Peter Minor and his ideas factory! – A2 English Reading Test

Peter Minor and his ideas factory!

By Sally Ward

Peter Minor, the well-known games developer, spoke to me recently about the success of his company. River Run, his latest computer game, will be in the shops on Monday.

I was lucky enough to be able to try it last week, and I believe it’s even better than his last game, Underground, which is great fun, too. River Run has fantastic sound effects and the players get a lot of action.

At 28, he manages a team of more than 100 people, but Peter never dreamed of working with computer games when he was younger. It’s unusual for him to work less than 12 hours a day, but he doesn’t mind because he loves his job. Peter and his managers are always thinking of new projects.

Computer games developed by Peter’s company are played all over the world, including Asia. His computer game Underground was very popular in Japan last year. I’m certain players everywhere will love River Run just as much. I know I can’t wait to have it at home!

Peter comes up with ideas for new games all the time. But it takes about three years before the game can be sold in the shops. Many of his ideas come from ‘testers’. These are young people in the town who are invited to come and try the games. Then they say what they enjoy about the games or what else they want to be able to do.

‘In the past, I didn’t have enough money to buy a new bike,’ he told me. ‘Now I’ve got my own plane! Everything is possible if you work hard. You can achieve whatever you want.’

1   River Run, Peter Minor’s latest computer video game,

      A   is already on sale.

      B   will be on sale soon.

      C   is very successful.

2   Sally thinks

      A   Underground is easier to play than River Run.

      B   Underground isn’t as good as River Run.

      C   Underground is more fun than River Run.

3   When Peter was a child,

      A   he always hoped to work for a computer games business.

      B   he didn’t like playing computer games.

      C   he didn’t think he would have a job like he has now.

4   Last year, Underground

      A   was more popular in Asia than in the rest of the world.

      B   was the most successful game in Japan.

      C   was played by a lot of people in Japan.

5   The people who test Peter’s games

      A   are local people who know how to play computer games.

      B   help him make new games.

      C   are Peter and his managers.