1 vs. 100

By Ellie Gibson Published 15 July, 2009

Trivial pursuit?

Once upon a time, I moved to a small town where I knew no one and joined a pub quiz team in a bid to make friends. Things started well - I impressed my team-mates by being able to translate "nom de plume" and won a round of applause for knowing who wrote The Canterbury Tales. But it all ended in a terrible row over my cast-iron insistence that the Lord of the Rings was not, in fact, written by J.K. Rowling.

I have no idea what the people on that team are doing now, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn the people organising the pub quiz now have jobs composing questions for 1 vs. 100. If it's rigorous intellectual challenge you're after, Microsoft's new Xbox Live gameshow isn't the answer. Take this sample question from Friday night's debut show: what colour do you get if you mix blue and green?

In the rare instances you're not instantly sure of the answer, you'll know it the minute the daft multiple-choice options pop up. You might not know offhand which Swedish actor appeared in 1971's Get Carter, but you'd probably be willing to bet it was Britt Ekland rather than Ulrika Jonsson or Sven Goran-Eriksson. Unsure which Python did a voice-over for Shrek 2? Not when the options are John Cleese, John Breeze or John Sneeze.

Even if you know nothing about the subject at hand the options make it easy to guess correctly. I barely know what shape a football is, let alone who won the 2009 Premiership, but I guessed it was more likely to be Manchester United than Accrington Stanley or Bolton Wanderers. Occasionally, the specialist subject questions almost border on difficult - movie buffs might feel smug for knowing the answer to, "In Citizen Kane, what was Kane's last word?" But then they go and spoil it all by saying something stupid like, "In the Beatles film, what is the colour of the submarine?"

'1 vs. 100' Screenshot 1

This man has just won something. Hopefully a better haircut.

Questions don't get harder as rounds go on so there's no sense of progression. There are never any moments of tension as you try to remember an answer on the tip of your tongue, because the silly options shout it right out. On top of this, the question-writers seem to have confused the concept of including clues in the question with including unnecessary detail in the question. Take, for example, "Chris Martin, who married Gwyneth Paltrow in 2003, is the lead singer of who?" I'd have been stumped if they'd said the Chris Martin who married Gwyneth Paltrow in 1984.

But do daft questions make for a bad gameshow? After all, millions of people watch The Weakest Link. Deal or No Deal is even more popular and doesn't feature any questions at all. Those shows have got other stuff to offer though - Anne Robinson and her winky rudeness, or Noel Edmonds, a mysterious banker and contestants who think luck is more powerful than maths. So what does 1 vs. 100 have?

The clue is in the title. As you'll know if you read our preview, 1 vs. 100 is based on the TV show of the same name. A player is selected at random to be The One and take on 100 other players, who comprise The Mob. Everyone else becomes part of The Crowd. Each time The One answers a question correctly, everyone in the Mob who got it wrong is knocked out. If The One gets it wrong, he or she is out and the Mob shares the prize.

'1 vs. 100' Screenshot 2

Think Celebrity Squares, but with Playmobil people.

At regular intervals The One is asked to choose The Money or The Mob - to walk away with the prize money accumulated so far, or keep trying to knock out the members of The Mob. Only by defeating all 100 of them can he or she win the really big prizes. The One also has a few lifelines, such as the option to see which answer the majority of Mobsters picked or copy the answer of the top-scoring player.

While all this is going on, The Crowd gets to answer the same questions. They score points for correct answers and there are bonuses for speedy response times, but there are no prizes to be won - it's just for fun. Which is where the easiness of the questions does become a bit of an issue. 1 vs. 100 isn't really about how good your general knowledge is, it's about how fast you can press a button. It's Trivial Pursuit reduced to a series of quick-time events. And when there aren't even any real prizes at stake, it's hard to care.

Things must be different if you're chosen to be The One or to join The Mob, but I wouldn't know. Apparently your chances of being selected increase if you answer quickly and consistently while playing in The Crowd. I played for two solid hours and scored pretty well, but lots of other people must have done the same as I didn't get picked once. Nor did any of the other three Eurogamer staffers playing, who were all online for between 60 and 90 minutes.

At least we had each other. You can create an Xbox Live Party and play 1 vs. 100 together, or so the theory goes. Dan Pearson and I were able to see each other's avatars on-screen and compare scores, but we were lumped into a group with two other strangers. When Dan Whitehead and GamesIndustry.biz editor Matt Martin came online later we tried to get them into our group, but there didn't seem to be a way to do this. Still, quiz games are always more fun with friends and it's good to be able to trash talk over 360 headsets.

The problem is you end up making small talk too, as there are loads of breaks between rounds. Some of these breaks will eventually be filled with adverts for all manner of stuff, but on Friday they were all just ads for downloading movies from Xbox Live - a service which, if you've managed to download a game beta, you're probably aware of. You might as well try to sell me ovaries, Microsoft.

