Gaming Memories – The Weakest Link.

The Weakest Link (PlayStation 1, 2001)

I haven’t actually got around to reviewing the original TV version of this game show yet but I wanted to review the computer game version. Like Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, when BBC game show The Weakest Link was at the peak of its popularity a computer game version was released because everybody at the time fancied a go at playing this game, and my review is based on the PlayStation 1 version which I have.

The Weakest Link is of course the general knowledge challenge where you have to work as a team and get the answers correct because round by round the dunce is dumped. The computer game was rather faithful to the TV version. One change is that only seven contestants take part instead of nine. 

Also you can’t enter your own name or a picture of yourself, you have to assume the persona of one of the 24 different playable characters and then choose your opponents who you think you can beat. There are a few game modes such as when you are given the question, you can have four options which you can see in full, or if you want to challenge yourself only the first letter. 

One thing that is similar to the TV version is the host Anne Robinson asking the questions, but because there are so many and to save time, usually only something like “in sport, what is the correct answer?” is said. Your contestant ponders this for a while. They do all supposedly have different personalities, I remember reading in one review something of a strategy as to whether you should play as Eddie the trucker: “this porker was no use at all, avoid him!”. Also, just about all the male contestants are voiced by voice actor extraordinaire Enn Reitel who did the voiceover on every other advert in the 1980s and 1990s, and listening to him put on a wide range of silly accents is rather amusing. 

You’ve got to remember to bank regularly too to have a chance at progressing and taking the money. Although the game promised “bigger prize banks” than on the TV you don’t really play for anything. At the end of the round regardless of your score you have to of course vote off who you thought performed worst in the round. Again Anne doesn’t hold back in telling the contestants how they did and this causes all kinds of amusing bickering, and leaving one contestant with their head in their hands as they have to take the walk of shame. 

Then of course the weakest link is voted off, leaving them to have a post-match rant about how badly they were treated. Poor old Eddie! Once the final comes (if you get that far) you face your opponent in a penalty shoot-out style game to win and have the honour of knowing that you were the best of the lot that day. 

I did enjoy playing The Weakest Link because I do like to test my general knowledge and all the correct sound effects and comments by Anne were present. It is a surprise to think that this show is no longer going based on how many people watched it but every fad does pass. There was also a version released for the PlayStation 2 which was a big success.

Gaming Memories – Deal Or No Deal Interactive DVD.

Deal Or No Deal Interactive DVD Game (2006) As we near the tenth anniversary of the launch of Deal Or No Deal, here’s a look back at the interactive DVD game version. Again, like most of these DVDs it was sold on the basis of if you think that you can do better than the contestants, now here is your chance to try and battle the banker yourself. As ever, the show is hosted by Noel Edmonds. Will you win enough money to change your life, or enough money to change your socks? 

This DVD was released about a year after Deal Or No Deal launched when it was very popular with viewers, and this DVD is very similar to what the show was like at the time, in the passing years the rules have been changed slightly. First of all you are assigned the box number 5 and you can then play one of the three modes, one player, two player, or as the banker where you can make the offers yourself. 

Something that is frustrating about the game is that you have to scroll through the boxes one by one, so if you want to pick a specific box number in the early rounds it can be rather time consuming. All the 21 contestants taking part are people who had previously appeared on the show. Before they open their box they all make some “good luck”-style comment. Is it going to be your lucky day? 

Then the cash amount is revealed in your box, which is selected at random. After this, there is usually another quick shot of the contestants, looking really pleased or rather upset by the contents of the box, and some of their acting is rather amusing. After five boxes comes your first call from the banker. 

At this point Noel will pass on a few comments about how the game is going. You will then receive the offer. Before you decide, you can ask for advice, but this is usually a very short clip of a contestant saying something like “I would deal” which isn’t very useful. Then after making your decision Noel will then make some more comments about how gutsy (or not) he thinks you are. Curiously the contestants can’t been seen in the background for this so Noel must have recorded his parts separately. 

Although you are not playing for real money of course it can become exciting, with all of the questions like “will you deal at the right time” and “will you win lots of money” being tackled. At the end of the game your box is opened and you discover if you might the right decision, and then we hear some more cheering regardless of the result. 

