What do you do with a new Xbox 360? I had played plenty of games on the 360, but I had never been able to fully explore Xbox Live. I had just read about a new demo of Beautiful Katamari released earlier that morning, which inspired me to download 10 other demos. It was Demo Day.

Once downloading was complete, I couldn't wait to check out Katamari in HD. The manager of an EB Games had told me that the HDMI connection would make a noticeable difference in quality from the component HD cables. He was right – the HD was as clean as any computer monitor. The colors were more vibrant and the text was the sharpest I’ve seen.

I was expecting the Beautiful Katamari demo to begin with a nice little movie of more of the random animals and colors that can make anyone wonder if they’re on some sort of hallucinogenic drug. Sadly, it was just a three-minute level that I easily failed. I am no stranger to Katamari, and I was slightly disappointed by the lack of content. The gameplay itself felt pretty natural. The move from the symmetric PS2 analog sticks to the offset 360 sticks was surprisingly easy. The vibrant world did look even better in HD, but I did feel that three minutes was way too short for me to get addicted again.

The next demo I played was for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. I had heard earlier that the game had captured Johnny Depp’s signature Jack Sparrow walk and I was curious to see what it was like to play as a pirate. The walk itself did look great, as did some of the other movements that obviously used motion capture technology.

However, the walk was highly impractical when most of the demo required running, if not sprinting. The sets and costumes seemed to fit the setting very well, but the camera angles made the game difficult to appreciate. I had to continually adjust my camera, especially to see the highlights on the floor of enemies preparing to attack (necessary to execute counterattacks). The battle system itself felt spontaneous and slightly simplistic, but I felt that it suited the pirate theme. One of the most frustrating aspects was the fact that different voice actors were used than the actors from the movies and the story lay slightly outside the movie. I didn’t quite understand what was going on and the demo seemed to end suddenly.

I then moved on to another movie game: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I am a fan of the Harry Potter series, but I have never played any of the games due to their typically mediocre reviews. I never wanted to ruin the magic of the series, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try a demo.

The world of Harry Potter looked very accurately represented in the game – visually, it was practically a digital version of the movie sets, props, and characters. Many of the voice actors seemed different, which bothered me immediately, but I was still willing to look past it if the gameplay was strong. I began in a courtyard and could talk to many people. Unfortunately, the first person I chose to talk to happened to initiate a game of gobstones from which I had no escape. I played the game for several minutes and lost. It was a close match, but I had no desire to play again when there were so many other things to explore.

I wandered around the courtyard, trying out a couple of spells and talking to a few people. The spell mechanics felt slightly clumsy compared to the apparent elegance of using a wand. Also, I found that talking to people became a bit disturbing – the faces were so similar to the actors in HD that they had begun to cross into the uncanny valley. About two minutes after finishing my game of gobstones, the game flashed a one minute demo ending warning. I raced around, trying to do something so I could figure out what this game was all about. I had just learned about another area of the school when my demo ended. If the game is at all like the demo, it seems like you just walk around and talk to people most of the time. That has never been my favorite part of games. Although this game seemed to faithfully recreate much of the book, I felt that it failed to capture the same sense of fun.

Three demos later, I was not sold on any game. Beautiful Katamari is probably the only game I would consider buying, but I should probably finish the original game first. Despite the disappointment I felt while playing some of these games, I feel that playing demos is hardly a waste of time. I can learn so much so quickly about a game by being immersed in it and playing through several minutes. I was glad to experience three games from series I enjoy without the pressure or expense of a rental.  

After much deliberation and a well-timed price drop, I decided it was time to buy an Xbox 360. I was just about to order one from Amazon.com when a friend asked me, “Since you have an HDTV, don’t you want to wait for HDMI?”

The answer was no, but I ended up doing more thinking and had a long discussion with the owner of an EB Games. He convinced me that the black Elite console really was cooler, as I would need the extra 100GB of space and I could have my HDMI hookup right then. Later that day, I was at a Target in Oregon. There is no sales tax there, so I finally said those magical words, “Excuse me, I’d like to buy an Xbox 360 Elite.”

