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Sony's New Reality Series on PSN -- "The Tester" Grand Prize = Minimum Wage Slavery

2

Posts

  • elliotw2elliotw2 Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Hey, I got an email asking me to be part of this horrible idea. Should I respond with a no, or just ignore it?

    elliotw2 on
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  • BakerIsBoredBakerIsBored Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    I just ignored it.

    BakerIsBored on
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  • DarmakDarmak RAGE vympyvvhyc vyctyvyRegistered User regular
    edited September 2009
    elliotw2 wrote: »
    Hey, I got an email asking me to be part of this horrible idea. Should I respond with a no, or just ignore it?

    Tell em, "Fuck yeah, sign me up!" then never respond to them again.

    Darmak on
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  • PaperLuigi44PaperLuigi44 My amazement is at maximum capacity. Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Ah_Pook wrote: »
    for sheer wtf youre never going to top this zelda commercial

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwLdhygtbYs


    What.

    And this idea is hilarious. And the exact reason I don't like reality shows.

    PaperLuigi44 on
  • SaddlerSaddler Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    You guys know too much about the real work world. Game Tester is the coolest job ever for your 9-15 year old selves.

    Saddler on
  • rayofashrayofash Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Bursar wrote: »
    Oh, man. This is hilarious. San Diego is where Sony Online's offices are, so the"grad prize" reward is a bottom-of-the-scale job on a temp contract position, probably playing Free Realms.

    I've applied for testing and tech support jobs several times. Never got any. :(
    Saddler wrote: »
    You guys know too much about the real work world. Game Tester is the coolest job ever for your 9-15 year old selves.

    No, no it is not. Have you ever had a data entry job? It's a bit like that only more tedious.

    rayofash on
  • BursarBursar Hee Noooo! PDX areaRegistered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Leitner wrote: »
    Why 21?

    Well, obviously there's going to be a "get drunk and start playing games!" challenge. Which, to be fair, is a skill that a good tester should have.

    Now, a better test would be to hand them a copy of War and Peace and say "We've inserted five typos at random points in this book. First one to find them all wins!"

    Bursar on
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  • jothkijothki Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Bursar wrote: »
    Leitner wrote: »
    Why 21?

    Well, obviously there's going to be a "get drunk and start playing games!" challenge. Which, to be fair, is a skill that a good tester should have.

    Now, a better test would be to hand them a copy of War and Peace and say "We've inserted five typos at random points in this book. First one to find them all wins!"

    The person who deserves to win will be the one who grabs all of the books and dumps all but one copy into the nearest toilet, and then goes into hiding until he's found the typos.

    Alternatively, he could pretend to be someone else, get the person who inserted the typos really drunk, and then ask him what they are.

    jothki on
  • ZerokkuZerokku Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    rayofash wrote: »
    Saddler wrote: »
    You guys know too much about the real work world. Game Tester is the coolest job ever for your 9-15 year old selves.

    No, no it is not. Have you ever had a data entry job? It's a bit like that only more tedious.

    You're proving his point because you're missing the point. When you're 9-15 and don't know any better it sounded awesome.

    Zerokku on
  • BamelinBamelin Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    I'm not sure who exactly they are targeting. Their core audience certainly isn't 15 years old, and anyone over 18 is going to know that Q & A testing is usually a pretty low paid job ...


    Still to be honest if I was in my early 20's just done university, or in a dead end job, I'd go for this. I mean why not? At the very least you'll probaly get set up with accomodations in cali ...

    edit: the much older and wiser me laughs though at the poor sucker that "wins" this "prize"

    Bamelin on
  • VeganVegan Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Haha the prize is a straight-out-of-high-school, minimum wage, 16 hour a day job from hell.

    Vegan on
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  • psychotixpsychotix __BANNED USERS regular
    edited September 2009
    Bursar wrote: »
    Leitner wrote: »
    Why 21?

    Well, obviously there's going to be a "get drunk and start playing games!" challenge. Which, to be fair, is a skill that a good tester should have.

    Now, a better test would be to hand them a copy of War and Peace and say "We've inserted five typos at random points in this book. First one to find them all wins!"


    I hope they do have a drunken gaming event, without, it's just not true gaming.

    psychotix on
  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Bamelin wrote: »
    I'm not sure who exactly they are targeting. Their core audience certainly isn't 15 years old, and anyone over 18 is going to know that Q & A testing is usually a pretty low paid job ...


    Still to be honest if I was in my early 20's just done university, or in a dead end job, I'd go for this. I mean why not? At the very least you'll probaly get set up with accomodations in cali ...

    edit: the much older and wiser me laughs though at the poor sucker that "wins" this "prize"

    They're targeting the uninformed "bro" gamers who don't know what they're getting themselves into.

    Henroid on
  • kitchkitch Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    I want to tighten up some gfx and down some natty lite. I'm chugging and charging, bitch.

    kitch on
  • TaramoorTaramoor Storyteller Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    I am now signed up and will be finishing my application once I put together a video resume.

