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Cover of Buzz! The Music Quiz, the first game in the Buzz! series, showing the quiz master Buzz holding one of the controllers designed specifically for the game series.

Buzz! is a series of video games developed by Relentless Software and published by Sony for the PlayStation 2 console. They are quiz games that sees the players answering trivia questions whilst competing in the fictional gameshow Buzz. Created specifically with multi-player party gaming in mind, the series launched in October 2005 and to date is comprised of six games. The series will make the transition to the Playstation 3 in 2008.

In 2006 the second game in the Buzz series, Buzz! The Big Quiz, won the BAFTA for best Casual and Social game.

As with most TV quiz shows the winner of the game is the player with the most points. The show uses a multi-round format with most games in the series featuring eight individual rounds. The exact rounds vary from game-to-game and more information about the rounds can be found in the individual articles. Each game is hosted by the titular Buzz (voiced by Jason Donovan in the English versions)

The games are played with buzzers - a set of four simple controllers that consist of four coloured answer buttons and a red buzzer. These are intended to replicate the buzzers often seen on TV quiz shows. The buzzers plug into a USB port and the game allows use of either one or two sets of buzzers allowing up to eight players in certain games. The games are usually marketed in two versions, a pack containing both game and buzzers for new purchasers or a game only version for players who already own a set of buzzers.

In January 2008 California-based Buzztime Entertainment filed a legal suit against Sony Computer Entertainment Europe alleging that Sony had violated several of its trademarks. The suit accused Sony of a "malicious, fraudulent, knowing, wilful, and deliberate" violation of its trademarks. In the suit Buzztime is seeking the recall and destruction of all infringing products and is asking the court for actual damages, punitive damages, legal fees and an order to the US Patent and Trademark Office not to register Sony's pending Buzz trademarks.

Buzz! series

The series launched in October 2005 with Buzz! The Music Quiz, which was followed by a general knowledge version Buzz! The Big Quiz. The alternation between specialist subject and general knowledge continued for the rest of the series, The sports based Buzz! The Sports Quiz was followed by another general knowledge edition, Buzz! The Mega Quiz, and then another single subject edition based around films, Buzz! The Hollywood Quiz.

Buzz! Junior Series

Cover of Buzz! Junior: Jungle Party, the first game in the Buzz! Junior series

In October 2006 a spin-off series of games designed for children started with the release of Buzz! Junior: Jungle Party. A second game, Buzz! Junior: Robo Jam, was released in May 2007, and a third, Buzz! Junior: Monster Rumble was released in November 2007. Unlike the quiz-based Buzz! games, the Buzz! Junior series features party games. Buzz! Junior: Jungle Party features 40 mini games, and Buzz! Junior: Robo Jam features 25. Buzz! Junior: Robo Jam introduced the option to play against computer players.

A fourth game in the series Buzz! Junior: Dino Den will be based around dinosaurs. It is due for release in February 2008.

Games in the Buzz! Junior series have been developed by Magenta Software, FreeStyleGames and Cohort Studios.

Buzz! Buzzers

The Buzz! Buzzer is a special controller set designed specifically for the Buzz! game series. The controller features four handsets, each of which has a large red buzzer button and four smaller coloured buttons for picking the answer from the on-screen options. The buzzer set is a USB device, and connects to the USB ports on the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3. It can also be plugged into a standard PC, where it is detected using standard human interface device (HID) device drivers as a 20 button joystick (five buttons per handset), and can be used as such (although highly impractically).

Games

Buzz! Main Games

Buzz! Junior Games

Buzz! Other Games

Under development

Other versions

Pack shot of Who Wants to be a Millionaire version, the first third party game to use Buzz! buzzers

On 24 November 2006 Eidos released Who Wants to be a Millionaire - Party Edition This was the first third party game to support the use of Buzz! buzzers. The game features a single player game closely modelled on the original UK version TV show and a multi-player versions with various modes like Multi-Millionaire where players take it in turns to answer questions with elimination the penalty for a wrong answer the winner being the last player left standing. Millionaire Party allows players to steal questions from rivals.

References

  1. "Games Nominations 2006". BAFTA. 2006. Retrieved 2008-02-01. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  2. Sinclair, Brendan (2008-01-28). "Sony Buzz-ed with trademark suit". Retrieved 2008-02-05. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  3. Bramwell, Tom (2007-01-11). "Buzz!: The Schools Quiz". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2008-02-05. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  4. "Buzz! The Pop Quiz announced". 2008-01-22. Retrieved 2008-02-06. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

External links

Buzz! video games
Main series
Junior series
Companies
Categories: