Gizmodo Australia » game shows

1 vs 100 Makes You the Star of a Game Show from Your Couch

Andi Wang — Wed, 06 May 2009 13:00:13 +0000

The first of its kind where television meets video games meets social entertainment, 1 vs 100 is an interactive game on XBL that takes you from screaming at your TV to being on the show.

What makes this game unique from other Xbox Live experiences is that it is the first time that game developers are actively working with a TV crew on set, creating new content every week with custom-written questions that are created based on what is happening in the world that week. This means each time you play, there will be no repeated questions, with topics that actually pertain to your own world around you. Moreover, gamers can actively participate further by emailing their own unique questions to the host, along with their phone number for in-game interviews, chats and more personalization.

Touted as “appointment gaming,” 1 vs 100 works as an actual real-time game show with a live host and 101+ players—including 1 as “the one,” 100 in “the mob,” and the rest in the audience. Players across the globe, speaking different languages, can play together because questions are translated and even localised for foreign gamers! Moreover, participants and winners are able to win actual prizes, which consist of XBL gamer points and other XBL arcade games. Apparently, it is the first game to have rewards-based entertainment with exclusive content.

“What the Snuggie did for blankets is what 1 vs 100 is doing for video games,” host Chris Cashman boasted.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the show, 1 vs 100 pits one player—”the one”—against 100 other contestants—”the mob”—in a competition to see who answers the most multiple-choice questions correctly. As in the show, it would be nearly impossible for gamers who’re playing over XBL to cheat because the countdown to answer each question is roughly 5 seconds after the last multiple choice answer is revealed. As the rounds progress, contestants in the mob who answer questions incorrectly are eliminated, meaning whoever survives by the end of the game splits the prize—that is only if the one is eliminated first.

However, because of this live interaction, 1 vs 100 can only be played on a set schedule—for two hours on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30PM throughout the length of an actual TV-show season, which includes 26 episodes (games) in 13 weeks. For those who can’t wait until Friday and Saturday nights, there is an “extended play” edition that lasts for 30 minutes each game throughout the week, but unfortunately, those rounds are also set at certain times during the day. However, for each question you answer correctly in extended play, your name is thrown into a sweepstakes where winners are drawn twice a season for bigger prizes, such as a vacation to France.

A small issue I had with the interactive gameplay, however, is that because the game lasts up to two hours each night, the rounds are littered with “bathroom breaks,” which are actually hiatuses in gameplay for a flurry of commercials from Sprint and Honda, flashing in your face. However, it’s nothing too big to complain about since the commercials are only a few seconds long and 1 vs 100 is completely free for Xbox Live Gold members. If you don’t have an XBL account though, don’t panic—you can still play as a guest through a friend’s account—you just can’t win any prizes.

Because every show is different with diverse players, questions and outcomes every time, it creates a unique gaming experience and a sort of social activity I had never experience before on Xbox Live. Having fun and getting free games, XBL points and other prizes is a pretty sweet deal, especially since 1 vs 100 is absolutely free. As for the future of interactive gaming, I want to see this done with The Price is Right—the prizes being all the items you correctly guess the price for on the show. If that’s too much, I wouldn’t mind winning those objects for XBL avatar. Ooh, looks like I’ve got an excellent idea on my hands—now who do I have to speak with to get things rolling? [1 vs 100]

IBM Prepping Soul-Crushing ‘Watson’ Computer to Compete on Jeopardy!

Jack Loftus — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 02:30:00 +0000

IBM, not content to merely crush the spirits of chess masters like Garry Kasparov, have started working with Jeopardy! to create a supercomputer that will undoubtedly answer questions more accurately than Sean Connery.

The supercomputer, dubbed simply as a “Question Answering” system, is named Watson. Designers believe it will have the speed and “understanding” necessary to research, buzz in, and then answer questions fast enough to compete on the popular game show. But it’s not Google, engineers say. Don’t you dare call it Google.

And as you can see in the video, Alex Trebek is totally for it, going to far as to appear as though all his lines were prepared by IBM PR. Anything to avoid having to face off against your mortal enemy Sean Connery, eh Trebek? [YouTube - Thanks, blam!]

