics problems to Atari. Developers of the PS2 version of the game, Melbourne House, used private forums on Atari's Web site for feedback as well, listening to testers and correcting bugs and glitches.

I spent hours racing or cruising around virtual Oahu last summer.

The beta test ended Sept. 3. I stayed on afterward - Atari didn't cut the servers off for a few days - and cruised online with other testers. But it was time to get back to life.

Though we worked for free, it was an awesome chance to test a video game before it hit store shelves. We found problems in-house testers had missed - which Atari very much appreciated. And I enjoyed the countless hours I spent cruising Hawaii, happy to help improve the game.

For our hard "work," Melbourne House rewarded 30 testers with a very special gift. We were to become "nonplaying characters" in the game.

I was stunned. My likeness, aka Willie "Mad Skillz" Jefferson, is now a member of a racing club on the PS2 and PSP versions of the game. So, if you get an invite to a motor club and race against guys like Ominous Gamer, Big Blazer, FordGTMan or S31ender, you'll know the racers are actually people like me.

Since my summer jaunts around Hawaii I have helped Atari with beta testing two more times - both were "Test Drive Unlimited" for the PC.

But now I look forward to seeing how great my character is. The game is scheduled to hit store shelves March 20. I won't feel bad if I get whipped by my digital likeness.

If you get a chance, rent or buy "Test Drive Unlimited" for the PlayStation 2 or the PSP. Mad Skillz and I look forward to racing you around the beautiful island of Oahu.

Aloha!