New Home Games for “Minute to Win It”, “Million Pound Drop”, “Hollywood Squares”, and More
There’s been a lot of action on the home game front for game shows. Perfect time, too, seeing as the holidays are quickly approaching. First off, in a little bit of news, Fremantle has bought 80% stake in Ludia. Ludia made home versions of a lot of Fremantle property like The Price is Right, Family Feud, and Press Your Luck. We’ll be seeing a lot more of their games in the future, and we’ll have more on them soon.
*Minute to Win It will be getting its own game for Wii and Nintendo DS from Zoo Games. Zoo Games did a Wii version of another popular NBC property: Deal or No Deal. At least the Wii should benefit the physical game of Minute. It makes a lot more sense than picking suitcases with Wii. The extra nice thing is balance board support will be added, so you have another way to play. Good move on their part. The game will be available Tuesday, November 2nd, and it sells for $29.99. You can pre-order your copy from Amazon by clicking here. A trailer for the game is below.
*November 2nd will also see the release of Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune for Wii. Each go for around $30. One big positive is that they’ll use the Wii Speak function so you can play each game close to the TV version. It’s nice for Jeopardy! which last time I checked used multiple choice on most versions. Click here to pre-order Jeopardy! and here for Wheel of Fortune.
*Not sure if this would be available to purchase for Americans anywhere, but for our British friends, a board game version of Million Pound Drop will be out for the holidays. Drummond Park will be making the game which is planned for release in mid November. The game will include a real trap door table, so give them an A for effort at least. Let’s see how it turns out. The head of consumer products for Endemol UK said, “We are sure that the Million Pound Drop game will be a huge success and look forward to seeing the finished version, which will be going into the shops towards the middle of November.”
*Going back to Ludia, they recently launched Hollywood Squares and Who Wants to be a Millionaire (clock format) for Wii. You can buy each by clicking their individual links above.
Which ones are you looking forward to most?
Million Pound Drop deffinitely, The real trap doors is a real plus.
I have Wii – HOLLYWOOD SQUARES, and it is HORRENDOUS! In the same vain as PRESS YOUR LUCK & PRICE, Hollywood Squares does not fulfill the full experience. Single Player mode is the closest we always get, but it’s never quite there, NO SCOREBOARD, ONE MATCH then BONUS round, that’s it.
If you play with your friends, ONE MATCH, NO BONUS, restart game. LUDIA, for the LOVE OF WHATEVER DENOMINATION of HIGHER POWER YOU BELIEVE IN, make these gameshow games just like the real thing. Allow PARTY MODE to be just like the SHOW they represent. If the show has RETURNING CHAMPIONS, let the game have RETUNING CHAMPIONS. If the show has ESCALATING PRIZES (i.e. H2 Bonus Round), let the game have ESCALATING PRIZES (i.e. H2 Bonus Round)
While we are on this note fix THE PRICE is RIGHT, SINGLE & PARTY MODE should be a FULL GAME IN ORDER, Contestant’s Row, Up on Stage, Play Pricing Game (Repeat 3 times); Showcase Showdown; Contestant’s Row, Up on Stage, Play Pricing Game (Repeat 3 times); Showcase Showdown; Showcase. Why are you making this so hard ?
LUDIA… STOP FUCKING UP GAME SHOW GAMES! GET IT RIGHT!
I haven’t invested in any of Ludia’s games as of yet because I understand that they aren’t very true representations and looked kind of ‘empty’.
Jeopardy and Wheel, though, both look very professional, and while i don’t have a Wii Speak, it seems like a great use of technology. I’m much more inclined to pick up one (or both!) of these after I see more gameplay footage/reviews.
I enjoyed the faithful tv game play of MGC – though the clues were too tiny for four player unless you’ve got a big screen, it was pretty fun, even though wasn’t based on the greatest format in the world. Getting the music and graphics right is a key factor, as is quality & quantity of content, and MGC hit the nail on the head in 3/4 of those (better clues for the non-tv eps). From what I’ve seen in the trailers, J! and WoF have the graphics spot on, and I doubt they’d falter with the music. It comes down to a recreation of the gameplay – and those of us who’ve played the older video game versions (SNES for me) have a high standard on that front. Fingers crossed.
Any chance of a giveaway contest, Alex? :D
I’m right there with you, Neville! I grew up on the MAC, NES, SNES/GENESIS, N64 versions of these games which were true to form.
I’m not going to rant about Ludia for putting out slightly off games. At least we’re getting something relatively close at all!
I Think LUDIA should learn something from THQ. THQ did Wheel of Fortune RIGHT!
THQ’s Wii Wheel of Fortune, is the best “True-to-form” Video game experience among all of the current line of Game Show games out there. Best part of the Wii version, is that you can use your Mii. The game is virtually just like the show, with PAT & VANNA walking during intro, and Pat throwing to commerical just like on the show, Commercial breaks are filled with mini games.
LUDIA…. learn from THQ, and DO it RIGHT! Don’t give us fans a game we don’t know.
GO THQ!
Wheel is AWESOME, true-to-game, with the late Charlie-O’s voice.
Also, if you can find it, THQ’s version of Merv Griffin’s Crosswords was very faithful to the original (with some adjustment for prize values); the only downside is that if you do not win the bonus round, there is no reveal of the clues you missed. Still, amazingly good recreation (spoilers and all), with a great 2-player option. The game controls are very much like Wheel.
PYL is below-par, a disappointment, but playable and the kids love it. The Big Board plays true to form but for the lack of continuous sound effects and use of the Pilot music. Could have done better with that, maybe there will be an improvement. You’d think if Freemantle owns a stake in Ludia they would have incentive to get things right going forward.
Has anyone gotten Family Feud Decades? Looks promising with game sets from all decades.
All of these games are better is Mi’s can be used.
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