willynateDgreat
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Hey guys,
I thought a few of you may be interested in hearing about my experience doing some video game market research for Chamberlain Research.
http://www.chamberlainresearch.com/games/
I live in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and signed up for this several months ago. At the beginning of April, I finally got a call to come down and play test a game that's coming out later this year. I did sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement), so I can't actually share too much about the game that I played, but I can share a little bit about the experience overall. BTW, this IS a longer post.
There were only four people in the group that I was with. I was by far the oldest (at 31). The rest of the crew were teenagers. After hanging out in the lobby for awhile, we were lead into a room with 6 TVs/PCs. Each of the TVs were hooked up to developer kits for the Wii, PS3 and 360 (developer kits mean BIG $$$).
After an introduction from the moderator, we were given a description of the game (imagine it to be like the box blurb) and asked to fill out an online survey that asked if we'd buy the game based on it's description.
Before getting into the game, we were told we should "think aloud" while we were playing - expressing our thoughts and frustrations, things we noticed and ideas we had while playing. The moderator said he was no way involved with the making of the game and that we wouldn't hurt his feelings with our criticisms.
From there, we jumped into the single player and got to play for about 30 minutes. Again, I can't share anything about the game at all (sorry). I did try to share some thoughts and did rip into a few sections that weren't working very well. The moderator took notes on a pad of all the different player suggestions/emotions during this time.
After the 30 minutes were up, we completed another online survey and prepared for multi-player. The game crashed a few times (which is normal during these sessions apparently), but then we were up and running. The multi-player was fun, and I found myself wishing for more playtime.
But, time ran out and we filled out one last survey. Each of the surveys asked us about different aspects of the game (graphics, what we liked the most/least) depending on what we had played. After the last survey was completed, we got to choose two new games to bring home as "payment". Not bad for an 1 1/2 hours of "work".
I'd definitely try this again sometime . . . if you live in the Mpls/St. Paul area - give it a shot. It was pretty darned fun.
I thought a few of you may be interested in hearing about my experience doing some video game market research for Chamberlain Research.
http://www.chamberlainresearch.com/games/
I live in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and signed up for this several months ago. At the beginning of April, I finally got a call to come down and play test a game that's coming out later this year. I did sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement), so I can't actually share too much about the game that I played, but I can share a little bit about the experience overall. BTW, this IS a longer post.
There were only four people in the group that I was with. I was by far the oldest (at 31). The rest of the crew were teenagers. After hanging out in the lobby for awhile, we were lead into a room with 6 TVs/PCs. Each of the TVs were hooked up to developer kits for the Wii, PS3 and 360 (developer kits mean BIG $$$).
After an introduction from the moderator, we were given a description of the game (imagine it to be like the box blurb) and asked to fill out an online survey that asked if we'd buy the game based on it's description.
Before getting into the game, we were told we should "think aloud" while we were playing - expressing our thoughts and frustrations, things we noticed and ideas we had while playing. The moderator said he was no way involved with the making of the game and that we wouldn't hurt his feelings with our criticisms.
From there, we jumped into the single player and got to play for about 30 minutes. Again, I can't share anything about the game at all (sorry). I did try to share some thoughts and did rip into a few sections that weren't working very well. The moderator took notes on a pad of all the different player suggestions/emotions during this time.
After the 30 minutes were up, we completed another online survey and prepared for multi-player. The game crashed a few times (which is normal during these sessions apparently), but then we were up and running. The multi-player was fun, and I found myself wishing for more playtime.
But, time ran out and we filled out one last survey. Each of the surveys asked us about different aspects of the game (graphics, what we liked the most/least) depending on what we had played. After the last survey was completed, we got to choose two new games to bring home as "payment". Not bad for an 1 1/2 hours of "work".
I'd definitely try this again sometime . . . if you live in the Mpls/St. Paul area - give it a shot. It was pretty darned fun.
