Dear Fellow Gaming Enthusiast,

If you ever wished there was a way to spend even more time gaming without being hassled by your friends or family to “go find a job”, this is going to be the coolest thing you read this week…

You see, with the release of the latest next generation gaming consoles such as the PS3 and the xBox 360, the demand for new video games and PC games is exploding! Because of this, game design companies are creating and releasing new and advanced titles every day.

BUT - before these games can be released, they need to go through a testing phase to make sure they play well and that all the bugs are caught and fixed before the games are released publicly.

To do this, many game design companies send out free BETA versions of their games to be tested by avid gamers. The best part is, many will even pay you to test and write reports about the playability of these games!

How would YOU like to have a “job” like that?

The thing is though, not everyone is qualified to be a video game tester. Furthermore, because there are so many unqualified people who want to “get paid to play games”, it is very hard to get good information on becoming a game tester.

That’s because the game design companies don’t want a bunch of “freebie seekers” contacting them for free games. Instead, they want serious, motivated, hard-core gamers who can provide quality game testing services for them.

Fortunately, if you’re serious about becoming a video game tester, I’ve put together a very informative FREE REPORT about being a game tester. Inside this report you’ll learn:

• How to know if YOU are really “game tester” material…

• Where to find REAL game testing jobs - both freelance and full-time…

• How to successfully apply for game testing opportunities…

• What is expected of you as a tester…

• How to get a continual stream of new assignments…

• How to go full time…

• And More!

So, if you’re serious and really want to learn the secrets of being a video game tester, I invite you to grab a copy of my report for potential video game testers. I’m looking for a few more hardcore gamers to introduce this material to, so for a very limited time, this report is FREE - but only if you act fast!

After you submit your information in the box below, just check your email and you’ll be on your way.

This site allows you to download and test new and beta release games for your Playstation Portable. One-time access fee allows you unlimited access to tap into and download from the database. Hear about a new game you want to test? No problem - just e-mail their support team and they’ll get it for you FAST.

Click Here To Check It Out

Enjoy!

Sincerely,

Hitoshi Jones

Visit: http://www.betawatcher.com to hook up with the latest games in open and closed beta. Not only great fun, but it will help you gain the experience you need to get the high-paying game testing gigs.

Assuming you’ve already finished the necessary courses and built up some references from freelance work, you may now be ready for a full time job with one of the large players. Be warned though, it’s not all sunshine and roses. Here are some things to be prepared for with a full-time video game industry position.

1. Game Ideas Are A Dime A Dozen

Whatever you do, don’t expect to get any respect for your “game ideas”. Large video game design houses already have all the ideas they need for new titles. The only thing they really need is people who can bring those ideas to life. That’s why programmers and those who can design computer graphics and animations are in such high demand.

On the other hand, if you can come up with ways for your company to bring a game from idea to market faster, cheaper or more profitably, you’ll find that your employers will be all ears. After all, even the the video game industry, profit is still the bottom line.

2. Game Design And Development Takes Time

If you’re the kind of person who likes to see quick results once a project starts, you’re going to be in for another surprise. Game development is a slow and tedious process with most games taking anywhere from 6 months to several years before they are ready to be released.

To make things even less rewarding, most companies will have several games in development at the same time. That’s because they know that most of the games they produce won’t be top-sellers and they want to lessen their risk. You have to be ready to handle months or more trying to make your title the best even while knowing your company has likely spread its bets around.

3. You Need To Be A Team Player

Even if the game you worked on turns out to be a hit, you’re probably not going to get all the recognition you feel you deserve. That’s because most projects in the game industry will require you to work as part of a large team. Different members of the team will be responsible for different aspects of game development.

In fact, you may not even see those working on other parts of the game during development, as there maybe another person or group of people responsible for pulling all of the pieces together. If you’re not a person who can appreciate the inner-satisfaction of a job well done along with your paycheck, this can be a real downside to working full time for a big name in this industry.

4. Bonus Tip: Don’t be too discouraged though. There are still other jobs in the video game industry that can be very rewarding both personally and financially, such as being a freelance video game tester. In fact, you can find many of these types of testing opportunities by visiting this link right now.

