REVIEW: Ludia’s “The Price is Right”
Do you remember when we talked about a “Price” PC game in development? Well, after a long wait, it has been released to the public.
I must say, it’s pretty good. Graphics are good-looking,
There’s only a couple of minor issues. First, the prizes are video clips from actual aired shows, so there’s a very small chance that somebody playing may have that episode on tape, and can then guess the ARP exactly. Second, it would be nice to have keyboard support for typing in bids. Clicking on “hidden arrows” up and down gets the job done, but it’s not the way the average user would expect to enter numbers on a PC game.
The complete list of pricing games:
- 3 Strikes
- Bonkers
- Check-Out
- Cliffhangers
- Flip Flop
- Freeze Frame
- Hole in One (or Two)
- It’s in the Bag
- Master Key
- Money Game
- Plinko
- Punch-A-Bunch
- Push Over
- Race Game
- Range Game
- Shell Game
Overall, I give the game 4/5. Try it out first, then buy it if you like it. I certainly did. :-DLudia’s “The Price is Right” software is available as a 30-minute free trial or as a $19.99 purchase (plus applicable sales tax). Download it here.
As a tip: You can skip through Rich’s explanation of Contestant’s Row, the pricing games, etc., by clicking anywhere in the main portion of the screen. However, you cannot skip through prize descriptions (unless you bid on the first showcase, which will then produce a “Skip” button to click on during the second).
Overall, it’s pretty good. Check-out only has you guess the prices of 4 products, not 5 – and hole on one (or two) only has you arrange 4 products in price order instead of 6. I wish you could type in answers via the keyboard as well. I pretty much agree with the 4/5 rating.
Can I be brutally honest? That list of only 16 games looks frighteningly short. With about 100 games to choose from (and I dunno, 80 or so of them still active), I would have expected probably at least triple what’s given there, even if it does include the “boring” games like “Most Expensive” or “1 Right Price.” (I have nothing against those games, though I know some people who find such “simple” games as those to be uninteresting.)
I’ll be sure to give this a shot whenever my computer is working again, it might still be worth it. (Don’t ask how I’m talking to you now… MAGICKS!!!)
There is going to be a retail version of this game realeased, but not til fall. That version will have even more pricing games, plus some other minor updates.
Todd: Source of your info, please?
There is a posting over on Golden-Road.net from the producers of the game. It will have some different modes and many more prizes.
I tried it…not too bad. However, I wish the trial version was longer (1/2 hr as opposed to the regular hr for most games).
I love the fact that Punch-A-Bunch (personal favorite) is on the game…but what about The Grand Game?
I also hope that another version (which was discussed by Todd) comes out with more pricing games. I agree…I hope there are more pricing games than just the ones on the list.
I’m guessing you can’t skip through prize descriptions because their hope is to sell some ad space by linking to websites of products. They’ve managed to do it with a few products already. I’m all for that if selling the ads will allow future updates to the game.
I checked it out and agree with the 4/5 rating, but I kind of chuckled when you actually went to the trouble to mention that people might know the ARPs just because they’ve appeared on TV before. I don’t think even the most die-hard TPIR fans are that compulsive. The more appropriate gripe here is that the video clips don’t mesh well with the rest of the game’s presentation.
Regarding Mark’s post about “I don’t think even the most die-hard TPIR fans are that compulsive”. I agree with you for the most part…99% probably aren’t. However, I recently viewed a clip (via internet) that showed a contestant in Contestant’s Row…when it got to his turn he said something like (and I’m paraphrasing, here) “I know what it is. I saw this yesterday”. It turns out that he must’ve…not only did he win the right to get up on stage, he got the perfect bid bonus…so, he really must’ve been compulsive. I’m not saying that a lot are. In fact, I think there’s very few out there that are like that. But, I did want to bring up that unique scenario.
i’m trying to make some money on all the games so i can play each game by it self. I have made money on all of them except the showcase show down.
i guess you have to spin a dollar and then you have to get a green or a red section so you can play the little games by themself’s.
i have been trying to do this but have not been able to get it done. does anyone know how to do this without having to be just lucky?
Mike
I got the ludia download version of this game, and as good a job as they could do on this game, it isn’t everything. I hope that the next one (if there is a next one) will include a choice of both barker and carey sets, more avatars to choose from or even customizable avatars, like Sony Computer Entertainment’s Jeopardy! and Wheel. I hate the fact that there is no Asian character, thus takes away some of the individuality of the game… not every man in the world is a blond haired muscular army dude, and I’m a shaved bald, a touch overweight, Asian actor. I would also suggest including more pricing games (although there’s only so much you can fit on a dvd), maybe some Barker or Carey clips, and actually making party mode so that one could host the show; a presentation mode if you will. Imagine all the Price geeks out there just dying to see if they have potential give Bob or Drew a run for their millions of dollars per season contract.
Good try, especially since it’s the first “official” price video game since Gametek’s attempt in the 80′s.