This isn't just someone who doesn't watch reality shows or sticks his nose in the air about them. For example, American Pickers and the recent Kevin Smith Production, Comic Book Men turned out a real treat for anyone who's a fan of the history of American culture. No, the Tester is a whole sub-genre on it's own, which I will dub the social geek reality show.


These are shows that, like most reality shows, mess with the confines of what can be construed as fact or fiction, but based around geek, nerd or dork stereotypes. I think one of the earliest iterations would be Beauty and the Geek, which began airing in the US sometime around the mid 00's and was produced by Ashton Kutcher.


While The Tester doesn't go too far into exploiting the social anxieties and pitfalls of being a man child or gaming culture. It does take a few shots, for example in the pilot a contestent is asked whether they still live with their parents. The person answers yes in a normal manner and the editing of the show cuts to the judges and other contestants looking shameful. While this is a simple editing trick, the show still sways you like every other reality show.


But here are the Five Biggest Flaws with The Tester...and how Sony could fix them.

1. Some of the challenges are ridiculous

This is the first for the most obvious reason...it's obvious. Some challenges are explained and are more metaphorical representations rather than actual problems they would face in the world of gaming business. The worst example was in the recent season where the players had to construct a car in the second episode. The car itself and it's construction was a metaphor for working together and for showing how all the components are necessary.


However, when the car's were completed the judging took place and Twisted Metal himself, David Jaffe was not pleased with the construction and vilified all the contestants for their work. I can't build a small car and I would not expect anyone to be able to do it on the fly...ever, unless they had a degree in mechanical engineering.

How to Fix This:  Put them in real high power decisions. I think a better idea for the show would to set up the players with a fake company of their own. They choose the logo, people who work with them and their first game. They get different tasks based on decisions, beta testing and what it takes to truly get a game going.

2. The Prize is too vague

The title of the game, is The Tester. The gamers are trying to get a position that will have them being testers and the whole show is a test. Okay, I get that, but the prize itself is often a bit vague to the audience. I mean, if Sony were to bring people into the show who weren't gamers. They wouldn't know what Quality Assurance is and why we should care. I think QA's are important on every game and are underrated in my opinion, especially those who do a good job and provide great feedback.


The problem I forsee with the prize, yes, even in it's third season, is that the prize was increased to a physical prospect, in this case, a car, plus being able to work at Santa Monica Studios as a Production Assistant. To be fair, it's hard breaking into any creative industry, especially the world of video games, but the work of different people needs to be beefed up more for the series.


How to fix this:  The show should explain what the testers do and what the other contestants are up to. It'd be great if Sony talked to industry veterans who started out in such a role or maybe even a follow up series where the winners of the series are up to in their career.

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