1. Always Follow Up

Once you’ve completed a game testing assignment from any company or publisher, you should always consider it just the beginning of your relationship with them. After your assignment has been sent in, make sure to contact the company and ask them if they received your material. Also, make sure to ask if there is anything you can do to improve your game assessments for them. If they have constructive criticism to offer, make sure to note it down and apply what you’ve learned with any future jobs.

On the other hand, if the company is pleased with the work you turned in, make sure they know you would be glad to test for them again. Following up on completed assignments and showing that you’re willing to do whatever it takes to be useful to the game publishers will help ensure they keep turning to you for more work.

2. Promote Yourself

There may be periods of times when there aren’t a lot of testing assignments available. That doesn’t mean you should stop testing and reviewing games. Instead, these slow periods are the perfect time to promote yourself on your own. Set up a website or blog and publish your own reviews and criticisms of new and upcoming game titles. Make sure to feature your name and the fact that you work as a paid game tester prominently on the site. Also include your contact information.

To promote your site, visit other gaming review sites and blogs and leave constructive and useful comments on the posts there. If available, be sure to leave a link back to your website. Also, include your website URL on your business card and along with all correspondence you have with game companies. Doing this well will help you come across as a very experienced and professional tester and increase your value and the demand for your services.

3. Attend Industry Functions

Although it is easier to stay in contact with game companies through snail mail and email, nothing will increase the demand for your game testing services like networking in person with others in the industry. Massive gatherings of video game company representatives and insiders such as the yearly E3 summit and Tokyo Game Show are the perfect places to introduce yourself to people who can provide you with more assignments. If these large shows are out of reach for you, there are usually smaller events held in major cities on a regular basis such as those put on by the Game Developers Conference.

Although the above tips are quick and easy to implement, most game testers won’t put the effort forward. If you are serious about this stream of freelance income, all you need to do is be one of the few to take action on the above tips to help ensure the assignments keep coming.

Bonus Tip: Keep your list of industry contacts up to date! If you want full access to current assignments available for video game testers, click here.

These naysayers want people to give up their dreams of making a living doing what they enjoy. Of course, not everyone who wants to work in the gaming industry will succeed - that’s the same anywhere in any industry. But telling me I shouldn’t encourage people to follow their dreams - that’s just plain silly.

To that end, here a few ways almost ANYONE who enjoys gaming and has an internet connection can start making at least a bit of money from their passion, with just a little research and effort. I know, because I personally use the last two techniques in gaming and a variety of other markets - and it has provided me with plenty of extra income.

These methods are ways to actually get paid to play video games at home, doing what you’re already doing, but with a little cash reward at the end of the tunnel.

Online Gaming Contests

There are at times numerous ways to make money online by entering online gaming contests. You can compete with your fellow scrabblers, compete in tournaments via your favorite online game, or join one of many sites like WorldWinner that offer popular desktop computer games in which you can wager and win large sums of money if you’re good enough.

Of course, this probably isn’t going to provide a full time living ;), but a little cash reward incentive can make these games even more exciting. I mention this one only to put it on the table - it’s not a method I personally use but some might want to look into it. Let’s turn to more serious methods next - ones that I personally use myself to generate income…

Writing Simple Game Reviews

You’re playing the games anyway, why not write about them? Video game reviews are everywhere on the internet. Everyone writes them, but you can actually turn them into money if you’re savvy enough with the resources the internet offers you for free.

If you write well and play enough different games, start a blog and write game reviews for it. If you grow your readership, write decent reviews, and supplement your blog with news stories and video game ideas, you can position ads from google or commission junction and make money from your reviews.

Where To Start:

http://www.blogger.com from Google allows you to start a free blog AND place Google’s contextual advertisements (adsense) on it - you get paid when visitors read your blog and then click out on the ads. (Make sure to read and follow Google TOS - never click on the ads yourself.)

Also, http://www.squidoo.com allows you to create free webpages on any topic - including video games and reviews - and they will pay you a share of all advertising revenue generated on the pages you created.

