Is video game testing a thing of the past

Jonathan Bester from ITF Gaming writes: "For several years now we've had the luxury of having the latest patches for our games delivered directly to our consoles via the respective console's online service. While this has been great, there has been a sharp decline in quality when it comes to the initial launch product. It seems the days of quality assurance are numbered, as unfinished products reaching the consumer have become quite prominent and as such the need for day one patches is becoming more common-place."

[iamnsuperman]

It is sad to say but why should they bother. We now test the games. As long as it is playable people just assume it is the norm and will be fixed. I wish publications (review sites) take bugs into their review scores (non patched versions) as they can hold some sway.

I do miss the era of developers making sure their games work. Now it is rare to see a game with only minor bugs.

[ITFGaming]

Our publication never patches before the review. We tend to prefer reviewing the original title and not the patched version, which is how it should be.

[darthv72]

since the ability to deliver patches to console games, that is when QA dwindled and we the consumer became the guinea pigs.

It saves the company $$$ on having a dedicated team to do the bug tests but puts the consumer into the position of handing the dev their ass if the game plays like crap.

We have become spoiled on not wanting to wait to have the latest build in our hands. We have become accustomed to the fix it while its out in the wild routine.

I used to always want to have a job as a game tester.....seems these days I got my wish.

[Soldierone]

Funny thing is we have had a few games where they said "don't review this" or that until after a scheduled patch released.....

[Ser]

And that's the attitude that is killing off QA in the gaming industry.

We have to stop being so accepting of these things and start hitting companies hard when they deliver unfinished products.

This would require a giant push in unison, though. And I doubt most video game purchasers even care about the situation enough to cause too much fuss over it. They're content with just going into Wal-Mart and picking up a copy of the new game that released.

[kneon]

I'm trying to do my part, I don't buy Bethesda games until they are at least 6 months old. I was thinking of finally picking up the Fallout New Vegas Ultimate Edition. By now it's as good as it's going to get.

I should have also held off buying RDR but I can't recall a single review pointing out the numerous game affecting bugs. I'm not talking about the all too frequent graphical issues in RDR, it's the bugs that impact game play that really bother me.

[Solid_Snake37]

MGS4, DS and UC3 are probably the only games that had little to no bugs in sp this gen

[TopDudeMan]

Absolutely. Now it's pretty common for a company to just release a game riddled with bugs and wait for fan's outrage before fixing it.

[Monokhs]

this is why i rarely buy games on day 1. i usually wait like 2 or 3 months

[Kratoscar2008]

This gen has made the developers a bunch of lazy bastards, im glad that those people didnt decided to be Doctors i wouldnt had liked to be their patient.

[kneon]

While sometimes it may be developers being lazy I think that's probably the minority of cases. I think the main problem is that with the huge development budgets of most games now the bean counters want the game released as soon as possible, ready or not.

[Kratoscar2008]

But that doesnt excuse them to launch a game with bugs, because thats assuming that people must have an internet connection wich believe me there are people that cant afford one.

Is like ignoring the health safety regulations when processing meat just to meet the monthly deadline, that just not right.

[kneon]

I'm not saying it's a valid excuse, I'm just saying that it not necessarily the code monkeys that are at fault. If they are told they are releasing on a certain date no matter what then there is only so much they can do.

[nihonlight]

*Cough. BETHESDA

[GammaSix]

its ridiculous how some of these games can come out with such piss poor performance and that seems perfectly fine with them. Bugs nowadays are way more annoying.