The importance of research

Research is used by a business so they can gather information about the product they are going to make or develop. Research is important to discover the public’s trends and wants. Research can find out what people want and then incorporate that into their product to make it desirable to the public. Research can be done in many different ways for example a business may send out a questionnaire for people to put their information on. Some research may not just be about products that already exist it could be about what people would like to see in existing products, this could give the company a unique edge as it would have something existing products may not. Research could also be used to find out how much a small company should be paying their employee’s, for example if a small company wanted to do a project which they had never done before, the company would have to research how much money each individual would have to be given as they would not know, because they have never done that before.

How to satisfy women

In the gaming industry there are more men than women. I think it would be important and a key success for any games developing business, to employ more women as they would be able to bring new trends into the industry which could attract a wider and broader audience. If women see other females in key leadership roles within the games industry, then that would attract more women to apply for positions in the games industry. Also we must think about is the working environment at a standard for not just men but women too, if not then you could think about it like this, would you want one of your female relatives working in this kind of environment? You also need to thin about mixing men and women in the various roles within the games industry, for example you wouldn't want to have a group of males and then a group of females completely separate would you. I think it would be important and a key success for any games developing business, to employ more women as they would be able to bring new trends into the industry which could attract a wider and broader audience. If women see other females in key leadership roles within the games industry, then that would attract more women to apply for positions in the games industry. Also we must think about is the working environment at a standard for not just men but women too, if not then you could think about it like this, would you want one of your female relatives working in this kind of environment? You also need to thin about mixing men and women in the various roles within the games industry, for example you wouldn't want to have a group of males and then a group of females completely separate would you. So to conclude this topic of women in the games industry, businesses should think about employing more women and women should think about gaining a career in the games industry, as it would have a very positive effect on the industries growth.

Quality Assurance Games Tester

A QA games tester is a person who has the responsibility of testing a game to ensure the quality is perfect and to make sure that the game is free of any glitches, bugs and is finely tuned before it is put into the shops to be sold to the public. The glitches that the QA testers look for can range from simple spelling mistakes to complete crashes.

The role of the QA tester is a highly disciplined one as they need the ability to complete games but before a deadline. As they have a deadline to work to a QA tester must prioritise the time they have to play the game so they can find the biggest flaws. To help the QA testers find flaws with the game they use a quality management software. Games testers also have the responsibility of having to anticipate the ways the game will be played by the consumer, so they must test appropriately.The average salary for a QA games tester is £20,500,IT Jobs Watch.(2004) . The entry level role of a QA games tester is usually low qualified games artists or programmers, but they can progress to level design or marketing. QA test can be employed by game studios and game developers, such as Microsoft and Electronic Arts (EA).

Games testers often work in teams so it's easier to test multiplayer games, they must accept when working with other team members that they will have limited influence. They must also communicate with each other constantly whilst playing the game so they do not miss any bugs or glitches.

To find the average salary of a games tester I used:

IT Jobs Watch.(2004).Games Tester.Available:http://www.itjobswatch.co.uk/jobs/uk/games%20tester.do.Last accessed 17 September 2009.