I think my first introduction to the idea of software testing was in an old Nintendo Power magazine article in which they talk to the folks who test the games. (And by old I mean ~ 1990). For a while I thought it would be a great career path and took meticulous notes dungeon crawling etc.

Time passes and I am very glad I didn’t get into testing cartridge based games. I like the ability to patch things too much. Anyhow, via Jen Kilmer is an article called Testing Video Games Can’t Possibly Be Harder Than an Afternoon With Xbox, Right?.

OUCH! Certainly makes QA seem the bottom of the totem pole all right. I’m actually more amazed that that type of testing is even done here. That kind of boring, repetitious testing is exactly the type of thing that can (and should) be outsourced. That way those of us who do actually know what we’re doing and provide higher value to our employers can start to improve the image of the profession.