If it hasn’t been obvious by the relatively slow rate at which I’ve been tweeting lately, I am far too busy right now to be campaigning in any way for a spot on PlayStation’s The Tester: Season 3.

My fellow contestants are throwing up Facebook pages and starting voting parties in what appears to be a series of clever marketing strategies. Get the people pumped up and involved, and they will vote! … Right? More power to them, of course, as the hype seems to be working.

Unfortunately for me, my job (which involves constantly writing throughout my weekdays and often into my weekends) soaks up a good majority of my time and I don’t exactly have the ability to campaign freely for votes. What this means is that time I could be spending creating loads of videos and drawing attention to both myself and my profile on The Tester is instead spent making sure I don’t get fired (as you’ve probably seen me worry about in the past).

Luckily, I happen to have both incredibly supportive readers, friends, and fans who are all eager to see me get on the show! … Though I can’t imagine why. I’m a very boring person, really, and all I seem to do on a day to day basis is throw myself into my work, lay around goofing off on my PS3, or read book after book after book on my iPad or Kindle.

For a look at just how boring I am, take a peek at my audition video:

I know. So lame, right?
Sigh.

After only a day or two of having my profile up on The Tester site, however, drama quickly followed as random inboxes of mine across the Net began to flood with rude comments spouting random bullshit like, “You’re not a real gamer!” And, “You’re just pretending to play PlayStation 3 so you can make a bunch of nerds fall in love with you!” (as if that would be a bad thing, right? Nerds are totally my fucking type) — And yadda, yadda, yadda.

Y’know.
Uncreative shit like that.

Fortunately, I’m used to that sort of negative feedback (sort of comes with the territory when you’re a BADASS MOTHER FUCKER for a living). So in response, I created THIS video:

At this point, what was once an attempt to quietly enter The Tester competition in the hopes of broadening my exposure with an audience more in tune with my personal interests (PSN gaming, specifically) now became an actual means of proving that I am, indeed, a gamer. When someone questions a part of your life that you feel very strongly defines who you are, your natural reaction is to defend yourself, right?

… Which is stupid, I know. I shouldn’t have to prove myself to anyone. As it stands, my actual professional “gaming accomplishments” are probably far above those who are taking the time out of their day to send me rude remarks.

Allow me a moment to WOW those of you who have no idea who I am in the gaming community:

I’ve written as a freelancer for G4TV.com‘s The Feed, Destructoid.com, 26star.com, and PixelatedGeek.com, have collaborated with Machinima directors on Dual Commentaries for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, have worked for Ubisoft Entertainment alongside the Frag Dolls as a Frag Doll Cadette traveling the US while promoting and demonstrating Ubisoft games on various platforms, have had the pleasure to work at E3 as another games demonstrator, and have been regularly sponsored by various and very well known gaming companies who are eager to attach themselves to my “brand” for mutually beneficial promotions (with new sponsorships being announced soon, BTW). Not to mention, you’ve probably seen my Puppet Zelda illustration on IGN’s Hyrule’s Most Wanted feature (I’m a kickass artist).

Then there’s the fact that all of my best friends here in the city actually work in the gaming industry as both Editors, Developers, Art Directors, Cosplayers, Community Directors, Project Managers, and Public Relations Specialists (among others) — and they can all personally vouch that I am a legitimate gamer. /Facepalm.

If that isn’t enough to convince you, then what more can I say? … Other than you’re a fucking idiot? you must not have a very high reading comprehension level? you are clearly not suited to work for Sony or any other company where understanding the English language is a deciding factor? you should probably go back and re-read everything I’ve just said to help you digest what is obviously well-written copy in a way that makes more sense to you.

That being said …

Here is more proof that I love and have always loved PlayStation:

The above is proof that PlayStation tweeted me, retweeted my obvious Sony Fangirl tweet, and sent me a Direct Message with a code for the Uncharted 3 Multiplayer Beta (which I didn’t really need, honestly, since I’d already downloaded the beta from the Welcome Back program after that huge hacking scandal).

I took a screenshot the moment it happened and posted it to my Facebook where I then engaged in a series of “nerding out” conversations that further prove how much I love PlayStation. See a few snippets below:

In fact, shortly after posting this and freaking out over it, Destructoid (who I’ve previously written for, if you can manage to remember that far back) tweeted me to mock how hard I was nerding out:

Fuck you, by the way, Destructoid, because I totally know who posted that. ;P … (Just kidding — let’s hang out this weekend! It’s my 24th birthday this Sunday! I’ll text you).

I should also mention that several friends that I’ve made while playing UC2 Multiplayer, MW2, and Call of Duty: Black Ops can all (and would all) vouch for my gamer-ness, and would be happy to defend me, I’m sure. Not just because I’m badass, but also because I’m just a really fucking nice person and am really easy to get along with. Not to mention, I have never been the type to step on other people to get to where I need to be, and almost everyone who has been in contact with me can tell you that I am quick to extend a helping hand when someone needs it.

I pride myself on my current reputation and it’s definitely important to me that I be recognized for something I am clearly delighted to stand for — which is, in this case, being a “Gamer”.

Having said all that …

I would appreciate a vote from you every day in support of placing me on this hilarious and awesome Sony PlayStation Reality TV series. If you don’t know how to vote, it’s as easy as visiting my profile on The Tester and clicking the big red button.

I am an incredibly busy girl, and while I do sometimes have the time to write for pleasure (as I’m doing now), I don’t have quite as much time to spare campaigning for myself. Please do tweet about this blog post, post on facebook about my profile, rally votes for me, or even feel free to comment on this blog post itself in support of me. You have no idea how much it means to me to see so many of my friends rooting for me to be on the show — the lobbying support has really been shocking, actually.

For example, I received this email today while traveling between Stockton, California (my hometown) and San Francisco:

Can you believe that?!
This amazing fan actually took the time to create a domain for me to help promote me for PlayStation’s The Tester: Season 3. WTF?! It doesn’t get anymore dedicated than that and I cannot even begin to describe how flattering it is to see loyalty at this extent.

To me, this is just more proof that I would be an excellent addition to the show.
So while I don’t have the time to campaign properly, I at least have amazing friends and fans who seem to be doing a better job of it for me. I appreciate it so much, everyone. I couldn’t ask for a more amazing gaming family.

Back to work,
XOXO Cheri XOXO