It’s been a while since we did our last batch, but with the games business having blossomed into a hotbed of ongoing recruitment, it seems like a peachy time to bring back Rare’s in-house staff profiles. Hopefully these will prove informative for those hoping to get into a particular line of work, but also entertaining enough to be worth a read for anyone interested in Rare or a general industry career.
In this edition: David Wong, Senior Test Lead. Testing testing, one two.
Rare: What’s your background and how did you arrive at Rare?
David Wong: When I was at college, I used to make a detour to the local amusement arcade every day rather than actually go to college – I skipped so many lessons that on the day I actually turned up, my lecturer turned round and said “who is that?”.
I’ve always been better at playing video games than doing anything else. My brother actually worked for Rare as an Engineer, and he told me one day that they were hiring Testers. I grabbed the next train down from Scotland and got an interview. My interviewer asked what I thought of a racing game he currently loved, and I basically spent the interview telling him how rubbish I thought it was. That was a very long train journey home as I kicked myself repeatedly for being daft enough to argue with the person trying to give me a job. Miraculously, I still got it, and I’ve been here ever since!
Have you found yourself doing the job you always thought you’d do?
Definitely not. On the one hand, I never dreamed there would be so much work and effort behind getting a video game onto the shelves – it’s pretty crazy actually, and anyone who thinks testers “just play games all day” needs a slap (Easy Dave! – The Management). On the other hand, not ever did I dream that I could be lucky enough to become a Games Tester. I still pinch myself to this day that I’m one of the lucky few doing a job that they really love.
What are your main responsibilities on the average game?
First and foremost, as a Senior Test Lead I’m responsible for making sure new Testers get all the hardware/software/training they need to do their jobs effectively, handling any issues Testers run into that they can’t solve themselves and ensuring everyone knows what they’re supposed to be doing, but after that I have a whole bunch of other responsibilities. Sending builds to our Test Teams and User Research; thinking up ways to increase Test efficiency; acting as backup for our Release Manager; liaising with a whole host of internal and external parties that need to be kept in the loop when trying to produce a game; hosting and attending lots of meetings; training up existing Testers on new processes and new Testers on existing processes; I could go on…
Which Rare games have you worked on, and what’s been your biggest achievement?
GoldenEye, Perfect Dark, Banjo-Kazooie, Viva Piñata, Kinect Sports and Season Two are the main ones, but I’ve basically worked on everything released by Rare from 1997 onwards.
Biggest achievement would have to be getting Kinect Sports out as fast as we did. Considering it was on a brand new platform using brand new Kinect technology, I’m proud of how we managed to turn that game out in such a solid state given the time and circumstances, as it single-handedly revolutionised the way we tested games.
In what ways have advancing technology and motion control changed Testing methods?
When you enter completely new territory, it’s always going to be scary as you have to ask yourself where you even begin to test something that has never been done before. Honestly though, it was a fun journey, because being the ‘vanguard’ allowed us to go into it with completely open minds. In Test we always strive to go one step further than we actually need to, otherwise we’ll never know if we’ve gone far enough. That’s why we began paying more attention to health and safety (e.g. making sure our Testers always warmed up properly before a hard motion control testing session) as well as taking external factors into consideration (such as seeing what effects different floor types and furniture would have on the Kinect camera sensor). But it’s always better to over-test than come up short.
I would also like to add that the introduction of Kinect was a true shock to the system for many of our Testers, who have been used to sitting in a chair all day with a controller. A lot of people got a wake-up call as to the true state of their fitness when they began testing Kinect Sports!
What do you see as the top perk of working for Rare?
The top perk is being at the forefront of innovative tech, and being in the position to use that tech to create fun new ways of playing games. And on a more practical level, being at Rare for so long it’s very easy to become blasé about our place of work, but talking to some visitors to our site recently has reminded me just what a great work environment Rare HQ actually is compared to most other places!
What do you find most exciting about your job?
The most exciting thing about my job is that I’m a cog in a gigantic wheel that spins and spins until out pops this magical creation that is a video game! As Testers, we have a lot more influence on how a game is made than people realise. A big issue is balancing and difficulty, and the dev teams will often accept and take heed of a lot of input from Test in these areas. And of course early in development, Testers are free to come up with their own suggestions for how to make the game better, essentially an opportunity to contribute to the design.
When I first joined Rare they had just released Donkey Kong Country, so everyone always asks me why I decided to apply for a job there when I’m really not a fan of platform games. The way I looked at it, what better way to deal with my feelings than to confront them head on? By joining Rare, not only could I get my viewpoint across to the teams so that they understood the reservations of people like myself, but they could also get through to me all the great things that I was missing out on.
Basically, if you can’t beat them, join them and then subvert them from within!
How would you describe your fellow workers in five words?
Mad, Crazy, Zany, Mental, and Odd (though actually that may just be me)…
What sort of issues do you test for besides gameplay bugs?
Things you could never imagine. We have test sessions where we do nothing but try to break the game by pulling network cables and memory units at inconsiderate times during the game. There are lots of legal issues that we need to look out for, such as making sure nothing in our games is already copyrighted, and checking that the content is actually suitable for the age rating given by organisations such as PEGI.
The introduction of Kinect means we now test lots of external factors that have nothing to do with the game itself, such as the play space environment, lighting conditions, clothing, body size, even hairstyles! There are also a whole bunch of Microsoft regulations known as Technical Certification Requirements (TCRs) that we need to test for – think of these as a quality bar to ensure all games reach a minimum standard acceptable to the consumer.
What’s the interaction like between Rare and Microsoft Test departments?
It’s been great, and I’m not just saying that! We used to work with Microsoft Test in America, and recently switched to working with Microsoft Test in Europe, but in both cases they’ve been really helpful to us. Even though they’re set up differently from us, we always work to complement each other’s strengths, and it’s a true team effort that gets our games to market.
Although when it comes to cross-team multiplayer Test sessions, that’s a whole different ball game (and usually all-out war)!
Favourite Rare game, favourite Xbox 360 game and favourite game of all time?
GoldenEye, Mass Effect trilogy, I couldn’t possibly name one favourite game of all time as there would be around 20 equally as good, but Elite would have to get an honourable mention.
Any good (printable) anecdotes or memories from within the walls of Rare?
Nothing printable 
What advice would you give to anyone thinking of applying for a role similar to yours?
Before you decide to join the Testing industry, I guess the biggest question you have to ask yourself is exactly how passionate you are about games. Being a Tester involves long hours and hard work. It takes a certain individual to be able to motivate themselves to find all the bugs, even after testing the same scene in a game for the hundredth or even thousandth time. On the up side, the reward is that you can influence how that game is eventually made!
Previously in Rare Life:
Ian Bolton, Network Programmer
James Thomas, Gameplay Engineer
Gavin Price, Designer
Steve Mayles, Character Artist
Rich Nguyen, Tools Engineer
Weighing up a career in the games biz? What roles would you like to see covered in future Rare Life columns? Drop us a line and let us know.