16Jun2010
Video: It’s A “Rat Race!”
As we reported earlier today, Price is Right’s new game “Rat Race” made its debut, and boy, does it look good! We have both the first full playing of the game as well as a special behind the scenes look. Check out how Drew Carey created the game as well as how it was designed. It’s an incredibly impressive production. Nice job. Best new game they’ve had in an extremely long time. Read on to see the videos.
I like it. It’s a fun game, though I think the “guess within” ranges may need adjustment.
Great game! I’m sure it won’t be long after the game gets a few plays that we’ll start seeing all the stats about which rat wins more often than others. Will odds eventually get posted? :)
Great game. I believe it has staying power. But I’m curious as to which Pricing Game they retired in order for this one to come to fruition?
This new pricing game is pretty cool and very creative! It kinda reminds me of the retired pricing game “Hurdles” in a way. Additionally, I liked the “photo finish”. That’s a nice touch for the debut of that pricing game.
I totally agree with you about that Dexter, I thought this game was a revival of hurdles.
Well, there’s no need to retire a game to bring one into the rotation. That being said, they have virtually retired quite a few games recently…By virtually retired, I mean they barely ever play them anymore. Games like Take Two, Two for the Price of One, 3 Strikes…and some that have not been officially retired as of yet, like Credit card or Check Game…
On another note, I love this game. The game play is awesome. the set, on the other hand, is WAAAAY to busy. I could barely figure out what the small prizes were on that table with that background. It gives the same prizes as Master Key, but with a much more interesting gimmick. So…How many people see Master Key’s playings drop way down for a while? (Not like they play it often anyways…)
Oooooh, I like it. It’s a pretty fun game. =D
Holy Crap look at Drew! He’s lost a lot of weight!
This game is a definite throwback to the days of Jay Wolpert and the moving tokens of yore; Hurdles, It’s Optional, Finish Line, etc. (Cliff Hangers is also from this era.)
A small milestone with this game; it’s the first to use a plasma screen/OLED display as a permanent part of its set. It’s also the first Pricing Game since the extremely short-lived Telephone Game of 1978 to incorporate grocery products and small prizes in the same format. In a way, it also revives the pricing element from the late and sorely lamented Walk of Fame…
I agree with the earlier comment that the small-prize backdrop is just too busy; it could be simplified quite a bit. However, the nature of the prizes themselves contributed to the camoflage in this case; the toaster with its reflective surface, and the low profile Blu-Ray player. Still, there is something to be said for at least adding some placards so the contestant can at least read what s/he’s bidding on.
At first I thought the idea of using wind-up toy mice in a Pricing Game was just too silly by half, but seeing this in action it’s definitely in the spirit of the classic games of yore. I could see this one quickly becoming a fan favorite.
Definitely a great game, IMO.
They could do something regarding the grocery/small prizes, though, so the contestant can have a better idea of what they’re bidding on. I think the bidding ranges are just fine.
I love behind the scenes stuff like that. Looks like a good game after one playing, we’ll see how it stands up to repeat viewing.
Wait a minute. With this episode debuting with the new game, does that mean the TPIR is still airing new episodes? I thought all of the shows were in rerun by now! I just saw an episode the other day that was from the start of the season!
Three new episodes are left: 6/17, 6/25, and 7/2. There might also be a new episode towards the end of the season for a Back to School special.
I’m not *quite* sold on the pricing aspect (pricing grocery items and small prizes in the same game) — although I do understand Drew’s thinking of taking elements from other games and incorporating them into Rat Race.
Personally, I would’ve like to have seen the multiple choices from the retired Joker game (read: Is the price $35 or $53? $42 or $24?) applied here.
Despite the quibble, the game really is quite entertaining. The lighted dollar sign track is something else.
And allow me add another congratulatory message on Drew’s weight loss.
Yesterday’s show was the “regular” season finale, not withstanding the postponed episode because of the Nashville flooding (which is the “true” season finale). There are five shows left — the Lonestar show (which brings a bit of 1950′s feel in that a live band is included — television game shows had live music in the early days), the Daytime Emmys show next week, the Independence Day show the week afterwards, and the “season finale,” the unaired show from last month postponed because of a trip to Nashville.
so is a slow motion shot of the contestants crotch going to be a regular feature?
I was unsure what to expect but when I saw the game in action, I was floored. The only two things that can be changed is the racetrack is swirvy and the rats move too fast so it’s hard to keep up with them. Thank god they list the winners at the end of the race. I hope they change the track to a kind’ve round racetrack and slow the rats down a bit but I think we do have the next popular pricing game on our hands. I give it 5 orange rats out of 5.
Don’t know if anyone else noticed but the racetrack is actually a “$” sign
Actually, the reason the track is shaped like it is, other than the fact it’s a dollar sign, is so all five rats have to travel the same distance. On an oval or circle track, the rat closest to the center would have had a distinct advantage, due to a shorter distance.
It was the same on American Gladiators in the “SkyTracker” event. The three lanes in that having an S curve to keep all three lanes the same distance.
It’s a S&P thing, you know…
One thing I would change is adding a “win everything” rat (pick that rat, and if he wins, you win all the prizes, but that one MUST come in first for it to count). Other than that, I like it.
I just wonder how much time it’ll take the crew to assemble the set for it. It looks very big and busy.
By the way, forgot to mention this (and sorry if this was noticed before), but the guy came on stage from the opposite side. Did they JUST add the steps or has that been that way for a while now? I remember people making that mistake only to be corrected in the past. I guess they thought they would be better off just adding the steps (or just allowing the contestants to come up on that side now if they desire).