There was a lot of Deal Or No Deal merchandise around at this time, including a board game, and there was at least one more DVD released. It is a surprise to realise how long ago this is now, and playing the DVD again recently brought back good memories of the earliest days of the show.

Gaming Memories – Classic Bullseye Interactive DVD.

Classic Bullseye Interactive DVD Game (2006) About a decade ago interactive DVD versions of classic game shows were very popular, and there were many made, although the fad seems to have passed now. Bullseye was a great game show in the 80s and 90s so unsurprisingly there was an interactive DVD released. There were a few versions but the one I have is the classic version. 

This version featured Jim Bowen appearing and essentially hosting Bullseye for the first time in about a decade, but he hadn’t forgotten any of the show’s catchphrases and he hoped that we would all have a marvellous time. One thing that amused me about these interactive DVDs is how many veteran game show hosts were invited back to introduce the game in a somewhat cheap-looking replicated version of the original studio design. 

This DVD version of Bullseye is very faithful to the ITV version, with not only Jim present, but all the correct music and sound effects, and Bully the mascot encouraging you along. The throwing process is a little awkward but you soon adjust to it. First of all you can select how many teams want to play. Then it’s time to face the familiar category board. 

Once you’ve selected your category, you throw the dart to try and win yourself the question. Will you hit the bullseye? This part of the game differs slightly from the TV version as Jim offers you four options to the question and you have to pick the correct answer. The cash values are the same as on the TV, but you must remember that you don’t win them for real! 

Then there’s the pounds for points round. At the start of every round Jim gives a quick explanation of how to play. Again this round is a little different as you throw only one dart instead of three, but the highest score wins the question, with the highest scoring team going through to Bully’s Prize Board. Scorer Tony Green voices this round. 

Again this round was just like on TV, and amusingly the prizes that were on offer were taken from clips of old episodes, where they were mocked slightly by Jim and Tony, something that they wouldn’t have done first time round I don’t think. Then of course comes the gamble to play for Bully’s Star Prize. 

The final gamble is the usual 101 or more in six darts. If you win, another archive clip is played of a star prize, and Jim wheels out all of his classic “marvellous, well done, that’s a great prize, I have you’ve had a lovely day playing Bullseye, you can’t beat a bit of Bully!” routine. That speedboat will come in really handy. 

This DVD was released in 2006, around the time that the revival of Bullseye was being shown on Challenge for the first time. It was great seeing Jim again and he definitely enhanced the experience of playing, encouraging us along and hoping that we’d win, and amusingly mocking the prizes. Definitely one of the better interactive DVD games, it’s great fun that hits the target!

Gaming Memories – Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (PlayStation 1, 2000)

Here’s a variation on my game show memories, having a look back at some computer game and interactive DVD versions of classic game shows. First is Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, which was a really successful show when the computer game version was released, and I remember being very pleased when I got the first edition on the PlayStation 1 for Christmas one year. 

If you’re one of those people who constantly shouted the answers at the screen and always said “I could do better than the contestants myself”, than this was your chance to prove it, as you could now play the game at home, although every critic in games magazines said a variation of “you do realise that you are not really playing for any money, don’t you?”. 

The game was fairly good at replicating the TV version of the show which was the ultimate general knowledge challenge. You had to answer 15 successive questions correctly and you had three lifelines if you needed them. Chris Tarrant also took part but he was only heard. One thing that irritated people about the game was that you couldn’t skip Chris doing his whole “you’ve got three lifelines, here’s your next question, you don’t have to play it” routine. The terrific musical soundtrack was also present too. 

I suppose that the game did increase the tension well, with Chris often saying things like “you’re going for D… are you sure?”, and they got round the problem of the Phone A Friend lifeline by recording a few conversations of Chris talking to someone which would supposedly help you out. Also when you had to ask the studio audience it was rather awkward because you couldn’t actually see one. There was also a multiplayer mode where you could take it in turns to play, or play the Fastest Finger First qualifying round to determine who played. 

There was a lot of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire merchandise around at this time. As well as the PlayStation 1 game there was also a book and a board game. Because of the popularity of the computer game there were many more released, with a second version on the PlayStation 1 which corrected some of the flaws of the first game including Chris Tarrant now actually reading out the questions and a more animated studio. 

