A reality TV show with gaming nerds competing to fill a spot as a Sony game tester? Count me in. I’ve just started watching The Tester on the Playstation Network and it’s a weekly episode with new ones every Thursday that’s available for free to download. Thousands of people have entered to be a part of the show, but only 11 were chosen. Cyrus, Star, Roni, Luge, Doc, Amped, Big D, Nauseous, Barmy, Fame Girl and Goof were the finalists. The only one that truly fit the bill of a nerdy gamer is Barmy and Goof, but this is me stereotyping.
Each episode, Merdedith the cute host lays down the rules and the contestants compete in challenges somehow relating to being a video game tester. At the end of each episode, the three judges, Hal Sparks (Spider-Man 2), Gocke and a guest judge decide who gets the axe. David Jaffe of God of War makes an appearance as a guest judge, and Naucious gets his pants wet.
I don’t know much about being a tester, other than from what I saw on Grandma’s Boy, but I’m going to assume from what people tell me is that it’s not really a dream job. The thought of getting paid to play video games sounds fun, but what you really have to do is check for bugs and go over things in detail, quickly becoming repetitive and let’s not forget the deadlines. After having said that, I believe the contestants either a) believe working for Sony is the greatest thing in the world or b) just wants to be on a reality show.
In Episode 1, the participants’ first challenge is a test involving a photo hunt with two similar-looking images, where they have to spot the differences. It’s funny to see Goof nervous and eyes popping out. I guess that this tests the contestants eye coordination needed for testing. Episode 2 challenge has one team member communicating through a bull horn while the other two follows direction inside a clear plastic ball. Episode 3 features more teamwork with a football-type challenge where one person launches a ball into the air and the other 3 team members uses a circular net to try to catch it and dump it down a bucket.
Maybe the grand prize for winning isn’t all that great, but the show is entertaining. We get to see gamers forming alliances, , gamers crying, Cyrus trying to get with Amped, Doc being a major douche bag, Goof being goofy, Barmy being socially weird, and Luge talking with her cute Brooklyn accent. If I was a betting man, I’d put my money on Luge, since she has been performing consistently throughout. Gasp! A female gamer winning? Tune in next week for my next report.
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