Fujikoma.com Blog

The Tester
Available only on the Playstation 3 Network

I’m not a fan at all of reality shows. The last one I got into would be The Simple Life only because I love Paris Hilton but gameshows, fit club, dancing and American Idol I’ve completely avoided. That being said, I love playstation and gaming so this was the exception I had to make.

I came to the show with an open mind. I expected corny jokes, goofy music, and most likely a lack of any actual gaming, and its exactly what I expected. Its got a fun premise and wow working for Sony would really be a dream so this is something cash can’t buy and must be earned. The celebs are also right up my alley so no has-been actors, but instead real game creators and people who have definitely had experience in the gaming industry.

The first episode wasn’t too bad. We got to see the attempted losers who didn’t make the cut. It really made you wonder how many entries were submitted! The introduction was nice and set the stage for what we were about to see. This was probably the only time in the series we actually get backstory and thoughts of the players that aren’t related directly to the days events. I really wish they’d flesh out the characters more. Watching the teams and their colors I’m highly reminded of Nickelodeon gameshows with “Green Team” “Red Team” “Blue Team” where nobody has any names and you’re really just rooting for colors and not people.

The side stories on the characters are short and don’t really say much. I would actually like to hear of whatever mini love affairs go on, give me some Real World if there’s stuff happening behind the scenes. Lets see some backtalk or small discussions. It seems the only characters who got that were Doc and Luege, but even then it seemed forced since she was a pivotal character on that episode. Can we get more info on Star’s change from being guitar hero & WGC champ to making the move to sony tester. A lot of character building could help the show out otherwise its another nickelodeon show where we could care less who takes the crown.

As cheesy as the humor is, its got its moments. For the most part its a facepalm on all the comments, stuff you’d expect from VH1s I Love The 80′s where people comment on the obvious. There’s some off the wall stuff (Beerios) that’s in there just for ridiculousness I’m sure. Doc totally takes the cake as far as the humor bit though some others are unintentionally funny.

The games are fun. While I have to agree it doesn’t have a lot to do with videogames its got some kind of meaning in its intentions. Its more physical in the recent episodes and the majority of episodes and hard to tell if there was any kind of preconditioning for this other than “You’re going to be doing a lot of running today”. I’m actually curious where the locations were because one episode they’re saying how cold it is and the next they’re wearing shorts and tshirts. I actually thought the first challenge was Really interesting in that you had to look for differences between two photos and would love to take that test myself, wish theyd integrate more like that.

Can I predict the winner? Maybe. You can already tell who the keepers are. Amped the cheerleader is just eye candy, Doc the comedy sidekick, and Star the hardcore gamer back to claim another win. Everyone else you just hope they make it to the next round but aren’t really disappointed when they miss. Since you don’t get to know who they are beyond their intros and commentaries on the mostly obvious things going on for that day, everyone is all the same. They get the weirdos too like Barmy which are only there for the oddball factor ala Pants On The Ground kind of effect. It’s gonna get intense the last few rounds really so I will be following this show to its final episode for sure.

Conclusion

(Don’t read further if you haven’t watched the final episodes)
Down to the final episodes they really cranked the drama. Much like on WCG, Star was put on the spot several episodes and even made the cut when nobody thought she would. In a final heartening move she sacrificed herself on the show to another contestant which was a bold move, especially comparing to how cutthroat she was on the other show.

The final match between Cyrus, Amped, and Naucious was really intense with not only puzzle, and speed skills, but a final Final match seeing who could blaze through a round in Uncharted 2 Train Stage. Cyrus came out a winner, got his $5k signing bonus and position as Game Tester for Sony. Way to go!

Cyrus happens to be a regular user on gaming forum N4G where he let us know about the show, asked our thoughts, and while he didn’t give us any spoilers, he did tell us some inside info on the show. It’s the first time I’ve indirectly communicated a star of reality TV and its pretty damn cool. The other contestants in the show post from time to time as well but not as frequent as Cyrus. On the official Tester forum on Playstation I even drew Fan Art of the characters for fun and three of them replied, wow!

If you’ve got a PS3 give the show a watch. Its original programming and definitely adds value to owning a PS3.