To be fair ad breaks are a regular feature of TV quiz shows, and they do give you a chance to make a cup of tea and have a slash. But even excluding the adverts there are too many gaps in play. At some points, entire minutes ticked by while nothing but our avatars and the words "Resuming play shortly" were displayed on the screen. Sometimes background cheering could be heard, sometimes nothing. During these gaps you can press Y to make your avatar perform silly gestures. The novelty wears off quickly. There are frequent "stat checks" where Day Today-style graphs appear, showing how many people have answered how many questions correctly. The novelty never even bothers to turn up.

Then there are the gaps where live host James McCourt spaffs on about how exciting it all is, or so it was during the preview. On Friday night, none of us from Eurogamer could hear a word he said, though we could see his avatar's mouth moving. Probably a mercy. At least we could hear pre-recorded host Olivia Lee. "Anyone can be a winner," she reminded us, forgetting to add, "Except the vast majority of people playing."

'1 vs. 100' Screenshot 3

Other topical questions include, 'Which famous pop star and alleged paedophile died last month?' Or not.

All this combines to make 1 vs. 100 feel awfully stop-and-start. But it's worth remembering this is a beta, and it's free. There are bound to be bugs which need ironing out. The development team might also want to look at reducing the frequency and length of the gaps in play, however. It's especially irritating when you start to realise all you're waiting for anyway is the chance to answer questions about whether the presenter of You've Been Framed was Jeremy Beadle or Jeremy Beetle.

There is a potential solution in the form of the Extended Play sessions. Like the live shows these take place at specific times, but there's no mucking about with The One or McCourt or ad breaks so the flow is much smoother. Some Extended Play games will focus on questions about football, film and so on, but I fancied the debut "Superhard" show on Monday night.

I wasn't able to connect for some reason, but Eurogamer cameraman James Hills did manage to take part. He described the questions as being "the kind of questions you get on a pub quiz machine when it's not going to pay out", with a strong focus on "random Eastern European gymnastic champions". Sample questions: "How many canals does Venice sit on - 177, 187 or 197?" Then there was, "How many titles did Margaret Court win at the Australian Open?" Or how about, "Who dominated ski jumping in the 1930s?" Anyone?

'1 vs. 100' Screenshot 4

At the end of each round, the Mob beats the One's head in with a baseball bat. Or not.

By the sound of it, then, you need to be a human Wikipedia or just super-lucky to do well in the Superhard games. Here's hoping a happy medium will be reached when it comes to the questions in the live shows. And that they'll iron out the bugs, tighten up the gaps and make the prize structure clearer. Microsoft has promised HDTVs, holidays and even a car will all be on offer, though most winners will walk away with free XBLA titles and Microsoft Points. Or not - there seems to be some confusion over whether Friday's winners will in fact receive anything at all. We've contacted Microsoft for clarification, but had no reply so far.

1 vs. 100 does have the potential to be highly entertaining. The One / Mob Crowd structure provides and interesting dynamic. It's great that you can play with friends and win real prizes. Plus, as it's not disc-based, you'll never have to worry about questions repeating themselves. As a free download, it's well worth giving the game a go.

But Microsoft hasn't ruled out charging people to play the game in the future, and before that happens some serious issues need to be sorted out. At present, 1 vs. 100 feels like an exercise in who can press a button fastest, punctuated minute-long episodes of nothing happening at all. And I know for a fact that isn't much fun, just as sure as I know that J.R. Hartley wrote the Lord of the Rings.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (85) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • uglygamer #1 3 years ago

    Its marvellous. Really differentiates the PS3 and the Xbox 360, and makes the Gold membership worth paying if you have both consoles. I love it.

    Now I read it. The complaint seems to be the questions are too easy. You know what, I think they should keep it as it is, this game is to drive the casual audience to the console, and if they gett frustrated with tough questions, they are going to give up and not come back except the odd occasions.
    People like the high scores they are getting, it gives them satisfaction and the impression they are pretty smart.

    make sense of what I typed if you can :)
    Edited by 2 at 15/07/09 @ 14:34

  • woodnotes #2 3 years ago

    I actually really like it. I'm sure it'll improve too.

    Also +1 to Ellie for mentioning The Day Today in the article.

  • DFawkes #3 3 years ago

    I bet I wasn't the only one to hammer the answer as "Jeremy Beetle". As soon as it was up I hit X, followed by the horror of knowing I'd gotten it wrong and not being able to do a thing about it. Still, serve me right for trying to be a smarty pants :)

    Don't forget everyone who answers any questions gets entires into the sweepstakes, regardless of being in the mob or being Neo. Sorry, the One. It's a draw after the end (30/08/09), with you getting a maximum of 500 entries if you play enough, which can be viewed in on of your stat screen brought up with the Back button. Good luck to all who enter!

  • DUFFKING #4 3 years ago

    Congratulations on being the only person who didn't enjoy this, Ellie.