Alex Trebek Explains Jeopardy!’s Tech: ‘I Look Better in High-Def’

Gizmodo US Edition — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 18:30:00 +0000

Trebek, he of the condescending interviews and phantom mustache, recently talked to Wired about the surprisingly myriad changes his program has made over the years to adapt to new technology. Spoiler: the internet is important.

Jeopardy! is far and away the best game show of all time, but I can’t imagine why anyone would’ve gone on back in the old days when questions were only worth $US10. And as flashy as the show looks these days, does ANYBODY need or even want to watch it in 3D? What would that even entail? But this is a great interview, and it’s nice to hear how a decidedly old-school game stayed true to its roots while being conscious of remaining up-to-date. [Wired]

I Survived a Japanese Game Show: Shooting Balls, Breaking Faces

Gizmodo US Edition — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 01:52:23 +0000

This week’s over-the-top I Survived… challenges didn’t have as much gadgety goodness as usual, but were strangely satisfying nonetheless. First, Velcro-clad contestants were dangled in front of of a teammate, who would try to pass them Velcro balls to catch. The objective was for the dangler, manipulated by two other contestants, to collect as many balls as possible without getting hit too many times by their opponent, stationed behind a cool pneumatic ball cannon.
Sort of boring, right? Well the second challenge was way better. Fans of MXC (Takeshi’s castle, for non-Americans) will recognise the false door game, where contestants have to get through a series of doors, some soft and fake, some real and hard. ISJGS takes it to the next level, forcing contestants to swing – not run – into the doors.

This whole concept of this show depends on humiliating its participants. The producers, though, must have caught on to something more: everyone on this show is pretty annoying. Shrewdly, then, ISJGS smashes them into wooden doors. Thanks, ABC!

I Survived a Japanese Game Show: Spinning Babies, Spilling Milk

Gizmodo US Edition — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 18:50:00 +0000

This week’s ridiculous I Survived… challenge ran contestants through a relatively simple obstacle course. The catch? They’ve been dressed as babies, dizzied on a playground carousel and given two cups of milk to take along with them. The objective is to fill the team baby bottle at the end of the course.

If this challenge is a metaphor, I’m a little lost. Even more lost, though, are the contestants, who apparently don’t fully grasp that they are on a show called I Survived a Japanese Game Show, asking questions like “Where do they come up with this shit?” Stay tuned for more game show gadgetry next week. [ABC]

Woz Knows When the Price is Right

Adam Frucci — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:47:56 +0000

Apparently, Woz is a Price is Right fan. Unfortunately, he was just sitting in the front row and was never called down to play Plinko or spin the big wheel, because I bet that he really knows the prices of household products and could use a new Lincoln Towncar or whatever it was they gave away that episode. Oh, Woz. Hit the jump for another screenshot of Woz enjoying himself some game show goodness, then let’s hear your best captions in the comments section. Thanks, Brett!

How I Survived a Japanese Game Show: The Gigantic Human Prize Claw Game

Gizmodo US Edition — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 15:30:00 +0000

The new episode still follows most of the tired reality show conventions and spends too much time on the stunningly boring contestants, but the brief game show events still impress. This week’s challenge: become a human claw game, picking up prizes as teammates control your x, y and z axis movement. This challenge aired much to the chagrin of Claw Machine Boy, whose chronic PTSD triggered hard when this episode aired. Stay tuned for a weekly review of the 45 seconds of this show that is worth watching. [ABC]

How I Survived a Japanese Game Show: So Far, Lame But With a Touch of Gadget

Brian Lam — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 01:00:46 +0000

The new ABC show this week, How I survived a Japanese Game show, combines the Japanese entertainment staple with an American reality TV series, featuring your usual cast of Jerry Springer rejects. Besides the weirdness and bright vibe typically found in such gameshows, there is the tech. The premier episode featured a conveyor belt that contestants had to run on with plate of mochi on their head. You either run long and fast enough to feed your team member and earn a point, or fall into a pit of flour. It’s kind of hard to explain, but we have a video.

Lisa, who grew up watching them will probably write about how shitty and tacky and how culturally out of context the show is on her blog. But we did enjoy when the host would make fun of the Americans in Japanese. See, it’s better because everyone is making fun of everyone.

I just hope next week’s contraption is a little bit crazier because that’s what does it for me. What did you guys think of the show? If anyone knows the crew members who design and build these contraptions, please email me. I want to quit my job and work on these sets! [ABC]