23 Apr 09 Game Testing, Not As Exciting As You May Think
Anybody who plays videogames on any sort of a regular basis has had that thought at least once, how cool would it be if I could get paid to play videogames? And as we all know, for a select few there really is a career available in which you are paid to play games, that is the job of the videogame tester. Someone who plays the game in the beta stages to point out flaws and anything else that may be problematic throughout a game’s development cycle. While this sounds like it could be an awful lot of fun, game testing is actually no picnic.
First off, it’s not like you’re going to be getting to play your favorite game for hours on end, having fun and making a living wage from your efforts. In actuality you’re forced to play something that’s likely to he horrible, for long periods of time, and analyzing every second of the experience. Game testers are around to spot the smallest things, such as graphical errors, or collision detection issues with a game’s physics engine, and these require a massive amount of time to completely figure out. So instead of playing through a level and getting paid for it, you’re really critiquing every pixel in the level to a daunting extent, and reporting back to development teams so that they can fix and edit the game accordingly.
Not exactly a party.
Not to mention a game testers schedule becomes increasingly more grueling as deadlines begin to loom. Meaning a tester could end up putting in 12 to 14 hour days, playing the same levels and portions of gameplay over and over again, with the same repetitive movements and requirements, in an effort to nit pick every single detail. Not exactly a dream job, and you can see why most testers burn out in a relatively short period of time.
I’m thinking most people misjudge the opportunity as a dream job, and then find themselves shocked into reality when they see just how much work playing videogames can be.
Tags: Actuality, Amount Of Time, Beta Stages, Collision Detection, Dream Job, Favorite Game, Fun Game, Game Testers, Game Testing, Gameplay, Graphical Errors, Having Fun, Living Wage, Long Periods Of Time, Period Of Time, Physics Engine, Picnic, Pixel, Repetitive Movements, Short Period
08 Apr 09 Are Acer PC’s Worth Your Cash?
You want to buy a new computer right? And who doesn’t, whether you need more hard drive space, a faster processor, or you just need to keep up with the latest in the high PC demands that the newest computer games require. But with top of the line machines costing well into the thousands, it’s not exactly an affordable option to constantly upgrade your PC. Unless of course you consider the brand Acer which seems to offer ridiculously good Notebook and Desktop PC’s for relatively low prices.
Well I should say, at least they appear to be ridiculously good. In actuality Acer is not a very favorable brand, and is not something you should necessarily count on, for a few key reasons.
Number one being that Acer computers have a habit of breaking down quickly. While it’s been a household brand for computer equipment since 1976, Acer just hasn’t aged well within the computer industry. And anybody who’s owned an Acer laptop recently can attest to the fact that you’ll find disappointing performance from the unit’s processor, and a tendency to break down easily.
Not to mention the fact that Acer have had two recent recalls over faulty technology in both their laptop and desktop PC’s. About a year ago Acer had to recall laptops because of an issue with their batteries that caused the unit’s to overheat and start fires. And now only a few months ago, Acer issued another recall on their Acer Predator desktop PC’s, for basically the same hardware malfunction, in which the unit’s overheated causing the inner components to melt and practically start on fire.
Meaning in my humble opinion, Acer PCs just cannot compete in today’s market, and the company has to do some serious reworking in their hardware before they can release anything reliable and worthy of your hard earned dollars.
Tags: Acer, Acer Computers, Acer Laptop, Acer Pc, Actuality, computer, Computer Equipment, Computer Games, Computer Industry, Computer Right, Desktop, Desktop Pc, Drive Space, Earned Dollars, Faulty Technology, Hardware Malfunction, Inner Components, Key Reasons, Laptop, New Computer, PC, Predator Desktop, Recalls, S Market, Top Of The Line
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