  • LazyDan #5 3 years ago

    1 vs 100 is rubbish!

  • LazyDan #6 3 years ago

    1 vs 100 is great!

  • Byzanite #7 3 years ago

    its a betaaaaaaa

  • smirny #8 3 years ago

    i played 3/4 games of this on mon night and not once did i experience questions along the lines of those mentioned above :/

    i did enjoy it though :)

  • Psychotext #9 3 years ago

    I'm one of those that picked Jeremy Beetle. :(

    I've had a blast when playing it though, especially when competing with friends. Amazingly my missus has warmed to the idea considerably and I reckon she'll be getting a gold account so that she can play alongside me. I'd really like to see them add "friend scores" to the stats page though. It'd be great to see how you're doing vs everyone you know.

    One thing though... QUIT IT WITH THE FUCKING MASTERS QUESTIONS YOU MUPPETS.

  • ThisWillDestroyYou #10 3 years ago

    long time lurker on this site but felt i had to register in order to present my confusion at this 'ellie' persons 'review'

    1 v 100 is a fun, free little game to knock about with with mates online, and really the first thing that makes you realise how badly dressed your avatar is!
    i felt the difficulty balance on the questions was fine, the breaks allowed you to have some banter with your mates and check the crazy boffin ppl stats in what is a half hour block of time, and the whole thing worked pretty effortlessly. from what ive read online, and the praise its getting from bastions of geekdom such as pennyarcade, seems you really are one of the few people with major issues with this lil gem!

  • RexRunti #11 3 years ago

    I had a lot of problems with the host too. On the question side, they're all easy until you get one wrong, then it's a pretty big deal. I actually got into the mob very early on on Friday but got the first question wrong (can't remember what it was on now) after getting pretty much every other one right (it might have been that bloody Jerremy Beetle one).

    As for the questions themselves there were a good mix. Often exactly the sort you can't get with disc based games like "Some 20p coins are now worth up to £50 because the manufacter forgot to include...". Of course the most suprising question of the night had to be "Which of these sports is not a mode in Wii Sports: Tennis, Football, Baseball".

  • TOOTR #12 3 years ago

    Very good personable review sorry i mean preview....of the beta. Loved the use of the word 'slash' as well. Not used often enough if you ask me.

    Lets hope someone somewhere is not only eating a toffee crisp but is also taking note of some of these issues and tracking a way to fix them - then it will be very worthy of attention. MS are certainly starting to come up with some great innovations this generation.

    And I didn't know J.R.R Tolkien wrote 'Fly Fishing'. What a top bloke.
    Edited by 1 at 15/07/09 @ 15:44

  • jonsaan #13 3 years ago

    Harsh.I have found it to be totally compelling and great fun. Especially in a group. The main game is indeed painfully slow but extended play is ace and you can always skip to keep your streak going.

  • RobotRocker #14 3 years ago

    The questions at the start of the article were the ones that mostly showed up when the Mob was still at full strength. More mob that goes, harder they get really. Though that Turquise one actualy slaughtered the mob a good bit. And the "Beetle" answer was just cruel.

    Once they use the beta's to sort out thier ballancing with the questions and sort the tech hitches. I can see this being a big highlight of X-Box live. Now, if they could get some classic British Gameshows on there, it would be perfect. I'll have a 'P' please virtual Bob.

  • cyacomini #15 3 years ago

    Was really quite impressed by 1 vs 100. Wasn't expecting much really but totally blown away by the production values here. Everytime I switch it on a bunch of people all gather round the tele so it's got a bit of a 'wii' feel to it.

    Only gripe is the constant breaks - "lets take a look at the stats" - ok, well fine - lets do that, but do we really need to every 5 minutes?

    Had a corker last night during extended play.

    Q = 1024 bytes makes

    A = 1mb
    B = 1kb
    X = 1gb

    Stupidly hit A before realising my huge mistake - what a complete dork I looked.

    Still, good show MS - really nothing like this on Wii or PS3 so it's good to see something different.

  • kinky_mong #16 3 years ago

    Questions don't get harder as rounds go on so there's no sense of progression.

    What an absolute lie. Every game I've played has started with questions like "How do you turn milk into butter? Punch it, Churn it, Stroke it" and ended with "The winner of the 1965 skiing championship was..."

  • LittleSacky #17 3 years ago

    I've never seen the actual programme but I'd imagine, like millionaire, a new 'one' starts out with easier questions and then gets progressively harder as it goes on in the attempt to eliminate him. The people playing on the Friday version never got far enough to make it to the harder questions. So if you've been playing in the crowd then there wouldn't be a sense of progression, since the progression was restarting every time a new 'one' was chosen.

    As for being picked for the 'mob' I was under the understanding that everyone was playing the same game, so you chance of getting picked for the 100 'mob' on the Friday was to be was 1 in over 7500. given the number of people playing it at the same time

  • Apollo #18 3 years ago

    I liked the question about what cost every taxpayer in the UK 69p and the One picked the mob to answer, and they had all picked the NHS...