    If I get in, it will at least be entertaining to be a part of it. If not, I lose nothing.

    Taramoor on
  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Taramoor wrote: »
    I am now signed up and will be finishing my application once I put together a video resume.

    If I get in, it will at least be entertaining to be a part of it. If not, I lose nothing.

    Hopefully they have it setup so that signing up for the contest isn't the same thing as signing the contract. If that's the case, and the actual signing happens after you've won, you should pretend like you're going to sign and then tell them to fuck off and walk away.

    Henroid on
  • TaramoorTaramoor Storyteller Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Henroid wrote: »
    Taramoor wrote: »
    I am now signed up and will be finishing my application once I put together a video resume.

    If I get in, it will at least be entertaining to be a part of it. If not, I lose nothing.

    Hopefully they have it setup so that signing up for the contest isn't the same thing as signing the contract. If that's the case, and the actual signing happens after you've won, you should pretend like you're going to sign and then tell them to fuck off and walk away.

    Gametesting may not be the greatest job in the world, but it beats being unemployed. It's also something I've done before and enjoyed (Granted that was for Microsoft, and I tended to work on higher profile projects with a better-than-average class of people).

    At this point, unless I can leverage a reality show and a couple of independent film roles into a lucrative acting career, I'll take what I can get. Hell, even McDonald's isn't hiring right now.

    Taramoor on
  • TheKoolEagleTheKoolEagle Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    as a game tester, i laugh at all who enter this competition for:

    a) this is not that difficult of a job to get.

    and

    b) what a terrible grand prize, who doesn't want to work 12 hours a day 7 days a week for several months at a time.

    Note) i love my job but seriously. a reality show for a testing position? really?

    TheKoolEagle on
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  • MuddBuddMuddBudd Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    as a game tester, i laugh at all who enter this competition for:

    a) this is not that difficult of a job to get.

    and

    b) what a terrible grand prize, who doesn't want to work 12 hours a day 7 days a week for several months at a time.

    Note) i love my job but seriously. a reality show for a testing position? really?

    Friends from the console side of the industry tell me the San Diego Sony contracts are three months. Woo.

    Or people could just apply for a job. It's pretty easy to get testing jobs.

    Seriously, just apply, you'll probably get hired.

    MuddBudd on
    There's no plan, there's no race to be run
    The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Maybe this will kick off a trend of companies doing contests for jobs. That'll get the economy rolling.

    Henroid on
  • UnbreakableVowUnbreakableVow Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    I can't wait for Subway's show.

    "The Sandwich Artist"

    UnbreakableVow on
  • KyouguKyougu Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    I hope one of the challenges is tightening up the graphics in level 6.

    Kyougu on
  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Kyougu wrote: »
    I hope one of the challenges is tightening up the graphics in level 6.

    Tonight I have witnessed the savage beating of a joke. Each post striking more life out of it until it hung dead from the SQL rafters, where children would run by with "Submit Reply" sticks, running by, leaping, and striking the corpse repeatedly.

    Henroid on
  • ZoelefZoelef Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Although below the state average of 12.1%, the reported unemployment rate in San Diego, California* is still ~10.3%. In spite of the superiority complex permeating youth culture, there are still plenty of people that believe 'shoveling horse manure' beats starving and being broke. However, I doubt the contest is really looking for mature, competent go-getters that want in on the ground floor and are willing to work for it.

    Hopefully, Henroid is wrong, as there's enough BS in finding work these days.

    * PDF document

    Zoelef on
  • -SPI--SPI- Osaka, JapanRegistered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Huh. Guess it turns out we ARE living in the dytopian Game Show future predicted in the early 90s. "win a JOB! ANY JOB! This shitty one right here!"

    We're one step away from the Running Man.

    -SPI- on
  • darleysamdarleysam On my way to UKRegistered User regular
    edited September 2009
    So this is entirely playing up to the idea that games testing is a cushy job for people who just sit around playing games all day? And they're looking for the best of the best gamers players to tear these games apart and test them for fun?

    Excuse me one second, I believe this is what it feels like to simultaneously experience a seizure, an aneyurism and AIDS.

    edit: gamers play games, sam.

    darleysam on
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  • MichaelLCMichaelLC In what furnace was thy brain? ChicagoRegistered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Here's my entry. What do you think?
    Testing.jpg

    MichaelLC on
  • Brainiac 8Brainiac 8 Don't call me Shirley... Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Henroid wrote: »
    Couscous wrote: »
    So I see that Sony's marketing still has its fair share of morons.

    Eh, I actually don't blame this one on Sony's marketing. Or Sony. Really the thing that's at fault here is the fascination with reality TV shows where the winner will be given some sort of job. I mean, hell, even I watched one of those kinds of shows (The Next Iron Chef, I liked that competition a lot :oops: ).

