I arrived at work 12:30 PM yesterday.

I left work at 12:30 PM today.

It was time for our game to end our Beta period and go "final." No matter that we had never really hit Beta to begin with - Beta is defined as "no open bugs in the database" - but we fudged it a bit and called Beta right before a new bug was added sometime on Wednesday. Technically, I suppose you could say the game was Beta for 60 seconds or so.

But Final isn't the whole story. We must send our Final candidate to an internal organization called "CQC", which ostensibly translates to 'Customer Quality Control' but REALLY translates to 'Group of Extraordinarily Nitpicky Bitches.'

Basically, the game must pass CQC before it can go to manufacturing [yes, Game Boy carts actually have to be made in a good old fashioned factory.] They will kick us back if there's a major [even sometimes for a minor] problem.

So we spent all night last night playing the game. It was myself, VA, the Lead and Asst. Lead testers, and several Core [read: average every-day] testers. We sat in beanbag chairs in odd contortions and forced ourselves through the game until 3 of us had beaten it, to prove that it was possible.

We had a scare - we almost had to generate a new build thanks to (wait for it)... HARD-CODED STRINGS in the game that contained bad text.

People, I ask you: WHY do professional developers with college degrees put HARD-CODED strings into a commercial software product?

VA and I were ready to rip some shit UP.

She made the call to "KS" [Known Shippable] the bug, though, and we forged on. CQC requires a minimum of 45 man-hours of testing on submitted builds, so rebuilding would have meant disaster.

But we were also responsible for the paperwork - an IQ test if there ever was one. Attach 2 copies of the Nintendo Spec Sheet in soft copy. Hard copy of the first and last 25 pages of code. [How the hell can they tell which is which?], blah, blah, blah.

On this official paperwork, I am listed as the Lead AP [Assistant Producer] and all of my contact information is there, along with VA's. Helluva job promotion to go from intern to "lead AP" in what, like 3 weeks?

I think I'm in over my head sometimes.

So I spent most of this morning in a room with VA and the Director of Testing filling out these forms and making the submission.

It's funny - in college, all-nighters were part of the status quo, but even despite the hard working environment we're in now - when people found out I had been there all night, was wearing the same clothes, etc., they acted as if I had perhaps contracted cancer or something; it was just pity and amazement all around.

But it's not over yet, much as I pray it might be. VA is LEAVING next week for 3 weeks. She'd going to London on business, and then to *India*.

Guess who is being left in charge of the whole shebang?

Yep. If I fuck up, the game might not ship on time (at least not in Japan.) No pressure. Nope.

All I can say is that they better fucking get me a permanent job offer by the time December rolls around, or we'z gonna have words.

And now, my Hygeine motive is very low, so I must go take a shower. Sweet dreams.