  • liamthemaster #19 3 years ago

    the questions on Friday were piss easy just to get people to like the game, the general trvia are a lot more balanced and the've seemed to fix the question difficultly curve

  • chubster2010 #20 3 years ago

    It's funny that elsewhere on this site, Home is getting slated for feeling like one big advert, while 1 vs 100 comes along and serves up adverts in the most traditional way - the ad break. So much for technological progress....

    1 vs 100 does sound interesting, but I sincerely hope the 'in-game ad break' doesn't become a common feature!

  • alimokrane #21 3 years ago

    Absolutely loved it but as the preview mentions, the game has so many issues that need polishing and fixing. having said that, if they keep this free it will really get Soo many people interested in the console, a demographic they would have never dreamed of getting.

  • estoo #22 3 years ago

    I too hit Jeremy Beetle!

    The questions in the general trivia extended play sessions seemed more balanced and definitiely got harder as you progress.
    I'm an addict already, was quite surprised to read this mainly negative article.

  • ukslim #23 3 years ago

    "Questions don't get harder as rounds go on so there's no sense of progression."

    If this week's 1vs100 Extended Play games are anything to go by, then actually they do. I tend to get about 20 right in a row at the start, then fall apart at the end.

  • cyacomini #24 3 years ago

    "You might as well try to sell me ovaries, Microsoft"

    Disagree with the overall tone of the 'preview' - but that comment almost sent me off my chair.


  • ryohazuki1983 #25 3 years ago

    Yep, agree with questions getting harder, i got around 10 in a row at the start, within the last section only got a few correct.

  • MasterNameless #26 3 years ago

    Yeah, I agree that the questions are supposed to be easy when the one is at such an early stage of the game... that's the point! Just as the opening questions of millionaire are piss easy. On Extended Play, as others have mentioned, the questions get a lot harder as the game progresses.

    Although, not an example of the really hard questions, one that really caught me out was;

    In what year was the company Nintendo founded?

    x) 1979 a) 1889 b) 1989

    Answer: a) 1889 !!!
    Edited by 1 at 15/07/09 @ 14:39

  • cyacomini #27 3 years ago

    yeah, didn't Ninty start out as a playing card company way back...

  • MasterNameless #28 3 years ago

    Yeah they were, I had no idea! And after checking wiki...;

    "Nintendo Company Ltd. (任天堂株式会社, Nintendō Kabushiki gaisha?) is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan founded on September 23, 1889[1] by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce handmade hanafuda cards.[4] By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel.[5] Eventually, Nintendo developed into a video game company, becoming one of the most influential in the industry and Japan's third most valuable listed company, with a market value of over US$85 billion."

    I love the fact there was a Nintendo Love Hotel!

  • Buztafen #29 3 years ago

    Nintendo and they're god damn playing cards!

  • Whizzo #30 3 years ago

    I'm really enjoying the beta, just shoot who is putting all the skiing questions in on some rounds!

  • stodgypudding #31 3 years ago

    I got the green and blue question wrong lol

  • bigshot316 #32 3 years ago

    She's a misery guts isn't she?

    Just hope that in the future there is far more varied range of specialist questions, as opposed to just footy or Europe.

    80's shows please!

  • Bitkari #33 3 years ago

    While the game itself is rather lacklustre, it does mark a slight shift towards event gaming.

    Eventually, we're going to get to the stage where a prime-time gaming event replaces Eastenders in the ratings stakes, and at the (sorry) watercooler.

    Nintendo, Sony & Microsoft will soon not be just vying for game exclusives, they'll be vying to get Ant & Dec on board.

    This is the future, my friends, and it's terrifying. ...And just a little bit awesome. :)
    Edited by 2 at 15/07/09 @ 14:47

  • Linkified #34 3 years ago

    One thing that shits on this total concept is theres not enough live sessions and that you will only get one chance per season to become the one.

  • chiz #35 3 years ago

    I thought it was an app killer myself.

  • Razzajazz #36 3 years ago

    I'm loving this at the mo, and think it's a great little addition to Xbox Live. The only thing I don't like about this game is that it's shown me how little I know about art! I haven't got a single question about a painter right, yet! Also, I'd like a few more stats, like how many questions you've actually got correct in a round, or EXACTLY what your current streak is. But apart from that, good show, MS!

  • siro #37 3 years ago

    I loved the Nintendo question and how about 85000 out of the 94000 players in Germany failed it. Oh boy, did I mash the Y Button in triumph.

  • Jonny5Alive7 #38 3 years ago

    I played it on Friday night and thought the questions were a bit easy, but quite liked the fact that I was getting lots right. I played for a second time yesterday and the questions were much more difficult, loads on things like art and dancing - which I know hardly anything about.

