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What is PowerUp Games™?
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ANSWERS PowerUp Games™ is a community of video game testers who "Make Games Suck Less". Our community wants to learn what is like to be a game tester, participate in the games industry, gain real word experience, play the latest titles before they are released, and provide feedback to publishers so that they can "Make Games Suck Less". Through our certificate program, we provide help, experience and education that assists future game testers build a great resume and cover letter and letters of participation or recommendation. This aides future game testers to get the interview, and be able to talk correctly about game testing, projects, bug reports, test plans, etc. Since landing a game testing job is competitive, we feel this is necessary for future game testers to get the job. The training also helps the student know what to do as a game tester so they can keep the game testing job after they get it. After completion of the certification, you will use your certificate to acknowledge the knowledge of game testing and experience you have earned in the games industry. Our certification program also provides personalized consulting and assistance to give you the best chance for success to enter the video game industry as a game tester, and can also be used to establish industry experience toward positions as an artist, animator, level designer, producer or game designer. How do get more FREE information on Game Testing? PowerUp Games provides a FREE newsletter that has the cheats and tricks most people want to know about game testing. In addition, visit our Yahoo Answers profile. As always, the job of a game tester is to verify quality content so please verify ALL content you get from PowerUp Games or from any other source. An example of content verification is class text books. The publisher of the book verifies the knowledge, experience, reputation of the author and then verifies the content is in line with expectations. If you were a publisher verifying an author, would you trust an author that has no verifyable experience, and didn't give simple contact information like a email address, phone number and business address? This standard should be used for all information found on the internet. To aide the prospective student, PowerUp Games has created the Starter Kit which can be found on the website store and in the tutorial pane after you login to your account. It is $20. It is made to give you an idea of the training and how it is presented. If you decide to continue with your certification, it even gives you a $20 discount off the price of your certification tuition. It is designed for you to purchase first, evaluate what you are learning and see if it looks like good training to be a game tester and then if you are intertested continue with your certification. How do find Game Testing Jobs for FREE and other job information. PowerUp Games provides a FREE games testing jobs board. If you have a video game testing job that you would like to post, please send it to us. Game Testing jobs can be easily found on the internet. Go out and look for some yourself. No one should pay for a job list or subscription to find video game testing jobs especially since the information is free on the internet. PowerUp Games believes that the odds of you finding a real home based testing job are 1 in a Million. That the idea of sitting at home, eating pizza, drinking pop and testing video games does not follow current industry practices and is a lure to sell you something. Why would a publisher or game developer risk an information leak from an at home game tester when they can find someone to work out of their secured facility? At home game testers are too risky for game developers. That the idea of getting rich through testing video games is also against current industry practices. A game developer can find game testers relatively easily and he only has to pay them $8-$12 hour for an entry level game tester. Why would he pay someone else double or triple that? What education is needed to start a game testing career? The game industry is unique because of the high turn over rate and interest in getting into the industry. We believe in college education but in the video game industry, there is a lot of people who get degrees and get burned out or find out it isn't what they thought it was and leave the industry only to have the student loans follow them. Also, the training you get in the video game industry is specialized. It is not like a degree in business. The knowledge learned also needs to be kept current. Luckily in the video game industry, you can try a simple career to see if it is right for you. That career is game testing. The information below works for several careers and the game industry is one of them. What education do you need? You can answer this yourself, go to the jobs site and look at the positions. How many require a game testing degree? How many require a computer science or other gaming degree? A 4 year degree is NOT a requirement for most game testing positions and if you are game testing to be a game tester and not a game developer, game designer, or similar career, then a 4 year degree may be overkill. Think about it, if you were a taxi driver, a course in driving taxi would be helpful but 4 years of college classes in auto mechanics and business management is helpful but overkill. It wastes the time that you could be earning a living and when you are done, you may have student loans or other financing to repay. We would suggest to take the course, try out taxi driving as a career. Then if you think you want to make a career of it, pick up the helpful college courses along the way. If a 4 year degree is necessary for a job or career doing what you want to do, do the 4 years. If you don't need 4 year degree, try out the industry first and see if it is for you. With that said, if you decide to continue a career as a game tester, you will need more education. Take the classes that you need as you see a need for them. We suggest that you use game testing as a trial of the video game industry. Get educated, get a job, try it out and see if the video game industry and you can make a career. If after a year, you decide you need a college degree, use game testing during the summers to help with the costs of college. If you have already graduated college with a video game industry degree and are having problems getting that entry level position. Use game testing as the first step on your way to getting that entry level position. What do our Future Game Testers do? PowerUp Games provides training for our students to become game testers. A game tester is an individual who is given a game in an early phase of production and evaluates its function and usability. Testing and quality assurance play a major role in most products on the market. Companies will use our students to assure that the products they sell are of sufficient quality and have been expertly and efficiently catered to the needs of the consumer. Companies will select students from various target demographics and skill sets and matched with the product they desire to test. The input and feedback from the students is highly valued and used to improve and refine any product. Why should I sign up with PowerUp Games™ as a games tester? If you are the type of person who loves games and wants to help contribute to the success of games, you should join the PowerUp Games™ community. Our certificate program enables testers to gain real world experience, even at an early age, so they can be prepared for a real career in the world of video games. PowerUp Games is an amazing service that allows publishers access to our students and at the same time trains the students to become certified through tutorials and real world experience. Why should I pay money to take the game tester certificate program? When you sign up for PowerUp Games™ certificate program, you will have access to the tutorials that lead you on the path to real world experience and a potential career in the games industry. Tutorials can be paid for on a case by case basis, month by month or all at once. After completing the tutorials and your lab time, and passing your certification test, you will receive your certificate. You will be able to list your certificate on your resume to give you the edge to get that interview and get that job. We suggest that you try the Starter Kit first for $20, that way if you decide that game testing is not for you, you are only out $20. A very cheap price for that education. What future careers benefit from experience in Games Testing?The hardest thing to get to help enter the games industry is real world experience. Our certificate program gives you real games industry experience. With a certificate you can get your foot in the door for careers such as a game tester, level designer, map maker, assistant producer or even a developer. As a games tester you have the chance to get face to face time with publishers and developer. This kind of elbow rubbing is priceless to any career in the games industry. Do I have to pay to participate? You can sign up as a member of the community on our website for free. If you decide you want to work toward your certification you can purchase the tutorials about game testing. Students seeking certification are given priority to participate in projects and some publishers are looking for people with certain types of testing knowledge for their games. If you want to try it before you dive in, buy a Starter Kit. Only $20 and the cost is discounted off of the Certification if you decide to continue. |
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