None of the people on this show are doing it because they have a great dream to be a game tester. They are on this show because they want to get some tv exposure and network with some people in the videogame industry. And also jsut have a sweet paid for party for however long they filming for.

Like I barely play videogames and have no interest in working in the videogame industry but fuck I'd do it.

I wonder if whoever wins on this thing gets health care coverage.

Like I'm pretty sure that's why everyone goes on American Idol.

See? That is exactly the problem. It's all of this bullshit that can't decide if it's about gaming or about game development or about complete insanity/luddism.

Yeah, I think Egoraptor probably just wants to keep trying to get his name out there so he can get some major work in the animation/games/humor industry, probably. He's trying to escape the Youtube/New Grounds ghetto of quasi-internet celebritydom.

Of course, he should have just been an attractive bisexual model who played some World of Warcraft. If only he had pursued that career path, he could be hosting The Tester 3 instead of just competing in it.

Snake, don't take this seriously. Remember: 'Reality TV', isn't.

None of these people are as big of douches as they make them out to be. Or they are bigger douches than the show makes them out to be. In any case, the show is edited to show only exactly the right amount of douchiness.

I noticed this when reading some of the background on Top Shot--which unlike so many "reality shows" is more of a gameshow with actual valid tests of ability (you can only be eliminated completely via an actual competiton, for instance). If you ever watch this show, you will see in especially season 2 some of the interview segments make people look like complete assholes who are purposefully stabbing each other in the back, etc. However in reading about the show I have read that contestants have given interviews since the show aired that many of the comments they make are either taken out of context, shown in a different context (such as actually talking about someone else or something else or what have you), or even vastly moved about in time (for instance a comment made about another contestant after the first episode being shown in the tenth episode, or vice versa, that drastically alters your perception of the contestant).

I was really quite annoyed by this, since Top Shot so attempts to be an actual competition and not a "reality show", that the editors/creators insist on creating falsely constructed "reality television aspects" for the show.

Which is not to say that crazy guy in Season 3 was not super crazy, because he really was apparently batshit insane. I think they knew it and let him into the competition on purpose just to see how batshit insane he could be, I guess.

So yeah this Tester show is probably heavily edited, with many scripted parts, etc. If they cannot get actual drama they will create it either through scripted things or "creative editing".

Yeah, a number of the cast members for the Tester have already noted how creatively edited everything is. Like, a lot of the "drama" surrounding Egoraptor wasn't really there. For instance, one scene cut had a number of the other cast members reenacting Awesome Gaiden from memory, or how the judges were the ones to bring up his internet notoriety but the interview was edited to look as if it had been him to first mention it. That sort of thing.

The curious thing that I pick up on:

This is The Tester... 3.

What happened to The Tester 1 and 2? If they're on their third iteration, it's not likely to die just because people aren't paying attention to it, or because it is bad in the same way all reality shows are bad.

I'd say a bottom-of-the-barrel budget and the fact that it's not actually broadcast on television (as far as I can tell) helped them save a bundle of money on this thing. Or Sony funds it as a means of advertizing for their games/company, etc.

you know, we think this is horrid because it relates to gamers, but this is probably how others feel whenever a reality show comes up about their interest or profession.