    I'm enjoying the novelty at the moment, but it remains to be seen how long I will play for if I never get a chance to be in the mob or the one.

  • andywilkie35 #39 3 years ago

    I couldn't connect on Monday but managed to play from question 11 to the end of one last night after getting booted out 3 times in the first 10. Thought it was alright, if they end up charging for it then its something I'd happily not bother with.

    Anyone see the "which one of these hasn't been a Bond girl" question last night? First one was (the worst Bond girl ever) Denise Richards, then Kim Basinger (at which point I'm sure the whole world and its dog pressed the button), before revealing Heather Graham?! When was Kim Basinger a Bond girl?!
    Edited by 1 at 15/07/09 @ 15:17

  • Synthesis #40 3 years ago

    I like it, I played the whole thing on Friday and most of Monday/Tuesday just to get a feel for it.

    The questions are general knowledge questions, that means you might get something that's right up your street or something that's completely unfamiliar to you.

    I can agree with the review that many of the multiple choice answers are on a "TV Phone in" level (where they give you a question with two joke answers and a correct one with the intention of you calling in to spend £2 entering). It would be better if they made more of the alternate answers plausible, but I didn't find the level of questions so easy that I never made mistakes.

    The biggest change I would make is having all three answers appear at the same time. If you're going to reward people for speed why on earth are you putting the answers up one by one, it seems wrong to me.

    I'm no fan of gameshows, I think Deal Or No Deal is a complete overly drawn-out waste of time and the rest are along the same lines. However, 1 vs. 100 was really good fun to play, get a few mates round and hang out answering some general knowledge. It's the pub quiz without having to go to the pub.

    Traditional game shows better watch out if this kind of interactive game show catches on.

  • thedaveeyres #41 3 years ago

    Awesome game, poor first impressions article. The fact the reviewer found the questions too easy exposes their lack of game-time... unless Ellie happens to be the world's leading expert on Nordic Skiing.

  • Widge #42 3 years ago

    People saying "review" might want to re-read the words "HANDS-ON".

  • SpaceMidget75 Verified Senior Software Developer, Minerva Computer Services #43 3 years ago

    The questions in the General Trivia were quite easy but not easy enough to get them all right. Did Elle? If she didn't then it's worked as designed I should imagine - family level difficulty with some questions that you simply don't know the answer to. My mates and I have played and all had different scores at the end....it was a good, fun competition with a distinct winner at the end.

    If an easy question did come up then two things came into play... tricks like Jeremy Beetle and speed bonuses. Elle appeared to miss the point of both of these.

    There is also no confusion as to when prizes are to be given. The terms page on xbox.com states quite clearly the dates and the prizes to be won.

    Finally, the one and the mob are chosen using criteria mentioned on xbox.com which entails playing well in the extended games. So Elle, you playing well on the live show is irrelevant to you not getting chosen as the one or the mob (first ever game notwithstanding)

    All I know is that all of us (my friends) were pessimistic gamers, and have really enjoyed it so far.

  • busboy33 #44 3 years ago

    Just so I'm clear Ellie . . . you didn't like some sessions because the questions were too easy, and you didn't like some sessions because the questions were too hard?

    So basically you wanted questions that you knew, but nobody else would.

    In the U.S. Beta they have Community Question nights, where the questions all come from XBL members (submitted to Xbox.com), so hopefully you'll hit your sweet spot there.

    p.s.: When the host's lips were moving but there was no sound, was there an "On Air" bubble in the lower corner? The Host only comments some of the time that they show the avatar, even though the avatar's lips are moving. "On Air" flashes up when the host goes live.

  • Thalanos #45 3 years ago

    I agree with Ellie based on the first show. It was far too easy!

    The extended play does ramp up the difficulty over half an hour though, with only maybe the first 3-4 questions being that easy and the last few being superhard. The format of the extended play gets a bit tedious with nothing really to play for.

    Getting to play in one of those sessions would have changed the tone of this hands on me thinks.

  • Britesparc Verified Creative, ITV #46 3 years ago

    I'm gutted that my Gold sub ran out halfway through last week. Can't be arsed buying a new one in the immediate future either, just to download this.

    Long as it's still free in October...

  • Eighthours #47 3 years ago

    Questions don't get harder as rounds go on so there's no sense of progression.

    Sorry Ellie, but you've lost your streak there! They do get harder as more of the Mob are knocked out - it's just that last Friday many of the Ones were rubbish or decided to take the "money" quickly.

    I got in the Mob, by the way. If you look at the main 1 vs 100 page (which is surprisingly hard to find on the Web), in the long list of rules it talks about the various combinations of sets of criteria that are randomly selected each round to work out who's in the Mob. So if you just answer everything immediately and get most of it wrong, you can still be selected under the "Speed of answer plus percentage of questions answered" criteria.

