Playing Video Games & Getting Paid for It

If you were offered the opportunity to play a new video game before it hit the store shelves, would you say yes? If you are a gaming enthusiast, the answer would be yes without hesitation. To take this fantasy one step further, what would you say to getting paid for it? This is a career in the real world and one that you can pursue if you want to. The gaming industry is full of jobs for game testers and you can be one of them.

In the gaming industry, new games must be played to find and flaws on the programming. The game designers need fresh people to try out these games before they are ready for production. What you are looking for are glitches or flaws in the aspects of the game. One thing you can't test for is how much someone will enjoy a game. This is a very individual opinion and different for each player, so your job is to simply find the problems in the programming and how the game plays. For a video game lover, this is the perfect way to make valuable use of time. You can try out for one of the many video game tester positions online. To make it into this field, you will have to fulfill a few requirements. First, you will need to have some computer skills. It should also go without saying that you will need to have some video game playing experience. It will be imperative that you have an internet connection and know how to upload files, email and use an instant messenger service. It is going to be important that you keep in contact with your employers to give them feedback in whatever form they wish. You will need enough experience to be able to troubleshoot and install some software as well.

Once you have secured the job, the company that you are working for will mail you a copy of the beta console game that you will be testing. They may include a form that you will fill out as you play and then mail in, or you may fill out these forms online. One thing that will help you become a good tester is to be experienced in all types of games. This way you will feel comfortable testing any genre of game that they send to you. If you have only played a few types of games, then testing games that are out of your comfort zone will be difficult. In the same vein, it is important that you can test games on all levels of difficulty as this will required when you are working as a video game tester. While there are difficulties involved in being a video game tester, the rewards will make it worth it once you are getting paid for doing what you enjoy.