I had the magical console in my hands and was eagerly awaiting the moment when I could call it mine. I scanned my credit card in the card reader and looked up. The young man trying to sell me my Xbox just 20 minutes before closing was on the phone with my credit card company. Unless someone had stolen my credit card number, there was no way I could have maxed out my card. My mother came to my rescue and the console was mine. I walked out of the store gleefully, and then noticed a thirty-something couple gawking at my purchase on the way out of the store. I must’ve looked unusual, since I was a little blonde girl lugging that heavy console as if it were my own.

The next day, I received a call from the fraud department. They wanted to know if I had charged over $450 at a Target in Oregon. Ten minutes later, I discovered that the sales guy must’ve hit the wrong button and accidentally marked my purchase as fraud. My mom’s explanation was that I had made the guy flustered since I had one of the coolest summer jobs and was going to school to make games. I wasn't sure about that, but I was relieved to find out that I was the only supposedly fraudulent person using my credit card.

Later, I went to a mall with my mother and I convinced her to let me stop in the game store. I found exactly what I was looking for: a pristine used copy of the Xbox game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Since I never owned an Xbox, I missed out on this one, but now the 360’s backwards compatibility changed that. Several of my friends love that game and I was very excited to own it. I walked up to the counter and stared to buy it. “Is this for you?” asked the salesman. I was proud to say that it was, but part of me wanted to roll my eyes. Why was everyone looking at me like I was some sort of intriguing alien every time I did anything concerning Xboxes?

Just then, my mom met me at the counter. She smiled at the salesman and then said, “She tested games in L.A. all summer and she’s going to school at USC so she can follow her dream of being a video game producer.” Uh, thanks Mom. I think this made the salesman a little uncomfortable, as he explained his own interest in games and how he had been taking classes at the local community college. My mom wished him good luck and we left the store.

The next morning, we drove to the airport so I could fly back to L.A. I had bought way too much stuff, so I had to carry on my Xbox 360 along with my purse and a tote bag. I went to go through security and put my purse and tote in the machine, followed by the 360. I hurried through the metal detector in my socks and was about to grab my purse when I was called back. I had to run back through so I could take my 360 out of the box. Torn between leaving my purse unattended on one side and 360 unattended on the other, I hesitated a moment. Then I ran back to the 360 and took it out of the box as quickly as possible.

“Please remember, we need all DVD Players, laptops and Xboxes to be scanned separately!” shouted the TSA officials. I’m sure no one else had an Xbox, but the all decided to say it, just for me.

“So, are you hooked?” asked an older TSA man.

“Actually, it’s what I want to do for a living,” I said, smiling.

“So how much was that thing?” he asked.

“$450!” I shouted as I ran through the metal detector again, relieved to be reunited with my purse.

I didn’t have enough time to hide the 360 in the simple, strong canvas bag my mom had loaned me until I reached my gate. I was definitely proud of my console, but the little boy who shouted, “Look Mom! An Xbox!” reminded me of my desire to carry such a high-profile item under the radar. That one console had definitely drawn more than enough attention to me already.  

Summer is coming to an end. For me, this meant leaving the regular workforce and returning to school. I have never had a summer job like testing games and it is surely an experience that I will never forget.

“Was QA what you expected?” A coworker asked me this during my last week. I was speechless. After all, what did I expect? I vaguely remember thinking that the testers sat on beanbag chairs with clipboards, staring intently at huge, glowing screens in a darkened room. This was not quite the reality, and the work environment certainly surprised me.

QA is typically a low-level, temporary job, so it attracts a wide variety of people. What I didn’t expect was finding so many smart people. It takes a certain kind of person to play games all day, and there were definitely a lot of passionate gamers. Questions like “Alliance or Horde?” are never out of place. People tended to have similar hobbies, like reading comics. News of free comics in the break room created a crowd that would rival that of a once-a-year designer bargain sale. I once had a conversation with a friend about how he used to hide his nerdiness from his friends, but when he became a tester, he suddenly felt like he was the least nerdy of us all.

I am certainly going to miss some things about my testing job. I had a lot of fun being one of the only girls. I would overhear guys talking about how their girlfriends did the most puzzling things or sharing dirty jokes. I was treated like one of the guys most of the time and it was a lot of fun. I kept thinking how ironic it is that I once wanted to be a journalist for womens’ magazines – I could’ve gathered great source material for an article about what men really think about when they’re not around their girlfriends.

