Not sure how to provide proof. If uou have any ideas let me know. I worked for a contractor called Teksystems there for a few months back in 2009. Definitely a cool place to work.

Edit: sorry for the wait. Im at work and using my phone, but i promise ill get to everyone.

Edit: wow brainfart. Aerotek was the agency I worked with at Nintendo. Teksystems was recruiting me for some work for Microsoft at one point. Confuzzled.

Edit: Okay people are starting to get a little uppity so I think I shall end it here. Again, I don't really have any proof, but why would I lie about this? Thanks for the genuine questions, sorry if I didn't get to yours!

Comments: 140 • Responses: 44  • Date: 

Romiress18 karma

Proof? Good proof in this case would be a paystub.

owenpeter-8 karma

My paystubs for this job would be in a file with my parents maybe? I was still living at home when I was working there. Might not be available quickly.

ordinaryrendition9 karma

Why would you do this AMA until that shit was readily available?

owenpeter-7 karma

It was requested inside the other thread so I made it at work. I didnt think it would gain any traction.

flatironsreddit1 karma

Sorry you're getting downvoted so much. I followed you here from the thread where folks were asking for this, so I feel like you just got kinda screwed in the end. Thanks for trying, either way :)

owenpeter2 karma

lol thank you. Just imaginary internet points though, nothing too exciting. I feel like people were expecting me to be like, "and then Shigeru Myamoto comes in every morning and poops on everyones desk, which we feast on for the days rigorous schedule of playing nothing but mario and zelda!". Testing videogames, in my experience, is just like most jobs.

NathanFive17 karma

[deleted]

owenpeter-9 karma

I didnt think it was worth it but it was requested multiple times in another thread so I obliged. One of the guys that sat next to me for a while drank his own piss. Interesting enough?

Donniej52512 karma

Did you ever test any games that got scrapped or never got released?

owenpeter6 karma

Nope. Not to my knowledge.

ratomelo11 karma

List all the easter eggs u remember to have found!

owenpeter13 karma

Sadly none! I wish. Most of the "easter eggs" we found just ended up being bugs so they never made It into the final build.

i_suit_up10 karma

how did you get your job

owenpeter9 karma

A family friend of mine is one of the heads of their product development team. I asked for an interview and after two of them was hired.

KleurenPrinter9 karma

Biggest failure you've seen?

owenpeter9 karma

Hmm hard to say as I only worked on handful of projects, mostly ds titles. I would say that a few of the puzzle type ds games probably did fairly poorly, but the turn around time is so quick im sure its not their main concern.

HoneyBadger931 karma

what about some of those shovelware Wii games? You know, the stuff you can pick up for 5 bucks at the Walmart discount bin?

owenpeter2 karma

Tested a fair share of those. They made for the longest days.

-Ch4s3-7 karma

Was testing fun or did doing it as your job feel like a chore?

owenpeter13 karma

It was fun for a while, especially when I first started new projects. Running that same game from the start for 8 hours a day does, as you can imagine, get a little old.

-Ch4s3-7 karma

Were there any games that made you hate their developers? Like for being super frustrating to play, really buggy, or really hard?

owenpeter14 karma

There was this puzzle game for ds where you played as any number of animals in fancy suits. It was difficult to learn and unsatisfying to master. Given the few weeks I was on it the single jazz track got preeeeeeety old. I still hear it sometimes when I fall asleep.

pensinseven7 karma

what was your favorite product tested?

owenpeter20 karma

Definitley the ds Zelda title. Forgetting the name but you ride a train in it. Spirit tracks? Anyway...not my favorite Zelda title but way better to play 40 hours a week than backgammon or something of the sort.

jimmypopali6 karma

You played it for 40 hours a week and you couldn't remember the name of it? Just lol.

owenpeter6 karma

Lol dude it was 4 years.

iSpaceMS6 karma

  • Any secret that Nintendo would not want us to hear about?
  • Any funny story while working there?

owenpeter4 karma

Not too sure about the secrets....but a few stories. They management there were kind of....kooky.

thesmash5 karma

My body is ready

owenpeter3 karma

One of the head honcho managers there was kind of paranoid. He would like...hide behind cubicles and wait for people to start getting off topic or slacking and jump out to chastise them. Rumor was he also had to go to rehab for a WOW addiction.

owenpeter3 karma

Also there was a guy who drank urine that sat next to me.

Kvaezde3 karma

wait wat?

owenpeter3 karma

Its pretty much exactly as it sounds. He claimed it was healthy, but only three times a day. You meet some interesting people testing videogames

32144324323 karma

This is why AMA is going downhill PESTER FOR PROOF BEFORE ASKING QUESTIONS. He went and said some lame answers answering nothing then says we're getting "uppity" so he's done AKA he has no proof this is fake he wasted our time.

owenpeter1 karma

If you have a good idea of how to prove it then I would welcome it. Some people in the other thread wanted me to answer some questions so I made this one. No ones forcing you to read this and if you insist that I'm lying then just stop doing so. Nobody wasted your time but you.

Errormessage1223 karma

Was there any instance where a project in its earlier stages was complete crap, but then once you tested a later version, it was significantly better? Or vice versa (seemed promising but then later was terrible).

owenpeter2 karma

Not that I can remember distinctly. Since we were testing builds that had already been worked on substantially by the Japanese teams they ended up being relatively clean and polished. Some were more buggy than otheres but on my experience they were pretty good representations of the final products. All the testing I did was software/hardware.

MalignantMasterbator2 karma

How much did you get payed? Did you get any enjoyment out of playing the games?

owenpeter-1 karma

If I remember correctly it was around 10/hr. I did enjoy the environment and the people. The games were a means to a paycheck eventually.

