Review of Sale Of The Century (Interactive DVD)

Introduction

Hooray for Xmas and the yuletide spawning of a gizillion interactive DVD games! Just like popping a couple of quid into the pub quiz machine or having a thumb bashing on your mobile phone`s java entertainment, these are games of little complexity and zero skill suitably marketed as gifts for easily amused grandads and drunken show-off uncles.

This week it`s the turn of `Sale of the Century`, a weekly quiz that ran throughout the 70s and the early 80s, and was hosted by TV and radio personality (and one time rector of St Andrews university don`t-cha-know) Nicholas Parsons. The format was as simple as buying apples, as contestants were put to the test with general knowledge question rounds, after which they had the opportunity to buy and win prizes. Although fondly remembered by Brits as a product of the golden gameshow era, `Sale of the Century` was actually of American descent , and the format apparently found its greatest popularity in Australia.

The game features a non-CGI (ie real and very wrinkly) Nicholas Parsons in a studio set linking questions, which you answer by using the navigation buttons on your DVD remote. What fun!

Video

-"Why, what a lovely eye-meltingly garish set you have!"

- "All the better to blind you with, m`dear."

The quiz is presented with a 4:3 full frame format, and apart from the backdrop which looks like the old TV-am set during an arson attack, it`s not too bad. The graphics are nothing special, but they`re clear, sharp and easy to read and follow.

Only the odd spot of aliasing spoils the "We`re LIVE from studio blancmange" links.

Audio

Dolby Digital 2.0 which is perfectly fine for an interactive quiz-thingy.

Listen out for our presenter pronouncing "ascending" as "ass sending". Oh the hilarity.

Features

Extras? Don`t be silly. You`re getting countless hours of family quiz fun, you don`t need any extras. At least that`s what they tell you.

Conclusion

The flaws in the `Sale of the Century` interactive DVD game, and dare it be said, probably all the rest of them, are two fold.

Firstly, what you`ve got is a very, very straightforward quiz show format. In this age of dealing or no dealing and weakest links, that means it`s straightforwardly dull. You answer five questions, then try to win a virtual set of scarves or non-existent his and her robes. Then you do it again, and again, and again, each time with Nicholas Parsons droning... on... about... how... to... play... the... game, probably in case Aunt Bessie has had too much sherry. Thankfully the coma-enducing instructions are skipable. Far less forgivable though, is the fact that once you reach the end of the game, all you get is Parsons pretending to be excited about you winning and encouraging you to play again if you enjoyed it. So what do you do if you thought it was the definition of tedium, Nicky? One suggestion is to hunt the old geezer down and throw the DVD at him.

The second section of flaws are in the technical production. Nimble-fingered players will spend more time listening to their DVD players groan and grunt and spend valuable life seconds staring at one Nicholas Parsons suspended in mid-blink as the DVD struggles to stream the next insultingly easy or ridiculously obscure question with all the grace of a ZX Spectrum loading a broken cassette. You can expect to wait around 10 seconds between answering a question and being presented with the next one - which makes the introduction of the quickfire round towards the end of a session both a reason to laugh and cry. The `Sale of the Century` interactive DVD game is about as much fun as an infected eyeball, only half as interesting to play about with and you`re far less likely to run off and show your friends how cool it is.

The most annoying aspect of interactive DVDs like this is that they actually retail with an RRP of £19.99. That`s the same as a `proper` DVD with entertainment value and everything. Shocking.