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Seen@E3: Will 'Cyrus' Powers, happy to be a Tester
Remember Will "Cyrus" Powers, winner of the PSN reality series, The Tester? He appeared at the E3 PlayStation.Blog meetup (in addition to surprise guest Hideo Kojima) and we talked about how life is as a video game tester. With realistic expectations of a not-so-glamorous job, Powers felt welcomed by SCEA and even teased about some initiation rituals. Powers did make it clear that he doesn't intend to stop at being a tester, looking to rise the corporate ladder. With the support of a surprising number of fans (check Twitter!), he might just be able to do it.
TT Games production chief: Kids are the best video game testers
[Image: Kidperez] Forget Will "Cyrus" Powers. If you really want to know if your game has what it takes, you need to turn to an eight-year-old, according to TT Games production chief Jonathan Smith. "They are the most efficient quality filter," he said in the new issue of Official Nintendo Magazine. "They get to it quicker than anybody else, because they'll just say if something doesn't work. The smallest things could ruin something, and they'll get bored and move on." ... OK, so here's the pitch: "The Tester 2.0: Lil' Wage Slaves." It'll be just like the first one, only it's all eight-year-olds. There will be none of the awkward sexual advances by the more backwards contestants but (and we're adamant about this) twice the drinking. *ring ring* "Hello? What's that, Mark Burnett, producer of reality show hits like Survivor and The Apprentice? You say you're retiring because you've heard there's a new kid in town whose big ideas are taking Hollywood by storm? Well, that's very flattering, thank you. Have your desk empty by the end of business." [Via CVG]
Interview: Will 'Cyrus' Powers, winner of The Tester
Here's something you haven't seen on The Tester, Sony's PSN-exclusive reality series: winning contestant Will Powers (aka Cyrus) receiving a novelty $5,000 check. We had a chance to chat with the next PlayStation game tester, who talked about his aspirations and why he decided to pursue such a difficult challenge for an entry-level job in the games industry. Joystiq: What was life like at The Tester behind the scenes, when the cameras weren't rolling? Will Powers: When we were awake, they were always rolling. It's just a matter of what made it into the final cut or not. Essentially, the dynamic of the house, everyone was really competitive. They set us up with a couple of PlayStation 3 systems and multiplayer games, and an air hockey table. It didn't matter what we were doing. We were always competing at something, which was kind of ironic. When we had down time from actual challenges within the competition, we were still competing.