There would also go on to be many more variations including a junior version of the game, and a PlayStation 2 version which featured a computer-generated version of Tarrant in vision asking you the questions, although I remember one critic saying that the animation made it look like he was trying to chew his own tongue. There were also several interactive DVD versions released. 

Now that Who Wants To Be A Millionaire has ended in this country it is a surprise looking back at how popular the show was, with the first game selling very well, although some critics thought it was rather average, I did enjoy playing it. There have been lots of other game shows that have been turned into computer games and DVDs and I’ll review some more of those soon.

Gaming Memories – Max Payne.

Max Payne (PlayStation 2, 2002)

Max Payne is a thriller shooting game, a genre that I am not usually a big fan of, but when I first discovered it sounded so innovative and worthy of the praise that it received that when it was released on the PlayStation 2 after being a success on the PC I wanted to play it. I eventually got Max Payne as a present for my 20th birthday and I became intrigued by the game from the start, and it definitely took my mind off the shock of not being in my teens any more. 

Max Payne is a fugitive undercover detective in a blizzard-hit New York who is out to avenge the death of his wife and daughter, and feels that everyone is out to get him. He is not very happy about this, and you can definitely sense that. The various bleak situations are told in the style of a graphic novel which is a great way of moving things along in the story and explaining what it going on in Max’s mind. 

The main innovation and selling point in the game is “bullet time”, where as you shoot you can make time slow down and change the angle. This definitely is very effective, but its inclusion did divide critics somewhat, insisting that it proved the game was something of a one trick pony and repetitive, but I did enjoy the feature myself. 

There lots of locations in the game, and Max is always after the dodgy bad guys, whether they be in manky hotels or subway stations. Max can also use a wide variety of weapons to finish people off. One thing I noticed about the game is that Max can interact with various things, such as watching the television, spinning a roulette wheel, or pressing buttons in a lift. 

One thing that amused me about the game at the time (although I don’t think it was meant to be funny) was when Max enters a toilet. After shooting everyone in sight, Max can actually flush the toilet. It just amuses me that in the game’s development, someone must have insisted that to maintain an element of interactivity and realism those toilets better be flushable. I’m sure I even read a magazine article once wondering why all toilets in games seem to be flushable. 

Max Payne went on to have a couple of sequels released, although I haven’t ever played them myself, and the first game went on to win various awards, including a Bafta. Max Payne was even turned into a film in 2008 which starred Mark Wahlberg and was loosely based on the first game. The response from critics to this film was rather mixed but I didn’t mind it. 

Another thing that a lot of people find unintentionally amusing about Max Payne is the expression on Max’s face throughout the game, leading many critics to describe him as seemingly being “constipated”. His taste in shirts is rather dubious too. I do remember in a review of the film one critic said that Mark Wahlberg played the role as if he was constipated. I don’t know they were aware that many games critics have always thought this, so if that was how he intended to play the character then it seems that he got it just right. I think that Max Payne is a great games character, a guy with a grudge against the world and a bowel problem.

Gaming Memories – Triple Play Baseball 2000.

Triple Play Baseball 2000 (PlayStation 1, 1999)

This is another sport game that I have in my collection. Baseball is one of those sports that is more established and popular in America although it does have a following here. My memories of playing rounders as it is called in this country just consist of doing very badly in the school playground. But because I remember watching some MLB coverage on Channel 5 and I liked the look of the game when I saw the review in PlayStation Power, I decided to buy Triple Play Baseball 2000. 

Again, this is a game which features impressive TV-style presentation with commentators Jim Hughson and Buck Martinez who like to often say things like “he’s hit it way back, this might bring rain!”, and all the players, stadiums and teams from the 1999 season are featured. There are plenty of options, from playing a one-off game to going through a whole season to try and make the playoffs and triumph in the World Series. 

Baseball is one of those sports that can have a lot of statistics and it can seem rather overwhelming at first but if you can grasp the basics then the game is great to play. There are lots of other things that made playing this game a good experience for me including amusing crowd noises and sound effects. 

