Consumers do not want to find that the game they have just acquired has so many bugs that it is not possible to play normally as it should. In this hypothesis, many bugs would be without a doubt considered as a fabrication defect, and the newly launched video game would have to be taken away from the shelves, in a similar fashion as a defective electronic product.
In order to avoid a catastrophe like this, video game companies use an army of Quality Control and Beta game testers to find and report bugs that would have to be fixed. In a perfect world, all bugs should have to be corrected but it is rarely the case as companies have to respect deadlines for the launch of their products.
It would be economically impossible to fix everything and testers have to know what minor or major bugs are in order to classify them and prioritize what is necessary to fix. For that effect, computer bugs have been categorized in four sections, which are: the A bug, the B bug, the C bug and the D bug.
The A bug is the worst of all and has to be imperatively corrected before the game is released. Ignoring the problem would be the death of the new released game and a huge financial fiasco for the video game company. What is considered as a A bug? A game with a computer virus or that crashes for no reason will be first in the A bug group. A game with spelling mistakes, graphical or audio problem, or a non-working feature would follow.
The B bug is the second most important problem that can be found in a new game. The team of experts working on the game may discuss to decide if the bug is worth the time and money to be fixed, or if it just can be left as it is. If the bug does not break the gamer's pleasure to play, and has only minor graphical or audio problems not compromising the overall of the game, the flaw may be left untouched.
The C bug is a slight issue in the coding of the game that would be a plus to correct. If the bug is a breeze to eliminate, it is reasonable to think that it will be done. If it is challenging and requires too much time to fix, the issue will not be addressed depending on the game producer's decision. The game tester may feel that the bug he has identified should be fixed, but economic constraints decide otherwise.
The D bug is more a feature request than a bug in itself, and would be a nice addition to the video game. If the report of such a bug was made well in advance in the testing process, it will be possible to add the feature. If it was reported close to the launch date of the newly created game, it will not be added.
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Michel Gerard is a freelance author based in Asia. His expertise is wide and varied in a number of topics. Visit the Video Game Tester website and learn how to become a game tester => http://www.videogametestercareer.net
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