Make Money Testing Video Games--Not!

Okay, so I'm right there with you. We should know better. But given a moment of weakness or plain curiosity, we might find ourselves reaching for the credit card to buy into one of these services that advertises everywhere we gullible people congregate.

First of all, before we dive into the details, iVideoGameTester.com and IGameTester.com are useless, simple ploys to separate you from your money. You should stay away at all cost and keep the credit card in your wallet.

Curiosity overwhelming me (and since I'm doing this blog), I decided to find out for us what this is all about. Haven't we all wondered what magical tips hide behind that credit card page that will nearly ensure our success? Behold! Here sits the magical job listing that will allow you to sleep until noon, play a couple hours of video games while eating a burger, AND GET PAID FOR IT! So my credit card and I paid $34.95 to join these sites. Had they worked, I'd be playing a video game right now instead of writing this post. Sadly, here I am.

So having sent my money off to people that we all instinctively realize are the types of folks who take lollipops from disabled children, I anxiously arrive at the awe inspiring page of secret knowledge. Yes, it really is just one page, and not even a very long one. Here's what I got for my money:

• An introduction congratulating me for taking this fantastic step in my life and encouraging me to share your success stories with them.



• Brief advice on writing a resume.



• Links to game companies and job sites.



• A notice that I have just been given everything I need and encouragement to keep trying until I succeed.

Dismissing the other garbage, what about the links to game companies and job sites? That's what we were, apparently, after.

There are about thirty apparent links to companies. I call them "apparent" links because about a third of them no longer work.

The first link is to Microsoft Playtest, which I have just provided to you for free. This actually seems pretty interesting. You enrol with Microsoft, giving them your demographic information and your gaming habits, and then they contact you with opportunities to test games. This seems like just the sort of thing I wanted for $34.95 except that Microsoft doesn't actually pay you to do this. If you get called to participate in a study, which will take place at a specific time, you are then allowed to pick one or more gratuity items (software) from Microsoft. I haven't been selected yet, so I don't have any idea what is available. This is not a bad thing to be made aware of if you are a fan of gaming, but not exactly the job you were looking for.

There's a link to Nintendo (you should be getting an idea now of how you can find all these sites by yourself), which then tells you that they use employment companies to find testers and that all testers must live in Redmand, Washington. Here's the link: http://www.nintendo.com/corp/tester.jsp

You have Activision, which is hiring for testers for Guitar Hero so long as you live in Woodland Hills, California. And then this becomes the pattern for the handful of game companies who are hiring testers. Internet be damned, if you don't live in the neighborhood of Bioware (Austin, TX), you need not apply to be a tester.

But in the end it really doesn't matter because of all the links provided, Nintendo, Activision and Bioware were the only folks hiring. A couple other places were looking for testers, whom they termed "volunteers", but there was absolutely nothing that the average person from Indiana, for instance, could use.

So it was on to the job site links. Gee, who would have ever thought to look for a job at Yahoo Hot Jobs? That $34.95 is looking better every moment. So I go to Hot Jobs and type in the suggested keywords, "tester" or "beta" or "game". Guess what? There's hope yet because there are tons of jobs! Oh wait, those aren't jobs. Those are ads for iVideoGameTester.com and IGameTester.com trying to get more people to pay them $34.95.

So the bottom line is this: If you like games, go to manufacturer websites and see what jobs they have to offer. If you are a local, you might just find something. Or, as in a couple of cases, you may be able to volunteer to test games or even get gratuities from Microsoft. What you definitely shouldn't do is to pay someone $34.95 for this information. It is true that information is valuable, but not this kind of information.

If I ever hear back from Microsoft Playtest, I'll do a follow-up post to let you know. In the meantime, if you have a particular site/offer you want me to try on your behalf, let me know in the comments section.