Sony has been planning a unique show for a while now, a reality show that will debut exclusively over the PS3’s Playstation Network. Their show The Tester will follow a group of gamers who are fighting amongst each other to get the holy grail of gaming- a job as a game tester. Wait, what?
Yes that’s right, the entire concept of the show is that the winner will get 5 grand (not bad!) and a job in QA, the most thankless and mind-numbing job in the industry.
Check out the new trailer and think how painful the actual show must be if these are the highlights.
I’ve hated “reality” shows ever since a friend of a friend of mine was cast as a beer delivery man (for the sponser’s beer, weirdly enough) in a major one back at the start of the craze, but most of them at least offered you something worthwhile at the end.
While the idea of playing games all day for a living is a great one, the reality is a bit different. Imagine getting paid a pittance to play a game for hundreds of hours simply trying to get it to break, writing up bug reports after incredibly long days. Now imagine that you’re playing Hannah Montana DS games all day, because you cerainly won’t start out on AAA titles. While testing is an entry level job that many people have used to leap into other factions of game design, it’s hardly a winning prize. If Sony wanted to do something interesting here they would have let the winner design a game, and then release it on PSN.
But no, we’ve got a bunch of morons doing physical activities for the first time in their lives and being made fun of by assholes for the world’s enjoyment, making the industry seem even more juvenile than it already does in the process. Way to go, Sony!
The Tester debuts on PSN starting February 18th. It’s absolutely free, because there’s no way you’d pay for this piece of shit.