I Just Applied for Sony's New Reality Show - The Tester

At 40 years old, I am not your typical reality television personality, i.e. large breasted woman or brainless money whore. Well, ok, I might be a bit of a money whore, but I do posess a certain level of intelligence as is proven by the fact that I somehow successfully secured not one, but two college degrees. And both Mike James and Bubba have bigger Moobs that I do. But I digress. Today I was informed via email that Sony and the Playstation Network are holding auditions for a new game show called "The Tester" in which contestants will compete to earn a position as a contracted Game Tester for Sony. Being a avid and underpaid video game enthusiast, I figured that I would do my best to represent us old farts of the gaming industry, those who many feel are truly "too old to play." So here is my application in full. Enjoy.

* Question 1: What about your personality makes you unique?
I am an older (41) avid gamer who has been involved in the video game culture since the arcade boom of the 1980's. I serve as the Community Manager for 2old2play.com, the premier online community for gaming enthusiasts over 25. In this role I organize events, record interviews with industry personalities, cover events for our web site, write a regular blog and also contribute articles as a member of the 2old2play Press Corps. I also collect vintage home consoles and arcade cabinets and belong to several collectors groups. Finally, my better half and I throw vintage video game BBQ's about four times a year, where we invite our friends over for good food and a little competitive gaming. In short, I have my hands in a little bit of everything. I have media training via my "real" job and can be articulate when I wish to. However, I am also simply a big kid, as is evidenced by my fondness for video games and slightly hazardous outdoor activities such as kayaking, surfing and snowboarding. I maintain two distinct lives: one spent primarily inside playing video games and interacting with industry and community folks, and one spent primarily outdoors with my co-workers and less sedentary friends, getting a little crazy and doing our best to stay young. Finally, I currently do not own a PS3 (though I do have both the PS1 and PS2 with quite large game libraries for both). Though not precisely a Microsoft Fanboy , I do hold an alternative perspective to your typical member and customer.

* Question 2: Describe your most embarrassing moment or experience.

I suppose that I would have to take you back to my youth, to fourth grade to be precise. Before I go into my story, it is of utmost importance to know one fact about my days in elementary school - they were a living hell. I was rather geeky (big surprise there) and was not very popular. I spent most of my time at school with my nose in a book, reading Stephen King or Piers Anthony, trying my best to avoid being noticed by the other students. These efforts were typically a resounding failure and met with a level of verbal and physical abuse usually reserved for poorly directed coming-of-age comedic films. Let's just say that I probably would have gotten beat up by Michael Anthony Hall's character in Pretty In Pink. It was that bad. As a kid we owned a German Shepard/Collie mixed-breed dog. Though fond enough of the animal, I considered her more a source of chores (feeding, walking, scooping poop, etc.) than "a kid's best friend." Every morning I would be forced by my father to walk Bertha's (I swear I did not name her) pen and pick up all the dog crap, which seemed to multiply exponentially overnight. One morning, as I was sitting in first period getting ready for the class, my teacher fixed me with a horrified stare and asked me in an accusing voice "What is that smell and what have you done?" as she pointed to the footrest of my chair, where a large glob of dog sit now resided. I had to spend the rest of the period cleaning up said dog shit to the laughter of my classmates.

* Question 3: Why do you want a career in the game industry?

As mentioned previously, I have been a video game enthusiast for over 30 years and love the industry as much today as I did the very first time I saw a pong game. I dedicate much of my free time to 2old2play, not just playing my favorite current-gen games, but supporting our community of like-minded, mature (in terms of chronological age if not behavior) gaming enthusiasts. In the course of supporting my role as the Community Manager for 2old2play, I speak to and work with a wide array of folks within the industry, from developers and game designers to members of other online communities. I have been deep and lasting relationships with people from Microsoft, Sega, Epic Games, Triton Technologies, SFX_360, Destructoid, The Gamers Garage, The Video Game Outsiders and of course 2old2play. I have experience and contacts in every sector of the genre. I collect video game consoles and arcade cabinets, not only for my own enjoyment, but so I can invite my friends over to play and enjoy them as well. I am an extremely social individual with a love for the industry. I live and breath video games and have the skills and experience to back up my enthusiasm. I am certain that you will get many applications from gamers who are more skilled, more tuned-in and younger that I am. However, I sincerely doubt you will find anyone with a greater depth of personal experience and sheer admiration for video games, the industry and the communities that support both. I am the man you are looking for.

* Upload your Audition Video

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9t9URfuXBA[/youtube]

* Upload your Photo

So wish me luck fellow geriatric gamers. And don't forget that you too can enter for your chance to become Sony's next Video Game Tester at www.us.playstation.com/psn/TheTester