Watch The Tester 3 – Episode 1

To celebrate the start of season 3, we’ve brought our past two winners of The Tester here to the PlayStation.Blog to talk about their experiences. Both season 1 winner Will Powers (Cyrus) and season 2 winner Matthew Brown (Gaymer) have gone on from their experience on The Tester to full-time careers at Sony. We spoke to both of them recently, and below, they’ve given us their thoughts on being a part of the show, and where it has taken them.

Will Powers, Associate PR Generalist, SCEA
Because of the nature of The Tester, upon winning I was exposed to various media interview requests, all of which had to be staffed by individuals from the Public Relations team here at PlayStation. The general consensus was that during these media opportunities I came off as well-spoken and knowledgeable. There happened to be an opening in the Public Relations department in San Diego, where I was recruited based upon the relationships and impressions that I hadn’t even known I was making as a neophyte within the organization. Now over the past year and a half I’ve been working to help organize events and promote product publicity for various titles in the PlayStation portfolio, including working on The Tester itself.

Matthew Brown, Marketing Coordinator, Sony Pictures Entertainment
Being on The Tester has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Filming the show, testing for Sony Computer Entertainment, going to E3 and meeting so many people, it’s all been an absolute blast and has only deepened my love for the industry and PlayStation. I’ve since moved to Los Angeles and joined the Sony Pictures family (my hiring manager saw the show), where I’m laser-focused on rounding myself out as a marketer and storyteller. I’m confident that as the entertainment and tech industries grow there will be more and more crossover between games and films, and I can’t wait to be a part of that with Sony.

Impressive. Who’s next to win season 3? The best way to find out is to catch the show every Tuesday: Log into PSN to watch the show through your PS3 or PSP, or stay online and watch the show at PlayStation.com. Full episodes are also hosted in Theater 2 in PlayStation Home, where you can get exclusive The Tester 3 avatar shirts for watching the show. And keep an eye on the official PlayStation Twitter for ways to win great PlayStation prizes throughout the season.

Members of The Tester 3 join past cast members, panelist Brent Gocke, and host Meredith Molinari at the LA premiere party.

We hope you enjoy this season!

Jesse Blaze Snider starts off with this month’s lead feature by tagging into Street Fighter X Tekken. Capcom’s Seth Killian sits down with Jesse to discover how this wild mashup was first conceived, how the tag team gameplay works, and what’s going on with those “gems.” He also follows Birds of Steel, a game that rolls back the clock to World War II-era dogfighting.

Then, Tiffany Smith jumps into a future-day Tokyo populated by sophisticated robots that have pretty much tossed out Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics in Binary Domain. While the premise might not be that original, the new ‘consequence system’ that judges your command of NPC’s is interesting, as Tiffany discovered with Director Toshihiro Nagoshi. And don’t miss Toshihiro’s pick for his favorite weapon in the game! Tiffany also checks out Warp to preview the plethora of puzzles and crazy teleportation techniques of a cute alien bent on busting out.

If you missed January’s Qore Episode 45, you can still download it for FREE from the PlayStation Store, or visit Qore’s new episode pages to view individual feature stories right here. We hope you enjoy the February episode of Qore!

The third season of The Tester, PlayStation Network’s exclusive reality series, launches tomorrow, February 7th! We’ve introduced the cast, panelists, and special guests you’ll see in season 3, and most importantly, the grand prize these lucky gamers will be competing to win: a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work as a Production Associate at one of Sony’s most well-respected game development facilities: Santa Monica Studio. To sweeten the deal, we’re also giving the winner a $5,000 signing bonus, 55” Sony Bravia 3D TV, PS3 system, and a 2012 Ford Focus Titanium.

While the past two seasons of The Tester have offered the winners a chance to work as a game tester at Sony Computer Entertainment America, this season’s grand prize is an even more amazing opportunity than before — the battle to seize it will be fierce. This season’s winner will earn the chance to contribute on the studio’s next game and collaborate with some of most imaginative people working in the interactive medium.