Once you get used to the controls it can be great to attempt to score a home run. It’s very satisfying when you achieve this and there’s a huge “thump” sound effect. Triple Play Baseball 2000 was published by EA Sports who are a company who definitely know how to put a great game together. “If it’s in the game, it’s in the game”. 

One of my favourite things about Triple Play Baseball 2000 is one of the cheats. In a one-off game by pressing various buttons you can access the EA Dream Team, who all seemed to be based on people who worked on the game. They all have various superpowers such as being able to run round the bases very quickly, or having an oversized bat. The best player in the team is the mighty Erik Kiss, who has the incredible ability to hit home runs over 1000+ft with ease every single time making him a guaranteed matchwinner, and he is almost always selected as the man of the match. If he was a real player he would be the greatest one who ever played the game. 

Although there are other games in the Triple Play Baseball series, this is the only one that I have. Such is the nature of baseball that I imagine that it wouldn’t have sold in huge quantities in this country, but in my quest to collect one computer game of every sport to to determine what they are like I have definitely got a feel for why people do enjoy this game. Again there are a few clips on YouTube of people playing the game and over 15 years after it was released I am still a fan. 

Gaming Memories – NBA Basketball 2000.

NBA Basketball 2000 (PlayStation 1, 1999)

Time for my first review of an old computer game. As I have said before I have never been particularly good at playing any sport myself, but I have watched a lot of TV coverage over the years, and I have enjoyed playing sport games, and I have tried to collect one of each sport to learn more about and get a better feel of how the game is played. 

There are of course many basketball games out there, and I wouldn’t know if the one that I have is among the best or the worst available, but one of the reasons that I chose NBA Basketball 2000 was after I played the demo which was on the disc that came with the Official UK PlayStation Magazine. 

Around the late-90s there was some basketball shown on TV, and I remember that some coverage of the NBA was shown on Channel 4 and ITV2, but I don’t know what channel it is on in this country nowadays, probably something like Sky Sports 15. NBA Basketball 2000 featured all the licences of all the teams and players at the time, and you had the option to play a single game or go through a whole season. Now who should I play as today, the Minnesota Timberwolves or Utah Jazz? 

Like many sport games, NBA Basketball 2000 featured realistic TV-style presentation, with the players walking on to the court to big cheers, action replays from lots of angles, plus accurate crowd noises and sound effects. Also featuring were the Fox commentators Greg Papa and Doc Rivers. Such is the nature of basketball that the game is somewhat one end to the other and there is scoring rather frequently, leading Greg to say various phrases such as “tickles the twine!” or “nothing but nylon”. Also along with this Doc would add various stats and facts about the teams and players. 

For some reason almost every time the first free throw is taken in the game Greg will always say “I just don’t think good free throw shooting is emphasised any more at the lower levels”. I don’t know why he seems so concerned about the subject that he has to say it every single time. Also, because this game is now over 15 years old it is a surprise to think most of the players in the game would have started their NBA careers in the 80s, and even most of the rookies featured would be retired by now. 

As the game progresses injuries can happen, and it’s always a tense moment as you wait to find out if your star player is out for the game or the season. There is one rather odd feature in the game, it’s not a glitch as such but it is still rather unusual. If when in the fourth quarter with a minute to go the gap between the teams is fewer than ten points, the computer-controlled team will instantly foul you the moment you get the ball, leading to you having lots of free throws almost as if they want you to win the game. 

This means that the final minute of the game can last for a very long time, and this also happens if the game goes into overtime. Around this point Doc always says “you never give up on an NBA game because too many crazy things can happen in the dying seconds”. He’s definitely right about that, and it is always rather exciting and satisfying if you score a match-winning buzzer beater. 

I was playing the game again before I wrote this piece and I still enjoy it, and although there seems to be no Wikipedia entry for the game, there are a few clips on YouTube with a few comments from people who seemed to enjoy playing the game and it has given me a feel of why basketball has been so popular in America.

Gaming Memories – PC Gamer.

PC Gamer (1993-present)

When we got a PC in 2000, it was decided to choose a magazine to determine what kind of games were available, and that was the first time that I bought PC Gamer, which launched in 1993 and was published by Future who were also behind a lot of the PlayStation magazines that I have already reviewed on here. 