    Anyway, I think you're in the minority on this, Ellie (nothing wrong with that, of course...)! Feedback across the web is very positive overall.

  • DFawkes #48 3 years ago

    "To those saying there is "nothing" like this on the PS3, surely Buzz fits in this category? "

    I think it's the scale that sets it apart. Knowing that you're playing directly with thousands of other people, pitting your wits against them all, is kind of fun.

    You're right though, the quiz part itself is similar enough. I do enjoy both, but as I say the satisfying feeling of getting a question right that almost everyone else didn't is what I love. Not that I get that often, what with my general rubbishness and hitting stuff like Jeremy Beetle :p

  • kangarootoo #49 3 years ago

    "Noel Edmonds, a mysterious banker and contestants who think luck is more powerful than maths"

    That sums it up perfectly. That bloody show is a borderline cult, full of hand linking, mad supersticious cermonies and people apologising to each other for things over which none of them have control.

    "You picked the box fool!! If anything you should be apologising to them, not the other wasy around!! You're all mentalists!!"

    Clearly I never got over Noel not listing my rollerskates on Multicoloured Swap Shop.

  • HolyJebus #50 3 years ago

    I'm one of the many who completely disagree with Ellie on this one. This sort of thing wouldn't usually be my cup of snakes but I had a great laugh playing it online last night with friends. Was hooked for hours. I would also disagree with most of her complaints. I hope this hands on doesn't turn too many people off.

    One complaint, that more then one person can't play per console. It would be great if they integrated that somehow, at least for extended play.

  • DFawkes #51 3 years ago

    They can though. Not sure how, but I was in a game with a person who had a guest. Though they aren't eligible for oneship, since they haven't got Gold. Unless they have and also sign in.

  • kinky_mong #52 3 years ago

    When was Kim Basinger a Bond girl?!
    Never Say Never Again.

    The day I recognise that as a proper Bond film is the day I'm in my cold, cold grave!

  • paulf #53 3 years ago

    now this is a curious one for me, in an age where everything is about getting it when you want it (ie now) out comes a game that you can only play at specific times, what's it like? I don't know cause I've always been doing something else when its 'gametime'

  • rashes #54 3 years ago

    I'm really surprised at the tone of the hands on. I thought it was a great success and it managed to get my wife interested in the xbox for once.

    And the questions definitely get more difficult as the round goes on.
    Edited by 1 at 15/07/09 @ 16:50

  • interceptor #55 3 years ago

    Miserable Ellie strikes again...

  • kangarootoo #56 3 years ago

    "my missus loves Buzz and Trivial Pursuit and often plays them with her mates, so i am surprised Ellie really didn't like this."

    Yeah funny that.

    Equally, my mum (who is also a woman) is quite fond of Jeeves and Wooster, so imagine my amazement at discovering Ellie thinks P G Wodehouse is a c*nt.

    Are there no constants left in this world?!?

    ;)

  • GamesConnoisseur #57 3 years ago

    I loved the new quiz on live, its really a game changer for me, in term what Live can offer and should this continue to be free, a really selling point of why subscription based system can work.

    However its actually going to be funded by adverts revenue, still for us at this time to be getting this for nothing, an entertainment on every day basis (extended) and there should be something for everyone. Ellie should have played regularly on superhard or Community extended nights and we should hold our judgement until we see how this works on a long run.

    I know I m loving it as does my work mate and wife, the format of the game achieves both the competitive and social elements. Some of the quizs were funny and tricky, I m one of the lucky few who went for the correct Jeremy Beadle answer!

  • themorganator #58 3 years ago

    @GamesConnoisseur

    Couldn't agree more. Ellie - you really should have played a few of the other (harder) shows because my first experience couldn't have been more different. I really enjoyed 1v100 and it's the first time my other half has actively got involved with playing xbox. She liked, I liked it, everyone on here liked it.

    Now, can someone tell me where I can find the red -1 button for the article?

  • BBIAJ #59 3 years ago

    Yep, also seen repeated questions on Princess Diana, the micro circuit, and Vienna in the last couple of nights.

  • Wendelius #60 3 years ago

    I'm in the camp of those who disagree with this preview. Had a try on Friday and was captivated for the whole show. Most questions are easy, with your speed to set yoursdelf apart from the other 60,000 players that were connected then. Others are difficult and require luck or specific knowledge. But that's the whole point of the show.

    Also, elements like the "local score competition" against your direct neighbours and the ability to check your stats against everyone else add to the gaming element.

    Not sure why Ellie didn't enjoy it. But to my wife and I, this was a revelation and a ton of fun. Well worth a try!

  • Themaktima #61 3 years ago

    I just jumped in, and I enjoyed it, too. Actually, I don´t take an online quiz show - which I can join every evening if I want - for granted. This is a great development, even if it´s got some flaws. Good effort.

  • kupocake #62 3 years ago

    So, does Microsoft sell Ovaries? I ask because a friend of mine...

