Jeopardy! buzzes into PSN

  • By TomM_GScom, GameSpot
  • Posted Sep 10, 2008 5:39 pm PT

Jeopardy! may be "America's Favorite Quiz Show," but the Sony Pictures-produced television series has in recent years been trumped in the gaming sector by the likes of Sony Europe's popular Buzz! franchise. With the Emmy-award-winning answer-and-question series celebrating its 25th year in...

Jeopardy! may be "America's Favorite Quiz Show," but the Sony Pictures-produced television series has in recent years been trumped in the gaming sector by the likes of Sony Europe's popular Buzz! franchise. With the Emmy-award-winning answer-and-question series celebrating its 25th year in syndication in 2008, Sony has revived the brand for a new digital installment that will be released on the PlayStation Network this Thursday.

Developed by Sony's Los Angeles studio, Jeopardy! for the PSN packs in more than 2,500 questions. Those wishing to go it alone can compete against computer-controlled opponents that can be set to three difficulty settings. Alternatively, players can test their gray matter online in real-time multiplayer matches, which support voice chat. The publisher made no mention of whether Alex Trebek, iconic host of the television series since 1984, would make an appearance in the game.

In a break from the PlayStation 2 games, the last of which was released in 2005, Jeopardy! on the PSN will feature multiple-choice selections, as opposed to spelling out answers through a keypad. Posting to Sony's PlayStation Blog, Shalom Mann, senior VP of development at Sony's LA studio, said this decision was made "so that single-player and multiplayer games would have a quick pace to them."

Inputting answers through voice recognition, Shalom noted, is a possibility for "the next version." Sony LA expects to release expansion packs beginning in 2009. Shalom also confirmed that the studio is working on Wheel of Fortune for the PSN, promising further updates on the downloadable title "soon."

Pricing information for Jeopardy! had not been revealed as of press time.

27 Comments

  • spanky333

    Posted Sep 28, 2008 11:33 am PT

    Guys, I have the game and it is actually really fun. Multiple choice makes perfect sense, otherwise you would need 2-4 keyboards running all around your living room for local games. Mess.
    It's a good time, and quite challenging. Check it out.

  • EPaul

    Posted Sep 14, 2008 4:55 pm PT

    I'm more hype for the price is right game

  • necronaux

    Posted Sep 12, 2008 10:22 am PT

    They could only really do this with multiple choice. Otherwise they'd have to ge into handwriting analysis, spell checking, etc. I'm sure games like "Who wants to be a millionaire?" and "Deal or no deal" are soon to follow.

  • PumpkinBoogie

    Posted Sep 12, 2008 12:57 am PT

    The Price is Right....now THAT'S what they need to have--oh yeah...Bob Barker

    ....I kid, I kid. But yeah, multiple choice does seem a bit funny coming from Jeopardy. Hell, I personally still wanna see Buzz come out

  • 4quarters

    Posted Sep 11, 2008 4:51 pm PT

    Thisd needed to be less than $10, at $15 it's too much, instead I went with the upgrade for PAIN! for $5.99- a deal!!!

  • Generic_Dude

    Posted Sep 11, 2008 3:47 pm PT

    Multiple choice? Are you kidding? So much for the challenge or purpose of this game, as well as the chance of me even considering a download. Especially without a demo and at a $15 price point!?

    Why not make it USB keyboard compatible? Or compatible with the mini-keyboard add-on for the controller that Sony has in the works? Ridiculous. What a fumble on Sony's part.

  • leimeisei

    Posted Sep 11, 2008 11:52 am PT

    wow guys.. the multiple choice will help this. you can't see the multiple choice answers until you buzz in, so its not like it gives u A B C D up front. It wont subtract from the game or anything.

  • grognard

    Posted Sep 11, 2008 11:21 am PT

    Multiple choice is an understandable, but unfortunate choice for this game. I'll definitely give it a try if there's a demo - otherwise, no sale for me.

  • Megul

    Posted Sep 11, 2008 10:04 am PT

    why comepet with your own buzz series?? this is dumb

  • neonfrax2

    Posted Sep 11, 2008 9:39 am PT

    I'd give this a 6.5 out of 10 on my happiness radar. For less than nine bucks, I might give this a try until Buzz! comes out. Does this ONLY come with a multiple player over PSN or can I challenge people in my own living room?

    The multiple choice thing doesn't bug me so much as games like Buzz! and You Don't Know Jack still entertain with multiple choice answers. (Mmmmm..... You Don't Know Jack.... I might reinstall that tonight!)

  • mjc0961

    Posted Sep 11, 2008 8:13 am PT

    Multiple choice? So it's not really even Jeopardy anymore. Definitely not worth the money.

  • Holdwick

    Posted Sep 11, 2008 7:43 am PT

    Might be cool but not really for me.

  • dreadnought666

    Posted Sep 11, 2008 7:35 am PT

    Hopefully we will be able to use the new wireless buzz controllers with this game.

  • Nineball2112

    Posted Sep 11, 2008 6:44 am PT

    Hey! What is... I'm more than likely going to pick this up, Alex?

    I'm assuming this will be around the $10.00 price range?

  • maverick_76

    Posted Sep 11, 2008 4:26 am PT

    Yeah! Multiple Guess wins again!

  • brianpoetzel

    Posted Sep 11, 2008 3:37 am PT

    Wow. Multiple choice for jeopardy. Now you don't have to know an answer. Just pick one from the choices given...

  • GranReyUno

    Posted Sep 11, 2008 1:18 am PT

    The multiple choice does take away from the natural feel of Jeopardy. This option should have been made optional. At least there will be a Wheel of Fortune.

  • JamesSoprano

    Posted Sep 10, 2008 9:48 pm PT

    i would rather the Wheel Of Fortune game .. now if that has XMB trophies then i'l be all over that the first day it comes out

  • danjammer69

    Posted Sep 10, 2008 8:07 pm PT

    Multiple choice should not be required. It should be an option (like a varying skill level). Keep in mind, you can use a USB/Wireless keyboard on the PS3 to answer the questions.

  • kz1den

    Posted Sep 10, 2008 8:06 pm PT

    Multiple choice does take away from the overall challenge of the game. However, if they do implement voice recognition, I just may consider. Until then, I'm kinda looking forward to that Wheel of Fortune update.

  • ocdog45

    Posted Sep 10, 2008 7:54 pm PT

    i never liked that show.

  • NicAgent

    Posted Sep 10, 2008 7:43 pm PT

    they really have no choice but a multi-choice format... it would take some pretty advanced voice recognition but i guess they perhaps could make it completely true to the show

  • MrShenmue

    Posted Sep 10, 2008 6:50 pm PT

    Awsome. Im gonna buy this!

  • Kuruption84

    Posted Sep 10, 2008 6:47 pm PT

    Eh, I don't like the multiple choice. Kinda makes it like button mashing in a fighter, but I still wanna play it.

  • danjammer69

    Posted Sep 10, 2008 6:41 pm PT

    Lame. I was looking foward to this. Jeopardy should NOT be multiple choice.

  • chikahiro94

    Posted Sep 10, 2008 6:21 pm PT

    Voice recognition? No thanks. Voice recognition programs can have trouble with accents, need to be "trained," etc. Keep it simple - pad only please.

  • YoJim8obaJoe

    Posted Sep 10, 2008 6:01 pm PT

    Wow that sounds fun,answering question.Go to a pub quiz instead,get drunk and be in with the chance of actually winning something

advertisement

Hot Stories

Newsmakers

Featured Stories

Submit News

Got tips? Send them in!