    Then again, I have heard time and time again that QA positions are temp contract jobs, and if Sony isn't being forthcoming on that, shame on them. If they've created some super contract for the purpose of this show though, hey, that's actually alright. It puts one person out of the 10-ish% of unemployed people into work! Or maybe they have a job already.

    Hey don't knock it. Top Chef, Next Iron Chef, and Hell's Kitchen are awesome programs...all for distinctly different reasons.

    I'm not sure why Sony is wasting the money on this though.

    Brainiac 8 on
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  • CouscousCouscous Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    http://www.develop-online.net/news/32772/Sony-faces-reality-to-hire-QA-staff
    We must admit, we preferred the working titles: Who Wants to be Slave Labour and So You Think You Can Survive on Minimum Wage. At least they threw out The Price is Right at the very beginning.
    OK, I liked that one.

    Couscous on
  • HerrCronHerrCron It that wickedly supports taxation Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    darleysam wrote: »
    So this is entirely playing up to the idea that games testing is a cushy job for people who just sit around playing games all day? And they're looking for the best of the best games players to tear these games apart and test them for fun?

    Excuse me one second, I believe this is what it feels like to simultaneously experience a seizure, an aneyurism and AIDS.


    I just passed this onto our QA department.

    Half are laughing like men possessed, the rest seem to have had a stroke brought about from exposure to the very concept.

    HerrCron on
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  • joshofalltradesjoshofalltrades Class Traitor Smoke-filled roomRegistered User regular
    edited September 2009
    This is the worst idea.

    I am starting a new reality show called Who Wants to Volunteer At The Soup Kitchen?

    The grand prize is that you get to volunteer at the soup kitchen.

    joshofalltrades on
  • BamelinBamelin Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    It would have made far FAR more sense to give the winner a position in marketing (as unbreakable suggested) or PR ... get to fly around the globe to Sony marketing events, stuff like that.

    This prize though as a tester .... it's just so made of fail.

    Bamelin on
  • -SPI--SPI- Osaka, JapanRegistered User regular
    edited September 2009
    HerrCron wrote: »
    darleysam wrote: »
    So this is entirely playing up to the idea that games testing is a cushy job for people who just sit around playing games all day? And they're looking for the best of the best games players to tear these games apart and test them for fun?

    Excuse me one second, I believe this is what it feels like to simultaneously experience a seizure, an aneyurism and AIDS.


    I just passed this onto our QA department.

    Half are laughing like men possessed, the rest seem to have had a stroke brought about from exposure to the very concept.

    You should see what they think of the late 90's Australian kids tv show "Crash Zone" based around a group of streetwise tech savvy kids who follow a secret message on the internet which leads them to a Game Company that hires them as testers in the Crash Zone... where they also design the games for some reason.

    I'm reminded of it since it was almost as ridiculous as this competition. Also it's possibly where the Sony Marketing Division got all it's information about Game Testers.

    -SPI- on
  • Ragnar DragonfyreRagnar Dragonfyre Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Henroid wrote: »
    How exactly do you test a gamer's stamina? Make them play an MMO? Or is that endurance?

    Well, when I applied for a QA job contracting to EA in Vancouver, they said I was expected to work 50-60 hour work weeks, possibility of 7 day work weeks and no OT. So, I guess that's a test of ones stamina. Also, for less money than what I'm making now, significantly less.

    Good thing I didn't take that job, it was outsourced after six months to someplace in India.

    Ragnar Dragonfyre on
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  • MuddBuddMuddBudd Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Actually I'm hearing that Sony, like many companies, is cutting way back on the OT right now so it'll probably be the industry standard of like, 38 hours a week at a wage you can't live on without OT.

    MuddBudd on
    There's no plan, there's no race to be run
    The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
  • Ragnar DragonfyreRagnar Dragonfyre Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    MuddBudd wrote: »
    Actually I'm hearing that Sony, like many companies, is cutting way back on the OT right now so it'll probably be the industry standard of like, 38 hours a week at a wage you can't live on without OT.

    That is, until the "CRUNCH TIME" challenge comes up, where testers are forced to work 7 days a week, 15 hours a day.

    Ragnar Dragonfyre on
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  • joshofalltradesjoshofalltrades Class Traitor Smoke-filled roomRegistered User regular
    edited September 2009
    I guess if you're eliminated from the show they'll say, "Your game is over" or "You lost your last life" or something equally retarded.

    joshofalltrades on
  • subediisubedii Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    I guess if you're eliminated from the show they'll say, "Your game is over" or "You lost your last life" or something equally retarded.

    Ran out of hearts.

    subedii on
  • KyouguKyougu Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    subedii wrote: »
    I guess if you're eliminated from the show they'll say, "Your game is over" or "You lost your last life" or something equally retarded.

    Ran out of hearts.

    TIME PARADOX

    Kyougu on
  • firekiunfirekiun Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    With California's super high unemployment rate, you'll be surprise how popular this show will be. Anyone know that a Q&A tester is a good "starting job" for people want to become designer? May be that will make it more appealing.

    firekiun on
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