The Tester, Season 3 Episode 1

I've been meaning to write something on this since I first saw it. The first episode of Season 3 of the tester aired on the 7th of February, 2012 and it would have been a fresh review had I done it then but I really didn’t enjoy the experience of watching the show and have been mulling about it in my head ever since. I haven't seen the previous seasons up to this point but so far it seems like a half hour commercial for Sony Products. The show itself, busting out hissing cockroaches, is less than classy with its competition but I will admit it does test the mettle of its contestants. Firstly, I enjoy the contestants on this show; they’re gamers with some very interesting personalities and much less spray tans. They are all like-able in their own ways as they needed to be voted onto the show in the first place. To be honest I’m only watching this show for Egoraptor, he’s been making me laugh since I was in high school, so it’s been at least 10 years. His views/reviews on certain games have made me think critically about the games I play and laugh about the more nonsensical parts of them.

 

Watch it, and you will understand!

So, after the cast had been introduced and Egoraptor exposed as the one to beat we were introduced to their living quarters. Their place of living is sweet-awesome, it resembles my dream abode and I shall have it, it will be mine someday! They’ve got systems set-up for competitive games and all sorts of Sony memorabilia, good times but also adding to the commercial aspect of the show. Finally, we got into our first competition.

The competition is having your head in a box with a bunch of hissing cockroaches whilst undergoing an interview! Great? Dunno, but those involved would need to keep their cool while answering piercing questions like, "how many trophies do you have?" For the most part, all did well with the roaches, some were interesting and funny, and some interviewed better, while others talked about some random stuff. The most significant contestants were:

Ashichan – Was the first to volunteer, had a great attitude and seemed super keen and likeable, I was looking forward to future episodes with her.

RealityPalez – By far, he interviewed the best and had me sold that he knows much about studios and their development history.
Skyd1ddy – Hilarious, so funny that they added in affects afterwards to follow his commentary, giving him imaginary superpowers. He needs to stay until the end, he’s entertaining! 

Egoraptor – Seemed to be walking into a deathtrap with this one, I feel like he was answering questions honestly but not focusing on his own personal selling points which he brought up later when questions by the judges during elimination. It’s interesting because Egoraptor gets more hits on Youtube than the Tester does. They posted the episode online and a week later it has (at the point of writing this) just over 88,000 views while Egoraptor’s 30 second Saint’s Row cartoon has nearly 10 times that with over 800,000 views and it was released around the same time. I don’t think this show will be getting Egoraptor any new fans as I bet most of the views for the episode were probably Egoraptor fans anyways. 

Kwajamonster – By far the worst interviewer, she talked about an embarrassing moment in explicit detail and didn’t seem to have any game-related questions. It was difficult to watch. But the judges were entertained….? 

"Actually, we're all Egoraptor subscribers too, love that guy."

Here’s the thing, I watched Egoraptor’s panel at MagFest just prior to watching this and he gave off every indication of not only being humble about his success but also very personable and passionate about what he does. I’m not sure if the job interview was just edited (with music to emphasize) in such a way but (and I’m not for lack of bias) the judges really annoyed me with how quickly they made up their mind with him. Here’s what I’m worried about here, and it’s something that I’d desperately like to know from Egoraptor himself, “is any of this real?” Let me explain why this is of concern.

After the interviews ended we are shown that Ashichan is one of the people going home because she wasn’t memorable enough. I found both her spirit and her enthusiasm unforgettable and the judges talked about quite a few redeeming qualities; she was also the first to volunteer for the competition which shows initiative. If she was so forgettable then how could they list so many of her stronger points? My theory on this is that the judges probably thought she wouldn’t be as entertaining for the show. I mean, she went first which gives her bonuses but they weren’t enough apparently. Another girl, Kwajamonster, spoke about very personal and embarrassing material, not being able to stop herself and thus providing more entertainment than Ashichan apparently. So, what are the judges basing this decision on? I’d have to say entertainment value, because from my first impressions Ashichan has the required spirit for a producer (or basically Gopher) position and certainly didn't let her mouth run wild.

Secondly, it seemed that Egoraptor was about to go home. The question he was asked was, “what do you think’s going to make you stand out” and his response was honest. Egoraptor said, “I’m funny, I got an audience, I think I’ll pull in the watchers” and that his motivation was a combination of wanting the position and the attention. He seemed to be selling his position on the show rather than for the job itself. It was then followed by being questioned on how many trophies he has, too few apparently as your trophy number seems important for the job. I’m gonna say I kinda understand this as it’s a SCEA position, but they never asked him, “do you have any experience in game-design” or anything equivalent. The next interviewer was of a Gamestop employee who basically said when she’s selling products she’s biased towards PlayStation. Is that an honest answer? Not really, Xbox is comparable if not superior to PS3 so she’s obviously coddling the judges doing the opposite of Ego or maybe she is unethical in her work practices.  it was a short clip which summarized that saying what they want to hear is more important than honesty. When they finally explained that their decision to consider sending Egoraptor home was based on his apparent cockiness/attitude and lack of want for the position, Egoraptor apologized, explained his experience in game design and thus what makes him fit for the position and was given a chance to sleep on the couch. Now, here’s the thing, I’m convinced that if they let go of Egoraptor their viewers would drop significantly. I’m already of the opinion that Ego is better than this show, maybe not the position itself, but the show? Heck yeah. They then posted the episode on YouTube with Egoraptor’s face on the front image, further emphasizing their priorities in keeping him and losing the point of "humbling" him. 

This is how I reacted to getting the bottom bunk too

Regardless, I’m writing about the show so it’s obviously got enough material to gripe about, which is better than nothing. Overall, seeing Egoraptor humbled is not something I needed to see, it was harsh, it’s been a knot in my stomach all week. I hope it doesn’t happen again, love you Arin.