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Archive for June, 2010

Pokemon Ruby carries the same charm, the same appeal as all the other Pokemon games. The concept behind these games is simply brilliant, perfect, in that sort of “simple genius” sort of way. It’s not that it’s some far out idea that happens to be brilliant, it’s just that it’s such a smart idea that it’s strange that it wasn’t capitalized on before Pokemon did it. It’s really pretty obvious, when you think about it.

The appeal? These games combine pretty much everything kids love. The most obvious aspect of this, the core of what these games are all about, is the fun of collecting. In real life, collecting can cost a lot of money, and it can turn you into a pack rat. In a video game, there’s room for as many items as you can find, and while you have to work for them in-game, they don’t cost you (okay, your parents) any money.

Let’s get the disclaimer out of the way from the start: Nintendo’s presentation blew me away. The 3DS announcement has me more excited about a console than I’ve been for a long time, and the list of games that Nintendo rolled out will keep me occupied for a long, long time.

But at the same time I am concerned that Nintendo has failed at E3 in understanding the games industry, by failing to acknowledging that the industry is changing, and failing make any move to address those changes.

That change is the slow but steady move from retail-based gaming to online. Just about every major publisher has recognised the shift: EA, acquiring social networking vendor Playfish last year, was very candid that it was reducing the number of retail games it would publish, while hoping to substantially build its online presence. Square Enix, too, has been steadily developing its iPhone capabilities, and it too has turned its eyes towards social networking games.

I’d like to preface by pointing out the most important characteristics for a game tester to have.

1) A hard worker will really shine in this industry if he/she keeps at it.
2) The ability to work well with others also plays a strong role in this team oriented job.
3) Good writing skills are a necessity for the experienced game tester.
4) A good tester needs to be able to stand repetitive work for long periods of time.

If you have these qualities than some jobs in game testing might be right up your alley. A funny thing happens when you try and find jobs as a game tester, the community you test with becomes your family.

Testers work long and often odd hours to fix a particular bug or whatnot. This means a good portion of your time will be spent with your teammates conferring about the situation at hand.

1. Download the client- Blizzard has a free download of the game on their website, so you don’t need to buy the discs and install them one by one.

2. Make an account with Battle.net- This will allow you to play all of Blizzard’s games under one e-mail.

3. Upgrade WoW- World of Warcraft has been patched up many times, so you need to download those patches to play the current version of the game. It may take a while, but it’s worth it because you will be able to start the game after it’s fully upgraded.

4. Create your character (toon)- Before you enter Azeroth, you need to actually make a player to control. You first get to choose your race/faction and then you choose your class.

Copy a 360 game immediately if you plan to maintain it any length of time. When you make a backup of a game you are preventing the need to buy it again if something goes awry. Each game outlet has a bank of games that they feature, some of them inexpensive, others not so much. If you do not find the game that you are looking for, and you have a particular title in mind, then hit the search engines online. The more listings that are available, the more likely you will find this game either cheap or at the very least not pricey.