Video Game Testing: Is It Legitimate?

Many people would love to have a career as a video game tester. Have you seen the movie 'Grandma's Boy'? It looks like an awesome job! But are jobs like that really out there or is it just a scam? Many people hear about scams like these and dismiss this job as being non-existent.

And whilst 80% of jobs sent by email or posted on the Internet are scams, the good news is that 20% of them are real. And yes, you do get paid. The even better news is that you don't need any previous experience, only a love of playing video games. All console platforms such as Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo and even PC require testing.

So Who Pays for the Video Game Testing?

All companies require their games to be tested, whether they are new or still in beta testing mode. The reason? If they don't get tested, then errors, glitches or bugs may occur in their games. Did you know that before Halo 3 was released; over one thousand testers were required to test the game? A small glitch could cost millions of dollars to gaming companies. As a result, they need gamers like you and me to test them and of course, they pay for our time!

How Can I avoid Scams and Get a Real Opportunity?

The best way is to ask around. Join forums and gaming communities and interact with other gamers. Check video game developer websites and look for vacancies. One must also remember that you should not pay for the opportunity to test a game. After all, you are providing them with the service!

The thing that you need to remember is that you will struggle to make it to the big gaming companies initially. If you receive an email or offer, chances are it will be a scam. Why? Big companies will not risk their million dollar launches on a new video game tester. The most common job will be for some low key company with a small budget and small pay. You will need to work your way up the ladder, but the long climb can definitely be worth the wait!

My Honest Thoughts on Dominate Mafia Wars!

Massive multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPG) are the current trend in a colorful history of computer gaming. We have come a long way from playing solo on arcade machines and the Z80 computers. Using AI to compete against humans is slowly being replaced by player versus player games as they hold more fun and the replay value increases exponentially. Now millions of people are using online games like World of Warcraft and Mafia Wars to compete against other human opponents in real time to achieve objectives being thrown at them. The real goal in all these games is to dominate your opponents taking advantage of the system and exploiting the game logic to increase in power, wealth, magic etc.

I discovered Mafia Wars a long time ago when it was still in its infancy. It is based on making a mafia family and managing all the people and business through which your family will exert control over the game world. This will be the closest I will ever come to actually being a member of such a group let alone head it so I developed an instant taste about it, pun intended.

During the course of my membership, I observed that a lot of top players made it to the apex at an unusually short time sometimes making me wonder if they were actually cheating. So I set on a course to find everything I could about how to use the system itself to help me in the same way. I am happy to say that the search was not in vain. I discovered how to dominate the Mafia Wars through lot of information available online at websites and personal blogs of players.

I also found a lot of documents detailing the procedures which top players employed to get them the advantage which excelled them to the top. Tricks are taught on how to start the mafia family with the proper statistics, what mission to take during the initial stages, how to exploit the opponents and finally, how to evade the law. Resources like dominate mafia wars helped me to refine my game playing methods and take the fun to a whole new level.

Practice alone is not enough when it comes to gaming. You have to be a really good observer of the game mechanics to be on the top. This will require you to share knowledge with top players and take advantage of techniques and secrets used by them. While you can always hope to befriend the guys at the top, resources on how to dominate the Mafia Wars are available online. Enjoy playing games and see you at the top.

Gaming Desktop - Enough Power to Run Anything

When you're thinking about gaming desktop, you're not just thinking about awesome gaming rigs capable of displaying the most realistic visuals out there, but a machine built with every specification to suit demanding applications. Gaming PCs are configured to run the best modern games today, but they can also be used to work in high-end applications which demand a lot of hardware power to run properly. You can use a gaming desktop for a whole array of tasks, ranging from video / audio editing, graphic design, 3D design or any other application which demands a lot from your system's hardware. With this in mind, think about all the benefits you can get from owning such a machine: not only can you game hard, with stunning visuals; you can also work a lot better since it will cut up loading times and improve your work-flow quite a bit.

Usually, such a desktop will incorporate a high-end CPU, with more than one built-in core. These are great for gaming, and are also great for multitasking when your job requires it. Since most applications rely heavily on the amount of information that can be processed, having a powerful processor by your side will improve the way you work by cutting the necessary time needed to get the job done by a decent percent.

You'll be able to run most applications with a quad-core without having to suffer from system halts or choppy operation.

Some of the new line of processors that recently hit the market has come out with the Hyper Threading technology built into them, which allows each separate core to take on two sets of instructions at once. What does this mean for you, the user? Well, in layman's terms, if your system is equipped with a quad-core with Hyper Threading technology, it will act just like an octo-core (just like having eight separate cores on your system).

The same line of new processors also incorporates the Turbo Boost technology which balances the processing power with the power consumption for a more "green" machine. When you need to run games or demanding apps, all cores will fire up to keep up with the application; but when the system is idle, the processor will step down to about 1600MHz to save power and deflate your monthly energy bill.

So having the central processing unit covered, it's time to move on to system memory. True gaming desktop will have plenty of RAM, since it's needed in large amounts for games to run smoothly. The lowest amount of RAM a gaming PC should be having nowadays is somewhere in the range of 4GB. Having this minimum amount will insure the application will run great without glitches or crashes. This is also great if you intend to use your gaming computer for something else rather than gaming.

Graphic designers, for instance will benefit from the added RAM to their systems, since they use applications which do demand a lot from a system, from processor to system memory. It's isn't unusual for them to run at least 2-4 applications at once, so the multitasking capabilities will come in handy.