  • citizenHUNTER #63 3 years ago

    Have to say i rather liked it too. Just works and is very simple to play and take part in. As for the questions, they do range to basic general knowledge to some rather very obsucre little facts, alot of which stumped me, so to be honest I'd like a few more Jeremy Beadle questions please :p

    Although what's with the prominence of questions to do with eastern Europe/Olympics/Skiiing??

    Felt a bit of national shame at the Deep Fried Mars Bar question, but at least I knew the answer sharpish ;p

    I can imagine the Live shows being a rather fantastic experience, not sure how they'll work but hope the general public can also take part and watch the show.. guessing it'll work like that?

  • SniperZoz #64 3 years ago

    i think the reviewer/previewer only played the "extented" rounds .... those are the ones with the easy questions and/or silly answers - the other rounds like extra-hard are better ... not saying you need to be a genius - but at least the answers are not a giveaway and some of them are quite specific subjects.

    anyway ... i like it!

  • skankmustard #65 3 years ago

    I'm really enjoying it. It's fun.
    The questions were easy on the first night because 'The Ones' kept bailing early (either due to being stupid or choosing 'The Money' over 'The Mob'), and so it reset the difficulty.
    Such a negative article...
    And I too chose Beetle, and got the blue and green question wrong. I choose The Money...

  • RobotRocker #66 3 years ago

    Tried two of the extended plays tonight. You can tell that MS is doing this more to gain feedback than an actual coherent experience as the questions were all over the place. There was a few real head scratchers buried between some really easy questions. I think some of the Eastern European questions are more intended for a Euro audience (Since the Beta is also going on in Germany at the minute as well, they need to have questions taylored to them for the pan-euro sessions as well) so I dont think they are aimed specifically for us and MS is just testing its databank full of questions. The basics have been absolutley nailed and if MS's testing goes right. I think this could be a realy big selling point for Gold subscriptions.

    Anyway, I wonder what show they could do next. Bullseye would be incredible with Natal. But something like Blockbusters or Catchphrase would do in the meantime. Heck, maybe even Staurday night takeway with Game adverts. You can win something great like Gears 2 or Fallout 3! Get the wrong advert and you might end up with something like Operation Darkness or Golden Axe! Just, no Deal or No Deal please.

  • cyber_nicco #67 3 years ago

    I have fun several times playing this, and my wife likes it too...

  • ChadSexington #68 3 years ago

    And I thought Wii owners were bad with the shit they're willing to play...

  • monkeywithnoeyes #69 3 years ago

    As been said before - this article is WAY off if you think all the questions are too easy.. unless Ellie happens to be part of mensa. 1V100 offers different catagorys.. try playing the "super hard" one, trust me you wont get questions asking you what colour yellow is

  • Kafkaesque #70 3 years ago

    I've only skimmed the comments above but they seem to echo the indignation with which I read the review. How many games has the reviewer actually played? I consider myself to have a fairly well-rounded brain, and I'm averaging 70% on this quiz. It is NOT easy by any stretch of the imagination. Even if you exclude the geography questions on eastern Europe, the huge swathes of questions on skiing and Masters Cup winners, there's a lot of tricky stuff in there.

    /rant mode off

    Loving this I have to say. Great fun to have mini competitions with mates in your group of 4, genuine excitement if you're up with top scores, and really looking forward to the proper 1 v 100 shows this Friday and Saturday.

  • ObiChrisKenobi #71 3 years ago

    How you can do a review after playing one round of questions is beyond me. The first night was easy, probably too easy, but the rest of the nights have been pretty hard and had a diverse range of questions (when they get out of the rut of asking about Tennis and Europe).

    The specialty nights are great too, a part from last night's community round where no one seemingly checked to make sure the submitted questions were accurate at the least.

  • BraveArse #72 3 years ago

    a/ It's not a review - it's a hands on. There is no mark at the bottom of the page - it's simply a subjective opinion.

    b/ I think her points are all pretty valid... it's just the tone that doesn't match my experience, but I'm not prepared to lynch poor Ellie for striking a different tone to me or most of the rest of us. I really enjoyed it, to the point where I've played a lot of the extended play stuff this week but found it quite exasperating at times too. That Venice canals question was just a random button press for most folk I'm sure and it wasn't the only question like that that night. It also has too many football and London questions for my liking. There are 55 million+ people in the UK who dont live there, MS, by the way. Why don't you make THAT an answer on one of your questions?
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/09 @ 07:51

  • Slim #73 3 years ago

    It's great fun with a room full of people, my whole family got into the live game and we had a blast.

    Extended play is crap though.

  • captain_luggage #74 3 years ago

    What a stupid report. It's like they decided not to like it from the off and just criticised for everything they possibly could.

    "The questions are too easy. The questions are too hard."