I definitely enjoyed PC Gamer from the first time that I bought it, and it really helped me to decide what types of games I would want to play on this format at the turn of the century, introducing me to such goodies as Deus Ex, Half-Life and Max Payne, and also the comedy adventure genre featuring the great Sam & Max and Monkey Island series. 

In the 100th issue in 2001 there was a great look back at the history of PC Gamer which helped me learn a lot more about the early days of the magazine, such as there being a free gift of a floppy disc featuring various demos at the launch which was upgraded to a CD after about a year. There was also the boast of the cover of the first issue by the editor saying “if you don’t LOVE this magazine… I’ll give you your money back!”, but thankfully nobody ever took him up on the offer. The future had arrived! 

There were some great memories by various writers about their days working on PC Gamer, and it really does seem a great magazine to have worked on, plus all the major events that had happened since the launch, including “Issue 81: James Ashton fell off his chair. Funnier than possible to describe through the mere medium of words”.

PC Gamer‘s review system gave scores based on a percentage, and one thing that stood out about them is that reviews would always be summed up with just one word. The highest score ever given to a game is 96%, yet people still remember the various terrible games to have been reviewed over the years including the horror that was Plumbers Don’t Wear Ties that was lucky to get a paltry 3%. 

Also every year PC Gamer would compile a Top 100 list of their favourite games, and this was always a good excuse for the writers to mess about and look rather daft in photoshoots which is something that I always enjoy. It also caused a lot of debate with readers of course who would write in with their own favourites too. There have also been lots of very interesting in-depth articles about various aspects of gaming over the years. 

Among the various great features over the years, one of the things that I liked about PC Gamer was when they had a competition to caption a picture of the rather messy office that was taken by a webcam and some of the entries were amusingly odd. I also liked a feature called Gamer Snap where readers sent in their pictures of weird glitches in games or manipulated images which usually included a mild mocking of a writer, and the back page strangeness of “it’s all over…”. 

PC Gamer went on to be a big success, quickly becoming the best-selling PC games magazine in Britain, and an American version was launched in 1994 which has had a lot of success too. It’s a surprise to think that PC Gamer has now been going for 22 years and over 250 issues, it has outlived all of its contemporaries in the marketplace, and it has overseen a huge amount of change in the gaming industry, from megabytes to terabytes, and has expanded beyond the magazine to websites and various other ventures.

Gaming Memories – Official UK PlayStation 2 Magazine.

Official UK PlayStation 2 Magazine (2000-2008)

Sony’s new console the PlayStation 2 launched in the UK at the end of 2000. I got one at the start of 2001, and I was really pleased, it was great to be trendy for about five minutes. Because I had been buying the Official UK PlayStation Magazine for a couple of years at this point, I decided as it was published by the same company Future to start buying the Official UK PlayStation 2 Magazine.

The history of the magazine can be split into four different eras. When I started to buy the magazine the content was rather straightforward, with news, previews of upcoming games, interviews with figures in the industry, reviews of games with scores out of ten, plus a few other things like reviews of DVDs. There was also of a course a free demo disc given away giving you a chance to play some of the latest games yourself. 

By the start of the second era the magazine was selling almost 200,000 copies an issue – not as high as the peak of the PlayStation 1 magazine in the late-90s but still the biggest-selling computer games magazine in Britain at the time. Around this time there were also various free gifts given away including cheat books and stickers. 

By the third era the content of the magazine changed somewhat, looking much livelier than the first era but coming across as having something of a “laddish” attitude. Again, various writers worked for the magazine at the time and often appeared in the pages of the various features. I particularly remember one writer called George Walter (who seemed to prefer to being called “Gorgeous”) was all over the magazine out one point, doing silly things on various pages. Some of the cover designs around this time were good though. 

The fourth and final era featured another big relaunch, with even the size of the pages being changed. The magazine started to aim at younger readers, and although I read it to the end, there wasn’t too much content in the later issues. For some reason around this time there seemed to be a lot of coverage of guitar games, all the writers seemed to like them. The 100th issue in 2008 was also the final one, featuring Sonic the Hedgehog on the cover and a look back at various classic moments. Around this time a new magazine covering PlayStation 3 was launched but as I’ve never had one of those I haven’t ever bought that one. 