To celebrate the season premiere, we’re throwing a Tester 3 party today, February 6th at the Vita Hill Social Club in Santa Monica (RSVP here)! Local cast members from every season will be in attendance including previous winners Will “Cyrus” Powers and Matthew “Gaymer” Brown. Host Meredith Molinari and SCEA’s own Brent Gocke will also be at the club. Arrive early and you can sign up for a PS Vita game tournament to challenge the cast members to win valuable PlayStation prizes. We’ll also be screening the entire season premiere episode that evening!  And, the first 100 attendees will receive ‘The Tester 3’ logo t-shirts. Food and soft drinks will be provided, so show up early. Here is the information for the premiere party:

Date/Time
Monday, February 6, 2012 5:30-9pm

Location
Vita Hill Social Club
2803 Main St.
Santa Monica, CA 90405

We’ve also partnered with IGN.com’s Greg Miller (who also participates as a guest panelist this season) to deliver cast-off interviews each week following a contestant’s departure from the show on Podcast Beyond, one of IGN.com’s most popular PlayStation-themed podcasts. You can tune in each week on Thursday, starting February 9th, to hear our contestants talk about their participation this season, what they thought of the overall experience competing on the show, and living in the high-tech PlayStation Loft.

Starting tomorrow, there are a variety of ways this season to watch “The Tester 3”: Episodes go up every Tuesday afternoon on the PlayStation Store, but they’ll also be streaming on thetester.com and on Crackle.com. Plus, like last season, fans can get together inside Theater 2 in PlayStation Home to watch together and participate in a season-long ‘Superfan’ viewing Quest to obtain coveted virtual item rewards each week.

We’re all extremely proud of The Tester 3 and we can’t wait for you to check it out yourselves tomorrow! Be sure to check back here on the PlayStation.Blog every Tuesday for new updates on this season, as well as on our main site here.

With hissing cockroaches, brutal obstacle courses, and much more standing in their way of the grand prize, our contestants this season will have their work cut out for them.

As always, you can get acquainted with this season’s cast, panelists, and special guests on our site here. Keep an eye out next Monday, February 6 for the full premiere announcement, and be sure to tune on Tuesday, February 7 for the season 3 premiere of The Tester on PlayStation Network!

This edition of Pulse concludes a busy, busy January with a look at the new Soulcalibur V that returns to the 17th century with lots of new characters including Ezio from Assassin’s Creed. Christina Lee also previews the upcoming PSN shooter Gotham City Imposters that pits vigilantes dressed up as Batman against criminals dressed up like the Joker. Predictably, mayhem ensues!

In other dress-up news for you digital fashionistas, PlayStation Home‘s got a new game coming called Wardrobe Wars where you can dress to impress and let the community vote for who’s got ‘it’ and who does not. And, don’t miss a look at the UNCHARTED 3: Drake’s Deception Flashback Map Pack #1 that’s part of the Fortune Hunter’s Club.

Download PULSE, presented by the PlayStation Network in full HD when the PlayStation Store updates later today and also look for the full edition in the “What’s New” section on the XMB.

We thought you might like to take a peek behind the scenes of this state-of-the-art studio to meet some of the talented folks involved in the biggest titles on the platform: Shannon Studstill (senior director), Stig Asmussen (director of God of War III), Todd Papy (design director), Whitney Wade (senior producer), and Deborah Mars (executive producer). You might remember Deborah and Stig appeared as guest panelists in season 2 of The Tester. Check out this exclusive inside look at Santa Monica Studio.

As you can see, Santa Monica Studio is filled with some of the best talent in the games industry, and the very people who make PlayStation’s top games will be teaching and guiding the winner of The Tester 3 in their new role as a production associate on their next big AAA title.

As an added bonus this week, we have a behind the scenes look inside the PlayStation Loft where the cast will be living this season. It’s filled with tons of great games and gadgets, so we know this season’s contestants will feel right at home. Take a look at the redesigned PlayStation Loft in the “extras” section of our main site.