The sense of camaraderie will probably be what I miss most. There’s an unmistakable bond that grows between people who spend nearly all day together (especially during overtime). By the end of my few months, I knew what my coworkers liked to eat and drink; I also knew many of their hobbies and most of their girlfriends’ names. It was fun to have inside jokes about our game and repeat the silliest lines at opportune moments. It’s weird to think that I left that entire world behind and I will never see most of those people again.

I’m really glad that I was able to spend a summer doing QA. It feels great to actually be a face behind a game – I ended the summer with my name in the credits of two games. I am proud to have been a part of my testing team and have a small piece in the production of a few games. I hope this is only one of many steps into my career in the video game industry.  

The DS has quickly become my favorite console these days, as it bears little resemblance to the larger systems (like the Wii) that I use at work. On the recommendation of a friend, I picked up Final Fantasy III (FFIII) in the hope that it would provide the same rewarding experiences as the RPGs I had played on larger screens. When Puzzle Quest wasn’t satisfying my need for a deep storyline, I finally decided to check out FFIII.

FFIII immediately reminded me of Chocobo Tales. The touch-screen controls and the character designs were very similar to that other game I enjoyed so much. However, the combat system and extensive menus were as advanced as any other Final Fantasy. I felt at home right away; the blue and white dialogue boxes and menus were a pleasantly familiar sight.

FFIII seemed fairly straightforward, but the winding dungeons and caverns soon drove me to the internet to search for a map. Since this was a DS game, I had thought that I wouldn’t need a strategy guide (unlike every other RPG I had played thus far). My friend had warned me that the game could be difficult, so I was definitely afraid of making a mistake. The random battles occur very often, and being lost for just a few moments can mean the difference between life and death.

I doubt that I will purchase a strategy guide for this game, but it has definitely changed the way that I play it. I tried really hard to take the turns that would lead me to treasure chests, but sometimes I would accidentally advance the game and lose access to those items forever. Strategy guides have so often served as my mentors in those games, allowing me to progress efficiently and remain one step ahead of the enemy. In some ways, it was almost a form of companionship.

In my job, there are no strategy guides. You play the game so many times that you probably learn it better than the author of the guide. However, on a first play-through of the game you may miss some things. Just like the platform I missed week after week, certain secrets may remain hidden from even the most competent testers. When I have played new games, especially on overtime shifts, I have found my fellow testers to be incredible resources. If I get stuck in a certain area for more than five minutes, I’m not afraid to ask for help.

Despite my lack of a strategy guide, I have been having fun with FFIII. It seems to be a strong game with nice graphics and a cohesive storyline. It would be nice if the game were a little more forgiving to those of us who have never played it before, but I can always find help online if I get stuck.  

I’ve heard horror stories about the crazy hours of the entertainment industry. Whether it’s for a film or for a video game, many people sacrifice their free time for the jobs they love. I understand the cost of following my passion by joinging the game industry, but I had never been tested as I was recently on my QA job.

My QA team was told that we would be working overtime on evenings and weekends. This meant working 9-6 on my normal game and 7-10 on a different game during the week. Then we would also work on the weekends from 9-6. This was not optional. We had to work overtime until further notice.

Fortunately, I didn’t have to work on the same game all day during those long weeks. I could work on a different game in the evenings and sometimes on the weekends, helping to reduce the monotony. In the evenings, we worked right alongside those who were not as fortunate as us – those who worked on the same game over 70 hours a week. After a few weeks of overtime, you could see the signs that these people were going crazy without a break. One of my co-workers kept a tally of how many days he worked in a row. He worked 22 days straight before Human Resources told him he had to take a couple of days off.

I try to do my best in any job I do, and my QA job has been no exception. I put a lot of effort into my work and it wears me out. I worked 11 days in a row before I had to take a day off. While I knew that I could continue coming to work, I became physically sick from the lack of sleep. I was spending nearly two hours in the car each day for my commute, but I would often be too buzzed from staring at a screen all day to fall asleep as soon as I got home.

I have no problems putting in long hours. I am prepared for that reality when I enter the field full-time after college. Before working overtime in QA, I had never experienced first-hand what it’s like to come back to work on Monday and have completely worked through the weekend, confused becuase my work week had never ended. I am not afraid to experience that again, as I know that it is what people do in order to work in a career they love. If anything, my experience of overtime had given me a greater respect for the long hours that many people put in each and every day. After all, if I come home and can only complain about playing video games all day, my life really can’t be that bad.  

