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Buzz: The Music Quiz Q&A Feature
Derek dela Fuente
13/10/2005
TVG questions David Amor of Relentless Software on their forthcoming quiz title for PlayStation2...
We all love a good music quiz games especially when it is both expansive and has a few really novel and exciting features. Our man on the buzzer, Derek dela Fuente spoke with David Amor from Relentless Software about this Christmas stocking filler!
Can you tell us what kind of research Sony did to ensure that this kind of game will be popular and you understood exactly want gamers wanted?
Sony saw this product targeting the same kind of audience as SingStar and EyeToy and they knew quite a bit about this kind of gamer. The most important thing was to keep it immediate and fun; any time the game started heading toward hardcore gamer territory we took a step back and started over.
Without doubt the biggest factor in keeping this game simple is leaving the traditional joypad at the door. The game comes with four free buzzers which anyone can use. Despite our game design philosophies, itās really the buzzers that get your granny playing and of course with four of them it means that four people can start playing right away.
Personally we think Buzz looks great but how do you ensure that with such a wide range of questions, from many different erasā, it appealed to the right audience playing? If for instance the gamers playing are in their teens how do you ensure they get the majority of questions pertinent to their likes and are there other interactive gameplay ideas to appeal?
On a simple level we let people choose between older and newer music, but thereās things we can do with game design which help with this too. For instance, in the Offloader round players have to decide who doesnāt know the track being played. It doesnāt matter if I know it or not, I can still have fun putting the question to someone else.
What were the criteria for the questions and music clips for being included in Buzz?
A company called Sleepydog wrote all the questions and found the music clips. They kept the questions really varied while ensuring the clips were well known. After all, a game where only the music expert could answer the questions wouldnāt be much fun for everyone else.
The inclusion of 1,000 music clips and 5000 Qs looks a lot but in gameplay terms how long would it take to play and answer all the questions? What kind of random generator for presenting the questions is employed and is there any facilities to create your own Qs?
Iām certainly better at the game than I was a year ago, but Iām still honestly reading questions and hearing clips which havenāt come up before. 5,000 questions keep you going for a long time, but even if youāve heard the clip before thereās still a challenge in beating the other players to recognise it. Additionally, we have Quizmaster Mode which lets you use your own question and use Buzz! as a way of keeping score.
We are informed that, āā¦whether you know the answer or not is irrelevant. More importantly, who do you think doesn't know? This is your opportunity to get your rivals to answer the questions you don't want toā.Please explain how this tactic will work?
This refers to the Offloader round mentioned above, where you have to decide who doesnāt know the clip being played. Iāve seen some funny tactics in this round: people humming along to the clip, pretending that they know the song so that the question isnāt passed to them. Good fun.
Overall the prime objective is to win ā“ answering the Qs but can you expand on some of the ploys, tactics and strategies that can be adopted!?
If you think about the board games you enjoy, such as Monopoly or Cluedo, the set of rules is fairly simple. What makes the game enjoyable is that you add on your own layer of gameplay by adding tactics, ganging up on other players etc. Itās the same with Buzz: we offer plenty of opportunity to add your own tactics. For instance, I like it on the Pass the Bomb round where people think they can guess when the bomb will go off, and then pass it to the next player at the last moment.
The game is more than knowing the answers but immersing the player in an interactive experience. Did the team look at a number of quiz shows to get their inspiration and what aspect of the game are they most pleased with?
We looked at quiz shows a lot because itās a well known format that all players will understand. Simple things like having the scores on the playerās podium or having logos for each of the rounds. From a presentation point of view the thing Iām most pleased with is the commentary. When we started the commentary some of the team here were a little cynical: would it sound contrived or repetitive? In the end, we recorded so much commentary and supported it with so many event triggers, that it really works. We used a company called Somethinā Else to do the writing and recording. They did the audio for a game called āYou Donāt Know Jackā which set the standard for interactive quiz games.
Please tell us the significance in choosing one of the 16 characters?
Theyāre all pop stereotypes which means Dad gets to be the Elvis impersonator and little sister gets to be a Britney type.
Do you hope that this is the start of a budding new brand and why do you feel quiz games are so few and far between on the console? (Could it be that although they are great they donāt have enough longevity in terms of questions?)
I think weāll see some more quiz games, especially now that the buzzers are available. I think quiz games, and indeed many social games, have been few and far between because the games industry is guilty of making games for itself rather than games for a wider audience.
In terms of longevity, Iām personally not concerned. I donāt think youāll play this in the same way that you might play Final Fantasy or GTA, but Iām confident people will keep coming back to it again and again. Itās the people youāre playing with that makes the game fun and give it itās longevity, so as long as thereās a crowd of fun people, Buzz! will continue to deliver.
Finally, are you hoping to produce add or data discs?
Itās early days yet, but weāre already working on future iterations of Buzz, such as trivia, movies, sports etc.
TVG would like to thank David Amor from Relentless Software for taking the time to answer our questions. Buzz: The Music Quiz will be released on PlayStation2 on October 21st. Weāll have more on the title shortlyā¦