With only 2 weeks until the season premiere on Tuesday, February 7th, we hope you’re as exited for The Tester 3 as we are. Be sure to check out our main site to meet all the contestants, panelists, and guests you’ll be seeing this season, and check back here next Tuesday for a sneak peek at the first episode of The Tester 3.

We’ve also prepared a longer, more in-depth 3:00 minute version that just debuted on an updated official site, which you can view here. As always, you can acquaint yourself with the entire cast, panelists, and special guests on our main site.

We’re also interested in hearing from you: who’s your favorite cast member of Season 3 so far? Let us know in the comments below, and as always, check back every Tuesday for more information on the upcoming new season of The Tester.

After an extended holiday break, PULSE returns today with a look at some of the big games coming in 2012. From the gorgeous Final Fantasy XIII-2 scheduled at the end of this month, Twisted Metal on Valentine’s Day through Spring releases such as the highly anticipated crossover Street Fighter X Tekken, the intriguing Journey, and the ‘build and battle’ of Starhawk, we hope you enjoy these reminders of the year ahead. Christina Lee also takes a look at some of the PlayStation Vita games just over the horizon and also looks back at top game downloads of 2011 with a Top 11 list of the best.

Watch the full edition of PULSE in the “What’s New” section under the PlayStation Network icon when the PlayStation Store updates later today. Remember, you can also download in full HD or to you PSP.

In addition to our returning panelists, we’re bringing in a star-studded list of game industry professionals, who will test the contestants over a broad range of skills necessary to make it in the business and, most of all, whether they deserve a shot at the grand prize. We have a great line-up of panelists and special guests, including:

• John Garvin – Game Director, Uncharted: Golden Abyss and Director, Product Development, Sony Bend Studio
• David Jaffe – Co-Director “Twisted Metal” and Co-Founder of Eat Sleep Play
• Dylan Jobe – President, LightBox Interactive
• Seth Killian – Special Combat Advisor, Capcom
• Greg Miller – PlayStation Executive Editor, IGN
• Nolan North – Actor, Author, the Voice of Nathan Drake
• Todd Papy – Design Director, God of War III

Here’s what David Jaffe had to say about his participation in The Tester 3:

Aside from Mr. Jaffe, you can meet all the special guests right now on TheTester.com. Each of the guest panelists will use their insider knowledge of the industry and vast experience to ensure that the winner of The Tester 3 is the best candidate to join the PlayStation family. They’ll also be incorporating unique elements of their games into the challenges throughout the season, so you won’t want to miss an episode.

Check back every Tuesday for more information on the upcoming new season as we countdown to the February 7th season premiere on PSN.

Jesse Blaze Snider gears up for an extensive ride (and preview) through Twisted Metal. Sweet Tooth and company have lots of new tricks (and weapons) ready to bust out on PS3 and Jesse gets his hands all over them. He also gets his hands on the PS Vita for a sweet preview on how upcoming games are taking advantage of the front and rear touch screens, dual cameras, motion sensors, and cross-platform play.

With so little snow here in California and a warm winter over much of the US, the only way to make some tracks this year might be with SSX. With insane new tricks and environments crafted from actual NASA data, the Qore preview travels to the highest summits of this extreme sports world to experience this thrilling new version.

Last month, Qore dove into Final Fantasy 13-2. Now another RPG is on the horizon from baseball legend Curt Schilling’s 38 Studios with Kingdoms of Amalur. Qore takes a look into the rich world and leveling system of this upcoming debut title.

To commemorate Twisted Metal’s debut on PS3 next month, check out the Twisted Metal theme in the DL center of this episode. Did you miss December’s Episode 43? You can still download it for FREE from the PlayStation Store, or visit Qore’s new episode pages to view individual feature stories right here.

We hope you enjoy the January episode of Qore.