Mr_Rainb0w2 karma

Heyyyy I did this too! Did it in the summer 2010 through Aerotek. The work environment was nice, but the job itself gets incredibly tedious. Text-check on an RPG...I still wake up in a cold sweat.

owenpeter1 karma

Yeah man....options menu testing was my nightmare.

Colbolt2 karma

Do you get some sort of credit in games you have tested? Such as getting your name in the credits of a game.

owenpeter-3 karma

I have heard of that, but generally contracted employees dont get listed in credits to my knowledge.

12341241322 karma

Why is reddit so easy to trick this is obviously fake. He has no proof can get no proof and is giving broad general answers and got the idea from the other nintendo worker IAMA but that guy had lame stories too since he wasn't a product tester or in marketing so this guy made this. Stop asking questions intil he provides proof everyone has ticket stubs etc.

owenpeter-6 karma

Why would I have my pay stubs from. 4 year old job? I literally stand to gain nothing from lying about this. If your dissatisfied with my answers then don't participate in the thread.

i_am_watching2 karma

How many hours of testing do games have to go through before they are released?

owenpeter-2 karma

It all depends on the size of the project. Weeks to months.

krejslayer1 karma

How did you apply for the job? Via an ad or by contacting the company?

owenpeter-3 karma

I got my first interview through a family friend and applied at the beginning.

Jinnofthelamp1 karma

Just out of curiosity, but wouldn't you have signed a NDA or two? Unless it expired very recently it seems you wouldn't really be able to talk about much.

owenpeter-3 karma

Afaik im free to talk about products that have already been released.

WMDistraction1 karma

What was your average workday like? Like when they asked you to play a game, did you have a very specific task that you had to do (e.g., use this item in this area in these ways for so many hours), or did they just give you a general idea of what to look for?

owenpeter-5 karma

Sometimes if there was a specific bug they were trying to recreate to capture It we would do things like that but a lot of it was ad hoc.

nachonaco1 karma

So if there's an Aerotek near me, does that mean they're the one Nintendo works with?

owenpeter-2 karma

I dont believe so.

JagexSucks1 karma

What was the salary? (btw easily one of the coolest jobs ever, I would do it for free)

owenpeter-1 karma

Pretty normal salary. 10/hr If I remember correctly.

CherrySlurpee1 karma

I know its before your time, but do you have a mailing address for the person responsible for the power glove? I'd like my 50 bucks back.

owenpeter-6 karma

Lol

dmalvano1 karma

What exactly did you have to do? Bugs, glitches, overall feel? what were you required to report?

owenpeter0 karma

I was required to identify, capture video of, and report any bugs or glitches according to their guidelines.

lonelyturnip1 karma

What's your opinion on the 3DS?

owenpeter-5 karma

Sad to say I havent actually gotten around to trying it yet. Looks cool though! A little gimmicky, but that seems to be the idea these days.

thewildrose1 karma

What consoles did you test games on?

owenpeter1 karma

Ds and wii

andersst1 karma

Do you go home and play video games after work or are you too stir crazy to do that?

owenpeter0 karma

You know I really gamed just as much. I wasnt playing wii at the time very much so it helped that I could go home and play something different for a minute.

metalshockwaves1 karma

Have you played the Wii U Zelda game?

owenpeter-2 karma

I played skyward sword, twighlight princess on thr gamecube though. Very impressed. Loved it. Would have been fun to test.

theturbanat0r001 karma

What is your favorite Nintendo game? (not specifically that you've tested, just in general)

Favorite non-Nintendo game?

Did you take the job because you're a "gamer" and you love to play video games, or was it more because you needed the cash?

Did you receive free copies of games that you tested, or get any sort of discount?

Thanks for the AMA, looking forward to your responses.

owenpeter-2 karma

-Gonna have to go with Ocarina of time.

-hmm tough one....huge AC series fan. Probably my favorite one at the moment.

-a bit of both really. I was pretty young, and at the time it seemed like a ton of money to me. Plus we got paid weekly which I loved.

  • not on the games I tested necessarily but there was a company store I recieved a discount at.

Brutaka1191 karma

In general, how many games do you think you tested?

owenpeter5 karma

Its hard to say, depending on the size of the project you can be assigned to it for a few weeks or a few months. I would say I probably was a part of testing around ten titles with a little bit here and there with others.

owenpeter-4 karma

Its hard to say, depending on the size of the project you can be assigned to it for a few weeks or a few months. I would say I probably was a part of testing around ten titles with a little bit here and there with others.

proskill1 karma

Oh he's also a barista.

owenpeter0 karma

I am a barista...

Trid_Nation0 karma

Can you recall any efforts made by Nintendo to make new series and franchises? I mean Mario, Pokemon, and Zelda are all great, but something new and fresh would really be appreciated.

owenpeter-2 karma

Almost everything I tested was either an existing IP or a rehash of an older one.

Lmanzo-1 karma

I blame you for the Wii

owenpeter3 karma

2009 I worked there need I remind you.

Lmanzo5 karma

Doesn't matter, this is the internet. I'm mad at something and now someone mildly associated with something close to it is around. You're probably the reason they're getting rid of dualshock controllers for the next PS, too

But really, my bad

owenpeter-3 karma

Blasphemy. Ive heard nothing of thid dualshock business. Say it ain't so?

eoin20172 karma

There are rumours of a touch-screen controller, perhaps laid out like the Vita. Rumours are rumours though. We'll have to wait until Sony officially announce something.

owenpeter1 karma

Hmm yeah E3 should settle this. I really hope they keep making dualshocks as an option though.

eoin20171 karma

I'm very much looking forward to see what Sony and Microsoft are going to bring to the table this generation.

owenpeter1 karma

Im really excited for the new processors. I can't wait to not have to listen to my xbox (first generation) roar when I watch netflix.