Beta+Game+Tester

=media type="youtube" key="In_AH6cAUeo" height="510" width="854"= =**The reason as to why I have chosen this occupation**= I've chosen this career, as it matches two of my current interests: Video games, and finding glitches, bugs, exploits and other such flaws within them.

=**General description of this topic**= The main purpose of a team of alpha- and beta-testers (Or, Quality-Assurance) is to find and report (Or in some cases, fix) many glitches, bugs, errors and exploits throughout every phase of a game's development. Examples of bugs testers may encounter include, but are not limited to: A-class bugs - Game-crashing. Keeping this bug will prevent the game from being sold. Corrupted and/or incomplete segments of code. Example: Heavy graphical error, most likely caused by corrupted game data. A-class bug.

B-class bugs - Not as serious as A-class bugs, but multiple B-class bugs at once can behave similar to one A-class bugs.

While not necessarily a glitch, a debug screen is accessible by removing a "New Super Mario Bros" DS gamecard in the middle of gameplay. The game will freeze, but if one simultaneously presses three sets of buttons, this will occur: (The button combinations are as follows: "L+R+A+LEFT" "B+DOWN" and finally SELECT+START")

C-class bugs - Far less serious than even B-class bugs. Usually graphical errors or scripting with unintended results.

On rare occasions, minimal-threat bugs or human errors can be implemented as actual game features. =**Technology used in this occu****pation**= Mainly computers, data transfer systems, and the actual game console(s) distributed over a team of one or more workers. =**Training needed**= There are many levels of testing a video game, so experience may vary. For example, "Functionality Testing" does not require major experience, as it involves merely playing the game. Most of the levels beyond functionality testing may require anywhere from basic to advanced programming skills. =**work opportunity**= Hours may vary, both in part-time and full-time jobs, depending on the company. =**Salary and/or benefits of this career**= Workers are generally paid $10-$12 per hour (or $30-150 per game, if tested online) but can be awarded extra payment for finding and fixing many bugs early in development.

=**Useful links to hiring websites:**=
 * Gaming Job Zone**
 * Video Game Tester Jobs, Employment | Indeed.com**
 * Gaming Testers Wanted - Vmc.com**