Same goes for http://www.zimbio.com

If you like gaming and can string words together into a few coherent paragraphs, options like the above are a great way to earn money from your interest in gaming.

Writing FAQs and E-books

Speaking of writing, there is an even more lucrative opportunity for those with the time to invest. If you’ve ever looked at GameFAQS or searched for “World of Warcraft on eBay”, you’ll know that tip guides and e-books filled with gaming guides are everywhere, they are in demand, and they sell.

Someone has to write them though, and it might as well be you. If you’re a decent writer with a thorough approach to gaming and good advice to give, you can turn that guide into good money. Sell it on eBay for a couple of dollars or offer it on forums or message boards. You can also convert them into PDF format and sell them through services such as http://www.clickbank.com. I personally make hundreds of extra dollars per month with this service.

If you can prove that your advice is helpful and well written, there are plenty of gamers who are willing to pay for your tips, and support your desire to get paid to play video games at home.

Before I forget, here’s another place that will pay you upfront for short guides, reviews, articles - and even homemade videos about your favorite games:

http://www.AssociatedContent.com

Other than the first option - which is probably more akin to “gambling” - all these other options are legitimate and straightforward ways to making money using your knowledge and passion for gaming.

Bonus Tip: Again, these are easy and free ways to get started. Then, when you want full access to current paid assignments available for video game testers, click here.

Any of these are good reasons to consider the industry, so where do you go for video game design career information? You’ll need to be proactive, getting out there and putting forth the effort to make the most of your interest. Here’s how to start.

First off is schooling.

For any video game design career, you’ll need to get a two to four year degree in the field you’re interested in first. Devry, ITT Technical Institute, and many of the Art Institutes all offer programs that will prepare you for the video game design field as well as offering you tons of video game design career information through their programs.

There are other more traditional schools, such as The Digital Media Arts College in Florida, which offers extensive Bachelors Degree programs in video game design, as well as Collins College in Arizona. Almost anywhere in the nation though you’ll find a program that will help you get the video game design career information you need.

Know The Industry

But, just getting a degree is not necessarily enough. Many careers require some level of experience or knowledge of the industry, possibly even just a few contacts from within. Regardless, you should be familiar with the various game design companies.

Not only should you know which companies you’d like to work with when it comes time to apply for jobs, you should know what they produce, familiarizing yourself with their output.

You should know that EA has multiple studios that produce Sports games, action games, and movie license among many others. You should know that if you want to work for a Japanese publisher, you might need to know a little Japanese.

Get Out There and Network

Once you’ve familiarized yourself with the industry and are on your way to having a degree, you should look for video game design career information in the most information packed places of all, the trade shows and publications.

You can find endless amounts of information at these shows, with every major publisher out in full force. Though E3 has changed its format this year to a smaller invite only summit, other major shows such as the Tokyo Game Show (once again, Japanese helps), or the Game Developers Conference offer plenty of chances to step in and grab information or meet and greet with designers.

And if you can get invites to any industry events, either through school or press credentials or through networking with industry insiders, you can find yourself in a position to land a great job designing video games.

The real key to finding good video game design career information is to step out of the box and take real initiative. You had better have a keen eye and a willingness to get your foot in the door and meet lots of people. There are hundreds of opportunities out there if you’re willing to make the effort in exploiting them.

BONUS TIP: If you’re just starting out in the video game industry and want to get your foot in the door, you might want to learn how to become a video game tester first. You can start now by watching this FREE game tester video by clicking here.

Research

Full-time game testing is harder than many tout it to be. Not only are you responsible for daily to weekly builds of a game, with very carefully detailed note taking and repetitive replays through broken levels, but you’re likely to spend long hours meeting your deadlines, and a lot of that time writing up reports rather than playing video games.

For any video game tester jobs you apply for you’ll want to do a lot of research before you go to your interview. Know exactly what kind of games the company you’re applying for makes, what their budgets and development schedules are, and how many people they employ.

When they ask you questions about your availability and dedication you’ll be able to give specific answers regarding the hours and duties you’ll be stuck with.

