A picture of a tomato appears on screen with the
words, “What kind of food is this?”
Four options follow and only one is correct. The
three wrong choices have left me – I only remember the answer: vegetable. That’s
the obvious response, but in my rush to score quickly, the first thing that came
to mind was, “That’s a tomato.” “Tomato,” however, was not an option on the
board.
In another instance, we were quizzed on where the
Desperate Housewives live. That’s an easy Q if you’ve seen the show, but you’d
be guessing otherwise. I knew the answer (yes, I watch it, but I’ll save that
story for another time and place) and was eager to respond. However, I wasn’t
eager enough – or at least, not fast enough. One of my seven opponents beat me
to the punch by less than one second. At that time – as I struggled to answer
questions before my opponents, and as I screamed in agony when defeat was my
only option – I realized something: this game rocks.
Buzz! The Mega Quiz is a new trivia game from
Sony Computer Entertainment America. It is not a hardcore gamer’s game. It
doesn’t use a complex controller or adhere to the notion that games must get
bigger and become more intricately detailed and difficult for outsiders to play.
Rather, it follows the notion that Grandma can play and enjoy video games. And
she won’t need a Dual-Shock 2 to get her gaming fix, nor will she need to pick
any peripherals that come across as being unapproachable.
That’s because Buzz! will ship with four linked,
USB pads that are as simple as a game show buzzer. The pads feature five
buttons: four colored strips on the front and a big red, blinking buzzer on top.
The contraption looks like something you’d see on the Game Show Network.
Among the quiz types are Globetrotter, a worldly
game where the winner chooses which country the next question will come from.
Players will have to rearrange items (such as the value of coins) from highest
to lowest or vice versa in a game called Top Rank. Pie Fight tallies your points
and converts them to lives, which are depleted every time you’re struck by a
pie. The pie is thrown by the first player to answer the Pie Fight question
correctly. However, because the target scatters across each player before the
pie is thrown, it’s possible that you might accidentally hit yourself!
Awards and medals are given at the end of each
game. However, just because you win doesn’t mean you were successful. The
Loser’s Medal, for example, indicates who submitted the most incorrect answers.
It’s a bit more rewarding to receive the status of Itchy Trigger Finger, an
award given to the player with the fastest response times.
Buzz!’s graphic style is clear and
straightforward. The character models are purposely goofy and cartoony and may
be customized with different costumes and buzzer sounds (I chose a guy that
looks like a superhero and a barking sound for my buzzer, which combines two of
my favorite things: comic books and canines).
Buzz! is very good at upgrading simple questions
to difficult status just by adding an element of speed. Up to eight players can
duke it out simultaneously, a feature that makes the purchase of the other Buzz!
product – Buzz! Jungle Party, a simple mini-game collection for young kids that
includes four Buzz! controllers – too tempting to resist. Though you will be
able buy the Buzz! games separately, the controllers will not be sold alone at
launch. You’ll have to purchase both games in order to utilize the eight-player
feature that The Mega Quiz offers. At $39.95 for each combo pack, the cost won’t
set you back too much.
Testing our minds and hand-eye buzzer
coordination this fall, Buzz! The Mega Quiz will ship in just a few months. The
controllers are light, sturdy, and comfortable – everything a controller needs
to be successful – but also very easy to use for those who don’t normally play
video games.
Stay with us this week as we bring you more on
Buzz! The Mega Quiz and other games from Sony’s Lollapalooza media event.