This is the final PlayStation magazine that I have to write about, although there a few other magazines about different consoles that I used to read over the years and I’ll write about those soon. Next I’ll bring you some memories of some of my favourite games that I used to enjoy playing.

Gaming Memories – PlayStation Power.

PlayStation Power (1996-2001)

After I started to buy the Official UK PlayStation Magazine at the end of 1998, I started to think about whether I should also buy an unofficial magazine as there were several of them as the marketplace was much more crowded at the time. In early-1999 I was having a look on the shelf in the supermarket and I made to decision to start buying PlayStation Power, partly because that issue came with the free gift of a CD featuring some music from the game Rollcage which I do like. By this time PlayStation Power was the biggest unofficial computer games magazine in Britain, with sales not far short of 100,000. They were also another PlayStation magazine that knew that Lara Croft on the cover = sales. It was also £2.50 at the time, half the price of the official magazine, what a bargain! PlayStation Power was a monthly magazine published by Future which launched in 1996. After I had a look through what else was inside I was very impressed and started to buy the magazine regularly. When I first encountered the writers I did wonder “who are these people?”, but I did quickly become a big fan of their writing styles and their humour and enthusiasm for PlayStation gaming clearly came through. What a bunch of guys. I believe they also contributed to a computer games show on ITV called Gamers, only it wasn’t ever shown in my region. 

Over the issues PlayStation Power would go on to give away various free gifts including stickers, cheat books, and even a VHS which featured the best games that were around at the moment. There was also a resident “babe” as they said in the late-90s who would appear in various pages of the magazine. It was Rachel Grant who was also an actress and appeared in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies. 

PlayStation Power‘s review system used percentages. They particularly had it in for a game called Hugo, which was a conversion of an interactive feature on CITV Saturday Morning show What’s Up Doc about five years earlier where viewers had to press the buttons on their touchtone phone to play the game. PlayStation Power gave Hugo their lowest review score of 1% and said it was dreadful. The game caused a lot of debate on the letters page, but people sarcastically (probably) saying “Why don’t you like Hugo, it should’ve got 99%, it’s better than Metal Gear Solid” every month did get tiresome after a while. 

There were also many enjoyable features in the magazine including interviewing celebrities and asking them what their favourite PlayStation games are, “The State Of The ‘Station” where the writers gathered round to discuss the latest news of what was happening to Sony’s console in a lively style, and other things including how to fix your PlayStation (“Don’t poke your kebab-stained mitts at the lens, you muppet.”). I also remember in one issue they tested mail order companies by ordering a copy of Driver to determine who had the best deal, only one of them never answered the phone. Their conclusion: “Mail order? Male odour, more like!”. 

One of the features that I liked was the A-Z, providing lots of information on every game that PlayStation Power had reviewed which helped me to decide what games I would be interested in and like to buy. Any game that had a rating of over 90% was declared a “Stunna”, but I also enjoyed reading the reviews of terrible low-scoring games, with one stinker being simply summed up as “ugly and pointless, like Les Dennis”. 

All of this carried on for a while but at the start of 2000 for the 50th issue there was a huge relaunch because it was “the new millennium”. The title was shortened to just Power, it now became more focused on the imminent PlayStation 2. There would also be more pages and the reviews system was now changed to scores out of ten. There were also some new features including a column written by Emily Newton-Dunn of Channel 4’s Bits fame. 

This was how the magazine stayed for a while, but sales then seemed to drift. In mid-2001 after five years the decision was made to merge Power with PlayStation Max which had launched in 1999 and was aimed at younger readers. The editor at this point was Ryan Butt who was also in charge of the official magazine when that closed in 2004. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to track down any information of how long this version of the magazine lasted, as I stopped reading at Power‘s 69th and final issue. PlayStation Power at its peak was a very enjoyable gaming magazine and I am surprised to discover that it there is very little about it online and it doesn’t even have a Wikipedia entry. I hope this piece goes some way to giving the magazine and its team some of the appraisal and recognition that I think it deserves.