Although many gamers don't realize it, they can actually practice & improve their game testing skills without actually being a professional video game tester. "Is that really true?" Yes, it's 100% true. You don't have to have an actual testing job to be able to practice game testing; you just have to own a console and have a few games.
"Okay, I have a next-gen console and I have games, now what?" Well, it's really quite simple; you just play the game(s) as a video game tester would. What that means is you can't just sit down and have fun with the game; you have to analyze it, evaluate it, and be aware of everything that is going on on-screen. In retrospect, you won't be playing the game, you'll be testing it. Although that may not mean much to regular gamers, it means all the difference in the world to a video game tester.
To begin practicing, simply start up the game and begin playing it. While you are playing, try to relax your eyes and let yourself take in the entire screen. This will help you to locate more bugs and glitches, as your eye "reflexes" will be more susceptible to irregular movement. This may sound a bit strange, but it actually works.
You have to realize that as you play a video game, you get accustomed to seeing certain things. After awhile, these "certain" things become oblivious to you and it's almost as if they weren't even there. This means that when you relax and just let your eyes do all the work, you will be much more likely to pick up things that don't quite belong in the picture; rather than accusing everything you see as being a bug or a glitch. Having the "is that a bug/glitch?" fever is something that you definitely don't want. Before long, you will be interpreting everything you see as a bug/glitch and you won't be able to handle any type of testing jobs. This is precisely why relaxing is so important; because you can't force the bugs and glitches to come out, you have to sit back & wait for them to show themselves.
Since you are playing a finished game, you obviously won't come across nearly as many bugs or glitches as you would have otherwise. However, that usually isn't a problem. Why isn't it? Because you're looking for bugs/glitches and that's what really counts. Whether or not you find anything matters little; it's the fact that you are getting into the habit of actually testing video games, rather than just playing them.
To become a video game tester, go to Job Games Tester: How to Become Video Game Tester
del.icio.us