Canadian Gamer Speak:  Thecoop85 presents: The Intern says...

by Thecoop85

All of my friends like to complain that their jobs are boring, stupid, or some combination of the two. Either that, or they tell me that everyone they work with are morons (they don’t actually use the word morons.. I felt like that was the safest word choice) and how their bosses treat them like crap meow, meow, meow. I can’t really sympathize, empathize maybe...  but I digress.  You see, I don’t understand ‘cause I don’t really have any of those problems. I’m the Xbox Canada intern, so my job is a little bit different than what people usually expect out of a job. When I saw my boss’s gamertag on his business card on my first day, I figured it might not be too bad to work here.

The crazy thing was that I really had no idea what it would be like to work for Xbox at all, and I figured I wasn’t the only one who was curious. Would the Xbox team accept my Wikipedia addiction (a must read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mighty_Ducks_films), or care if I chose to shave less than once a week?Would they care that my number one hobby is watching underground street fights on the internet?My mind was bombarded with questions that would undoubtedly change the next year of my life. I figured I wasn’t alone in my cluelessness of the Xbox work environment. So, just to give you guys some perspective, I’ve created a list of the most surprising things I’ve learned as the newbie on the Xbox team.

1. The most interesting  rivalry you can have is a video game rivalry with a co-worker
   
   While I probably play a few games of NBA 2K7 on Xbox Live a week, it becomes a lot more interesting when you’re constantly working with and seeing your opponents, trying to determine whether they’ve been practicing recently, and whether they’ve figured out that new strategy you’ve been using yet.  Each win itself means a lot more, since as an Xbox employee, you really shouldn’t suck at video games. This in itself can be complicated, especially when you know you’re the best in the office. Do you try your hardest to prove yourself, or take it easy on the old folks out of respect? This is a moral dilemma I face every day. At work a loss is more than a shot to your gamer cred, but it begs the question “Why is this guy working here?” so I`m forced to make these decisions carefully.
   
2. You immediately become the video game expert among all your friends
   
   This can be a good or bad thing. Losing to your friend’s little brother is bad enough, but it’s even worse when he says after “You work for Xbox, aren’t you supposed to be good at these things?”. There isn’t a really good comeback for that line... If you’ve got one, I’m all ears.
   
3. Everyone you’ve ever met and their cousin thinks you can get them free stuff
   
   Contrary to popular belief, our office is not overflowing with extra wireless controllers and free copies of Crackdown. If it was, it would be my best pick-up line. ‘Hey, want to come back to my place, there’s a free wireless controller with your name on it’. Wait, I think that joke might have been funnier in my head then it was on the page. Please don’t hold it against me.

Fortunately, my job this year isn’t like these...

Ironic twist on the whole “Job to die for”

mmmm....Elephant feces

After over 3 months with the team, I’ve realized that looking in from the outside it would seem that there are a lot of cool perks that come along with working for a video game company – whether it be going to the onsite gym, or practicing my putting skills next to my desk. But some of these activities are really work! For example my morning today looked like this:

I surfed the net, watched a little youtube, picked up 10 copies of Guitar Hero 2 on the Xbox 360 for prizing, and played FIFA. I’m betting right now you’re thinking that “This slacker kid is on his way out the door!”

But here what all that really looks like:

I surfed the net, (Youth Market Research) watched a little youtube, (More Youth Market Research) picked up 10 copies of Guitar Hero 2 on the Xbox 360 for prizing (Laborious Intern Duty), and played FIFA (Product Research).  

You see? When you look at it that way – I had a fairly productive morning!

But the most important thing I’ve learned since I’ve been here wasn’t too surprising. Just like Xbox Live, working for Xbox is all about connecting with people, building relationships and having fun (oh, and doing work fits in there somewhere too...).

Do you have a story about gaming and how it impacts your life, send us an email, it might get posted on xbox.ca!