    There's a massive range of intelligence out there and to get questions that are just right for you might mean other people find them too easy\too hard. I'd point to the fact that even with these 'easy' questions the mob was still being whittled down. I also felt like the questions were getting harder as the round got down towards the end.

    The gaps and missing voice are down to it being a beta so I don't see the point about constantly bring it up.

    In 2 pages of the hands on the message I got was...

    * the questions are too easy
    * there's some gaps in the play

    And that's it. Pointless.

  • Invisible_Cow #75 3 years ago

    I played a couple of the games last night, and I thought the questions were basically about right. I'd consider my quiz knowledge better than most (I've been attending\running pub quizzes for the last 5 years), but there was enough variety in subject matter and difficulty level to make it interesting. A key factor in assessing a quiz is the spread of scores, and from what I can see there was a good range.

    I also agree with people like themorganator saying that it's good for getting 'non-gamers' in front of the xbox.I wish the final question wasn't always something unknowable about skiing though..
    Edited by 1 at 20/07/09 @ 14:59

  • Mayhem64 #76 3 years ago

    I'll agree on the need to tone down the amount of skiing/Scandinavian/tennis/Eastern Europe/football* questions being featured, but I suppose Microsoft have to find a level somewhere over time. Had to laugh during the Community Submitted block last night as one of my questions came up! Just a pity I'm going to be away for the next two Live nights, I fancied my chances...

    (and I did make the mob once on the launch night, whereupon the dunce playing as The One got the first question wrong!)


    [* delete as applicable]

  • hobbesthetiger #77 3 years ago

    The comparison to Buzz doesn't really stand up, due to both the scale of 1 vs 100, and the ability to win some (actually decent) prizes.

    I agree that there are periods of waiting around (in fact I've started keeping my psp handy for a quick blast during these periods), but it's not necessarily more overall than your average ad break (especially in the extended games).

    As for not getting into the mob, I must have got lucky but I was in the mob on the first night after just stumbling upon the game.

    It's free and a bit of a laugh, whether it keeps the attention when it ceases to be a novelty is a different matter.

  • GamerG #78 3 years ago

    Well I really enjoyed it, i'm getting my mates in on the act for Friday n'all

    Might give the football one a go at 8 tonight as well!

  • superdamiarno #79 3 years ago

    @hobbesthetiger
    I wouldn't mind a brand new MINI Cooper Clubman, you could win with Buzz! Brain of UK game !!

    Unfortunately, I dont own a HDD or a Gold account, otherwise I would be all over this.

    On a seperate note, has anyone played the new Buzz! game in the Buzz! Playstation Home space ? If anyone remembers the 1970's kids program 'Runaround', you're in for a real treat. Good fun
    Edited by 2 at 16/07/09 @ 17:15

  • hobbesthetiger #80 3 years ago

    @ superdamiarno. Fair point, I stand corrected on that one then!

  • Harmonica #81 3 years ago

    Glad to see I agree with the majority of EGers here enjoying this game. I think it's a step in the right direction for XBLA, which in general has lacked any sense of community.

    Myself and friends have been playing every night since it started. We used to do quiz nights and the like at uni but have since gone our separate ways, and this is an excellent way to regroup and socialise!

    I usually agree with you Ellie but I'm not sure if you're just being a little too demanding for what is essentially a step (if only a baby step or two) in the right direction.

    edit: also, this reads more like a review than a hands-on, which is slightly unfair given we're only just shy of a week into this thing and it's in beta. I enjoyed reading Ellie's comments but I think you could do well to group these articles under a 'commentry' type tag (and have more of them!) than pass them off as early-doors appraisal.
    Edited by 1 at 17/07/09 @ 01:00

  • Merlinho #82 3 years ago

    I was sure it was J.R. Ewing who wrote Lord of the Rings...

  • WayMucho #83 3 years ago

    Really enjoying this and even managed to get in the top 10 (number 6) at the end of 20 questions in an extended gamelast night (then it all went horribly wrong!).

    Only negative so far: what a crap bunch of questions in the footy last night - I do't mind a couple of questions on the Champions League, but all 40??!! Where were the questions on the mighty Swindon Town?

  • paulf #84 3 years ago

    managed to play it last night, i think it's a fun game, could do with more stats to show your position relative to other players and also I think the answers should all be revealed at the same time rather than one by one, it was good fun for an hour or so though

  • MikkyX #85 3 years ago

    Been having a lot of fun with this but I do echo some of the other comments:
    1. Do not show anyone's answer, or answering speed until AFTER the answer time is up. So often I have been in a group of four, three of us have all gone for an answer followed about a second later by someone who was obviously uncertain but then though "well if they've all picked X.....". This will also add to the tension - did you get it right? Were you quicker than the others in your little group? You won't know until the end of the question.

    2. It's nice seeing the top 10 but if at all possible I would like to know what position I'M in (since it's never quite the top 10!) - there would still be some pride in being in the top 1,000 out of 70,000 or something but you aren't told.