It was a lovely night in here in LA. I was about to go to bed, as I had to wake up early to get to my QA job the next day. I walked out to say goodnight to my roommates, who just happened to be having a lot of fun playing the incredibly popular Guitar Hero II.

"You want to play?" one of my roommates asked. I refused at first, but he persisted.

"Maybe just one song," I said.

I slung the small plastic guitar around my shoulders and instantly felt cooler. I selected a moderately easy song and began to play. I could probably count the number of times I’d played that game on one hand, but something about this night was different. I quickly got the hang of the controls and the song began to sound like it should. My roommates cheered me on. The percentage of notes I hit was consistently improving as one song turned into two, then three, then more. I finally pulled myself away and I went to bed, excited from newfound ability to 'play guitar'.

I had never been strongly attracted to Guitar Hero before. My sister had it and would play it in our house, so I had complete access to the game. I like rhythm games, but this one was pretty loud and hurt my fingers. However, that night made me realize that Guitar Hero can be addicting. You can have literally no knowledge of music and suddenly you can "play" a song. The game is structured so that you feel like you can play just as well as the real rock stars without actually doing all the work.

In a way, Guitar Hero feeds off your ego. Simply by having the word 'hero' in the title, it implies that you have done something great and possibly extraordinary. Within a few hours, you can develop the necessary skills to play harder and harder songs in the game, catapulting you to star status in an incredibly small amount of time.

I spent seven years of my life as a dedicated classical musician. I practiced one to two hours almost every day. Practicing is not at all glamorous. Music requires some of the most intense dedication of any career. With an instrument like the flute, taking just one day off can mean a huge difference in tone for the next one or two days. In some ways, Guitar Hero is almost a cheaters’ method of playing music; it feeds off nearly instant gratification and the satisfaction of playing beloved tunes. In real music, you can play songs you know and love, but it takes a lot of hard work to get there.

While I hesitate to say that I disapprove of Guitar Hero II, I find it hard to love a game that ignores the dedication it takes to become a great musician. I think this game can be a lot of fun, as long as people remember the difference between pressing buttons on a controller and genuinely playing music.  

Playing games all day and getting paid for it seems like a dream come true. Working in video game quality assurance, however, is a different matter. While my QA summer job means that I am testing games all day on the Wii, Xbox 360, or PS2, it is not the dream many would imagine. I play one game almost exclusively during my 40-hour week.

While I am not allowed to reveal details about the title I test, I can admit that it can be beaten almost twice in one day. I do enjoy this game, but continually beating it can take some of the fun out of it. Fortunately, I was placed on this title earlier in the testing process so I have been able to watch it improve. One of the most rewarding parts of my job is reporting a bug and seeing it get fixed. In a small way, I can have a direct impact on making the game better.

One of the strangest things about testing is how you can literally do the same thing every day. When I come home, I can list the same accomplishments (beating the game, collecting all the special items, etc.). What separates the days from each other are the experiences that are generated from gameplay, most prominent in multiplayer testing. Even if I find a seemingly fantastic bug one day, I find that nothing compares to the human element in multiplayer testing.

The addition of only one person can make all the difference. The other player can reveal a new play style, making me more aware of the ingrained habits that limit my ability to test the game for the many different types of players who will play the game. It took me over a month before I was shown a small area that I had never known existed. What was common to the other player was a new discovery to me in the game I thought I knew like the back of my own hand.

After being hired as a tester, I began to fear that this job would forever take the fun away from games for me. I once heard an experienced tester explaining how he had crashed nearly every commercial game he had ever played, including Guitar Hero. While my experience as a tester would only last three months, I still feared that I would become bitter toward games, which are inevitably flawed. Like humans, games are never perfect, and the constant pressure of budgets means that many games are released before they are fully ready.

Now that I have spent a few weeks as a tester, I am happy to find that I still love games. Unfortunately, my desire to play console games has diminished greatly, due to my desire to save the strain on my hands and avoid the monotony of doing something that might feel like my job. I get paid to play parts over and over even if they’re frustrating, and I have no desire to experience similar frustrations at home with other games without getting compensated. Fortunately, my DS still feels like an entirely different experience (as it is a portable console) and I have found that I am still excited to play it once in a while. I only hope that I will still feel that way after several more weeks of testing.