Rehearsing

Like any job, you should be ready for any and all anticipated questions. If you feel like your video game testing interview might involve questions of which games you play and why, have good answers ready. Don’t offer the typical response you’d give your five buddies on a road trip, such as “I dig fighting games”.

Talk about the details in game design, and mechanics that draw you to that genre. It helps if you tailor this answer to the kinds of games the company you’re interviewing with makes. Also, you’ll want to be completely prepared for the actual work involved in this job. Rehearse answers to questions about details orientation.

Have examples ready of when you were exceptional at keeping track of a lot of small things at once. Don’t relate every question they ask back to video gaming. You’re applying for a game tester job, but it is still a job, with multiple duties.

During the Interview

Like any other interview, you need to look good, be prepared, and try your hardest to relax. Keep in mind that most game testing jobs are not extremely high paying, but you are still combating dozens of other interested applicants. Carefully balance your responses like any job interview, not speaking negatively of old jobs, but not dwelling on the video game aspect of your potential job.

The Job

Full time video game testing, as I’ve mentioned, is a hard job. It’s a great job for those truly interested in video games, but you will be playing the same game, in broken modes for weeks if not months, uncovering bugs, taking meticulous notes and getting revised editions with almost the same details weekly. It’s a great job for those in love with the industry though, so when you interview, make sure to follow all of the standard interview rules while keeping in mind the complexity of a game testing job.

BONUS TIP: If you’re just starting out, you may want to get your feet wet with part time or freelance video game tester jobs. Click Here To Learn How

If you’re an avid video gamer and while sitting at home playing your favorite game, you think to yourself, “I could do this better”, video game design might be the perfect job for you someday. But there are some key skills you’ll need to have before you can enter the field and truly make an impact on the video game market. Here’s a description of the most important ones.

Programming

Everything you see in a video game is boiled down to 0s and 1s, the basics of programmers everywhere. If you decide to aim for this job, you’d better start early. Programming is the building block of any good video game design job. If you’re great with numbers, better with details, and don’t mind spending long hours staring at a computer screen looking for a missing line of code, programming is a great place for you in video game design.

You’ll need to learn a combination of three to five different programming languages to be really successful in this job, so you’d better be prepared for a lot of work. While C++ is the groundwork for any programming job, you’ll also be learning Java and Visual Basic to supplement it.

Most video game design uses a combination of whatever works in a given situation to get the job done. If you’re in high school though, interested in a job in video game design and programming, you should try your hardest to take courses in or learn C++ as preparation.

Story Writing/Game Theory

For every good video game, there’s someone (or many someones) whose job it is to write the story and develop the ideas for the game. You might think this sounds simple, having sat in your basement telling your friends how much better you could do at writing the ending for a particular game. But there’s just as much schooling to get a job writing or brainstorming ideas in video game design as coding.

For writers, you’d better get a decent degree in creative writing or English. Most video game design jobs require at least a Bachelors degree in English to apply for a story writing job. Second, they want experience, so start early, working on projects in school, taking specific courses in Game Theory and developing long story lines for use in video game design projects.

Your job will be writing dialogue, script and concepts for a massive world with hours of interaction. You’d better have a decent idea of how you’re going to do that.

Computer Animation

The face of video game design, the job that everyone thinks of when they envision their future designing video games, is computer animation. First off, you’ll need to still learn the programming languages of your programming coworkers. This job requires a lot of different skills, many of which are programming languages. So C++ had better be on your resume along with Maya, 3DS Max, and a handful of other image rendering mega-software.

Video game design courses are perfect for the potential Computer Animator as well, as you’ll learn how to operate vast, high tech computers and machinery and utilize the newest software in doing so.

Computer Animation requires not only the technical expertise of a programmer, but the visual, artistic mastery of a story writer or sketch artist. This job requires the best of both worlds in the video game design industry.

There are plenty of jobs for all different skill levels in video game design. If you’re capable of writing a good story, drawing a decent picture, or remembering vast strings of numbers, you can find a job in game design. It’s all about where you’ll best fit in.

BONUS TIP: If you’re just starting out and want to get your foot in the door in the video game design industry, you might want to become a video game tester first. Click Here To Learn How