Score
Gameplay:	7
Graphics:	6
Sound:	5
FunFactor:	6
PlasmaFactor:	7
Overall:	6.2

TV Show King Review
May 12, 2008 by Peter Skerritt

Gameloft has a pretty solid reputation in terms of creating games for casual players, and their first WiiWare entry, called TV Show King, does little to either enhance or damage that reputation. Using a game show format to present over 3,000 different questions in several areas of knowledge, TV Show King certainly makes players feel like they’re on the hot seat… but is it worth 10 bucks to show off your smarts? 

I’ll Take Gameplay for $200, Alex… 

The controls in TV Show King are handled via the Wii remote only, and players interested in friendly competition will each need their own Wiimote to play. For each round, players are asked a series of seven questions and each subsequent question in the series is worth more money if answered correctly. Each question is accompanied by four possible choices; players need to point the Wiimote at the correct answer and press the A button to lock it in. Players are allowed to change their answers as the timer ticks down, but cash for correct answers is awarded on a sliding scale that favors the players who lock in the right answer before the others. One question in each series is a special question that awards extra cash to the player who is the first to lock in the right answer.  

After each series, players can elect to spin a wheel that has some game-changing options on it. Some spots on the wheel win the player extra cash. Others take away cash. A few other spots have players either give money to or take money away from a player of their choice. There are also spots for swapping cash amounts with one player and, much like the Bankrupt space in Wheel Of Fortune, there’s one spot that drains a player of all of his (or her) money.  

Once the preliminary rounds are completed, the next series of questions takes on an interesting gameplay trait. Called the Scratch Quiz, players must use their Wiimotes and onscreen pointers to “scratch” the four answers in order to reveal what’s underneath. This extra wrinkle can get players to frantically waggle their Wiimotes in order to uncover the answers and be the first to lock in the right choice in order to either close the gap or strengthen a lead.  

Upon the completion of the last round, the players with the top two cash amounts compete in a duel. The first player to correctly answer five questions wins the duel… and also wins half of the other player’s cash. There is no penalty if a player answers incorrectly, but the first player who answers correctly gets credit for the right answer. The winner—and TV Show King—is determined by who has the highest cash amount.  

Aside from the main game, there is a single-player mode called Quiz Attack which challenges players to see how many consecutive questions they can answer correctly. It’s a pretty streamlined gameplay mode, and high scores are tracked and saved… they are not shared online via WiiConnect, however.  

In fact, there isn’t any online functionality at all in TV Show King. This is disappointing, considering that a few of the early WiiWare offerings are using WiiConnect for leaderboards and online play. It remains to be seen whether there will be patches or new questions added for the game, but 3,000 questions will eventually wind up repeating and lead to pretty easy games. Hopefully Nintendo and Gameloft will work something out to allow updates in the future.  

How Do I Look, Vanna? 

Visually, TV Show King does an admirable job of constructing a game show atmosphere. The show host is cartoony and flashes an omnipresent smile. The game show set has plenty of flashing lights and spotlights, and the lovely hostess is as artificial as most that you’ll see on live shows. The in-game contestants and the studio audience are comprised of Miis, and that’s a nice integration of Nintendo’s avatar system. TV Show King isn’t exactly taxing on the Wii hardware, so there aren’t any real visual hiccups to be seen. The frame rate is pretty consistent and there are some decent lighting effects.  

The Audio Daily Double 

In terms of sound, TV Show King relies heavily on the voice of the game show host and some peppy (but forgettable) music to enhance the game show experience. The questions are not read aloud, so players will have to do some quick reading. There really isn’t any personalization in the game, either, so players will be referred to by their numbers… such as Player 1, Player 2, and so on. It would have been nice for Gameloft to add some nicknames for players to choose from, similar to Sony’s Buzz series, in order to make distinguishing between players a little less droll.  

I’ll Take PlasmaFactor, For The Win! 

Fans of trivia games and game shows will be enticed by TV Show King, but players will get more enjoyment if they don’t come into the game with high expectations. TV Show King doesn’t have the presentation values of other quiz games like the aforementioned Buzz or You Don’t Know Jack, but it does play a pretty solid game of trivia with a couple of twists on the standard question and answer formula. TV Show King is more fun with multiple players, especially if there’s a foursome playing. The competition can get pretty heated, and things can quickly change with one spin of the wheel or in the final duel. TV Show King is a limited experience, however, thanks to a relatively small database of questions and no online functionality. After a few hours, players will have seen all that the game has to offer.  

Is That Your Final Answer? 

TV Show King is an adequate first effort from Gameloft for the WiiWare service. It’s not the best console-based game of its type out there, nor is it the best trivia game on the Wii platform. It is, however, a mere $10 to download and can offer some enjoyment for trivia buffs and game show fans alike. Who knows… you might even learn a thing or two while playing it. Would that be such a bad thing?