Some people dream of nothing more than being able to become a video game tester. Education can be an extremely important part of becoming one. Video game testers are in high demand due to the fact that it is getting more and more expensive to make video games. Because of this, video game companies want to make sure that the products they put on the market work flawlessly and are enjoyable to play. This is why they hire people to make sure that they are!
Education?
Many want to become a tester and wonder if they need to have a specific education in order to make their dream happen. It honestly depends on exactly what you want to do in the video game world. If you are looking to design games, you will want to study computer programming. If you want to be able to draw and create the characters and background, you should go into graphic design.
Some believe that, by becoming a video game tester, they will be able to work their way further up the ladder in the video game industry. It depends on exactly what you’re wishing to do. If you believe that you are going to become a programmer after testing video games for a year and with no training or experience, you are unfortunately wrong. Programming takes a long time to learn, and it’s very rare that someone who has no training in it can work as a game programmer. If, however, you wish to become a games tester supervisor simply from being a video game tester, that goal is possible.
Writing
One of the best things you can do if you want to be a video game tester is to take courses in writing. Most video game testers have to report their findings in writing to the programmers. If the programmers are unable to understand, what you are trying to write, you probably will not go far. They want testers that they can understand, not testers that have a hard time explaining their findings. This is why taking writing courses is extremely important.
If you take writing courses you can also pursue another avenue of video game production: writing the storyline. The video game companies need people who are able to write the storyline and the dialogue. They appreciate people who have imaginations and are able to explain difficult concepts.
If you’re looking to become a tester, you may want to think about taking some courses, simply to be able to get ahead in the gaming industry. If, however, you’re more than happy playing video games all day, you probably do not need to worry about getting any more training than you already have. Remember, to be a video game tester education is not necessary, but it can always help you if you want to get ahead in the industry!
By: Michael Addison
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Filed under Business by on Jun 16th, 2010. 
Many gamers dream of opening their own video game store someday. What would be better than working around video games and always having a huge selection of games you can play? If you are looking to open your own video game store here are five tips to keep in mind.
1. Location – The location for your video game store is very important. A space in a new strip mall in a nice neighborhood will be very expensive and might be hard to afford when you are first starting out. But opening in a bad section of town with low rent will limit the number of people who will come to your store. Choose a location on a busy road and near some other stores. Many of your customers will be parents who will buy from you when they see you driving by.
2. Online Sales – Even though you have an physical store doesn’t mean you can’t sell online too. There are many sites like Amazon and Half.com that allow you to list your inventory for free and only pay a fee when it actually sells. Plus you can start your own online store using pre-built packages for a very reasonable price. Your online store can be up and running in a number of days.
3. Used Games – The glamorous part of operating your own gaming store is the new games, but they are not going to pay the bills. The money is in the used games. Be sure to buy and sell used games at your store. They have a larger markup than the new games and customers will buy more from you if they can trade in their unwanted games for something else.
4. Pricing for Games – If you are going to sell used games you need to know how much to charge for them. The prices for the games vary widely based upon how old they are, how rare they are, and the condition. Is the game rare and sells for $50 or does it sell for $2? You should subscribe to a video game pricing service to help you determine the value for each game. There are several sites that offer monthly subscriptions to their price guide which save you valuable time and help you price the games correctly.
5. Service and Selection – You probably won’t be able to compete on price against the Gamestop’s and Best Buy’s of the world. Instead focus on a wide selection and knowledgeable staff. Don’t be afraid to carry a few copies of some niche titles so the ******** games can always find what they are looking for. Used games are a great, low cost way to expand your selection. Make sure you hire people who know video games too so they can answer customers questions and have a decent conversation with someone about a game they liked.
Hopefully these tips will help you when starting your video game store. It can be a hard, demanding experience but very rewarding too if it succeeds.
By: JJ Hendricks
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Filed under Business by on Jun 16th, 2010.
Originally, suppliers of these video games were usually the marketing department of the company that made the video games. As the competition for the production of new video games and its marketing heated, affiliated companies involved in the manufacture of video games began to realize that they can save more if they just concentrate in video games production and let other middlemen do the marketing for them. A perfect example of leverage and delegation for sure!
This concept gave birth to the wholesale distributorship of video games. Soon, wholesale video games distributors were already the ones supplying the video games need of both the online and offline retail outlets.
With this set up, wholesale distributors will purchase from the video games suppliers or maker of the video games the finished products and will be the ones to distribute them to their respective retailer outlets at wholesale prices. Depending on their arrangement with suppliers, the cost of marketing tools like stickers, leaflets, posters and even TV and print media ads will either be shouldered by supplier or wholesale distributor.
Some knockout differences between the two and things you should know about how they conduct their business most of the time. In Terms of Ownership: Suppliers are usually the sales department of a firm engaged in the production or bulk distribution for some companies for video games.
Originally, they were supposed to be tasked the marketing and distribution of their products, but to save on cost, they are now mainly the servicing department for privately owned wholesale distributors who would purchase their products in bulk orders and distribute them to online and offline retailers at wholesale prices. Thus, suppliers are owned by the manufacturer of goods while distributors are privately owned firms that buy goods in bulk from the supplier.
In Terms of Function: In most cases, video games distributors have exclusive contracts with suppliers that would make distributors the only firm to market the video game products of their company. As such, suppliers will have only to sell direct to the wholesale distributors.
On the other hand, wholesale distributors will be the one who will function to market the products they bought from the suppliers. Their distribution of the video game products will include both online and offline retail.
In terms of effort, it is the wholesaler distributor who is tasked with the burden in making sure that the video games will be popular with players. But in terms of profit, he also has the most to gain because of the volume of transaction that he handles among the video game retailers that he supplies.
In a sense, video game distributors have the freedom to be retailers as an additional option to maximize profitability while video game suppliers would be more than happy seeing their products well marketed by video game distributors. So what is better for you may be the next question you may ask perhaps?
By: Joaquin Reveron
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Read more on Video Games Suppliers or Video Games Distributors For Business?…
Filed under Business by on Jan 22nd, 2010.