Game Testing is as Bad as Your Story Says

You Sucked Me In

DEAR EDITOR: The article about testing video games ["Crash Test," July 11] was excellent! Informative but also felt like a story. It sucked me right in from start to finish.Erin Fritz

Roseville, CA

It's Bad All Right

DEAR EDITOR: Having been the primary game-test recruiter between January '04 and March '06 for the company mentioned in the story, it was nice to see this world exposed. It is every bit as bad as described in the story, if not worse. It should be said, however, that the game-test recruiting team works extremely hard to meet the (oftentimes ludicrous) requirements placed upon them.

Most importantly, this article shouldn't deter those that have an interest in testing software/games. There are many companies out there that offer a legitimate career opportunity in the industry.Dan Lowery

Seattle

Author not Geeky enough

DEAR KARLA STARR: Thank you for including Magic: The Gathering in your Xbox story. In future references to Magic, however, please kindly clarify that a 20-sided die is not required to play the trading card game. The dice you saw were likely "life counters," which some players prefer to other methods of scorekeeping. Wizards of the Coast also makes Dungeons & Dragons, which does require a 20-sided die.Lara Bain

Wizards of the Coast

Renton

Karla Starr responds: Thanks for the letter, Lara! I'll be sure to update my notes to include the fact that while Magic: The Gathering does not require a 20-sided die, evidently you do need the ability to make voices in the high-pitched style of Monty Python.