- 5000+ Questions and 5 Channels (Music, Movies & TV, Sports, Knowledge, Lifestyle)
- Play With Up to 8 Friends & Family Live In Your Living Room
- Includes 4 easy-to-use wireless Buzz!(TM) Buzzers
- 4 player Sofa vs. Sofa Online Multiplayer Gaming
- Downloadable Quiz Packs on PLAYSTATION Network to Extend Your Gameplay Experience
Product Description
In Buzz! Quiz TV, the whole world becomes a quiz show network! Included on the disc are over 5,000 questions ranging from music, to movies, sports, and more. Put your knowledge to the test as you play with up to 8 frien… More >>
Tired of “You Don’t Know Jack”?
Bored with “Who wants to be a Millionaire?”
With Buzz! Quiz TV, you’ll never need another trivia game for your Playstation 3.
Inside the box is the game, four wireless controllers and a USB dongle. The dongle can connect up to 4 controllers, 2 dongles can be used to connect up to 8 players in one room. Two AA batteries are needed for each buzzer.
The instructions for turning the buzzers on and off are included in the game manual. For the less tech-savvy, the Buzz! website has a 5-page PDF file which explains how the buzzers work.
Buzz! can be played alone, with friends, or online.
The following categories are selectable for Buzz! games:
(1) All types
(2) Movies & TV only
(3) Brainiac only
(4) Sports only
(5) Lifestyle only
(6) MyBuzz! questions
There is the option to choose “Mature” MyBuzz quizzes (online only), view online leaderboards, or test the Buzz! buzzers.
So what rounds are available?
For the single player, there are 3 rounds of “Stop the Clock” – the faster the player answers a question, the more points are awarded.
In multiplayer mode, a single game consists of 7 rounds:
(1) Point Builder – Players answer questions with a time limit, each answer is worth 250 points.
(2) Short Fuse – A random player gets a bomb and must answer a question correctly to pass it. The player holding the bomb when it goes off loses 300 points.
(3) Fastest finger – The player who answers a question the fastest receives more points.
(4) Pie Fight – Answering correctly grants control of the host to throw a pie at your opponents – if hit with 2 pies, a player is eliminated. Point bonuses are given for 1st, 2nd or 3rd place.
(5) Point Stealer – The player buzzing in the quickest can steal points from another player.
(6) High Stakes – Players are given a category description and bet from 100 to 500 pts – correct answers reward the bet value, incorrect answers detract the bet value.
(7) Final Countdown – All accumulated points are converted to the player’s platform height. Questions are asked while the platform descends and players that touch the floor are eliminated. The last player left wins the game.
When playing online, another category is available:
All That Apply – a VERY interesting category. A question is asked, with several possible answers. Players gain points for correct answers and lose points for incorrect ones. A popular tactic is to purposely choose incorrect answers, wait until online opponents copy them, and then change them before time runs out to lower the opponent’s score.
Here are just a few of the in-game question categories:
People and events
Recent music
Gadgets & gizmos
Blockbusters
Science & technology
Mind & body
Buzz! Quiz TV is the FIRST online game to support the Playstation 3 trophy system – an achievement-based incentive for online players. The following trophies can be earned for bragging rights:
Sofa Subjugator: Bronze / Silver / Gold
The Barnard Award: Bronze / Silver / Gold
Lonesome and Loving It: Bronze / Silver / Gold
MyBuzz Enthusiast: Bronze / Silver / Gold
Sofa Surfer: Bronze / Silver / Gold
Socialite: Bronze / Silver / Gold
Buzz’s New Best Friend
There are even hidden trophies to earn:
He’s on Fire!
Channel Hopper
Casting Agent
Flawless Round
Amateur Quizwriter
Lightning Reactions
All in all, Buzz! Quiz TV is a fantastic trivia game. With 5,000 questions in the basic package and free downloadable content, the material can NEVER run out. Players can create and upload quizzes. A “report content” button can flag inappropriate questions, and parental controls prevent free downloading by minors.
Recent updates have allowed new character selections and costumes, new buzzer noises, and even support for the PlayStation Eye.
I brought this game to a party as a field test, and everyone LOVED it. After trying the online portion, my hosts earned two trophies with their trivia prowess!
If you only want to buy one trivia game for your Playstation 3, look no further.
Don’t delay! Find out what all the Buzz! is about.
Rating: 5 / 5
Pros: Great variety of questions, nice level of difficulty in questions, wireless buzzers work great, game interface is fun & easy to use.
Cons: Character models are a little generic, lack of variety in in-game question modes.
This is my first experience with the Buzz! game series, and so far it’s been very enjoyable. My wife and I invited over another couple, and we played multiple games of 4 player head-to-head matches. The questions are just about the right diffuculty, with some being easy, while others were stumpers. With 4 buzzers going, it’s nice that they were all wireless, although you’ll have to make sure you buy a bunch of AA batteries to power all of them. We also jumped online to check out some of the top-rated user-created quizzes. These are shorter than the regular game mode (8 questions each), but it is a nice change of pace if you don’t want to play the full game.
A few nitpicks; I would’ve liked to make my own custom character, which is a standard feature in many other games. As it is, you get to choose from about a dozen characters, pick an outfit, and that’s it. Also, the game show follows the same format each time, meaning the it has the same series of sections as the game progresses (pie fight, fastest finger, etc)…we felt it could have mixed in a few other modes so that the experience is slightly different each time, and you wouldn’t know which mode to expect as the game progresses.
But these are minor complaints, and overall this game was a lot of fun for a few 30-year-olds. grab a few beers, order a pizza, and spend a night inside throwing pies at your friends and family.
Rating: 4 / 5
This is one fun game! The wireless buzzers are great. The format of the games are lots of fun and the characters are hilarious. There are almost 5,000 questions on the disc so you will probably go for quite a while without repeats. Also, there are already three sets of questions on the Playstation Network you can buy that contain 500 questions each.
On top of all that there is also My Quiz which allows users to make their own quizes and play them on your PS3 as well. Buzz even has online “sofa vs. sofa” so you can play against people online. Overall this game is WELL worth the money! Very fun!
Rating: 5 / 5
BUZZ Quiz TV Bundle – included in the box is the PS3 version of the game, four wireless Buzz controllers ( Buzz Buzzers ), USB dongle.
Pros : Fun and engaging. Questions for older and younger players. Good mix of difficulty. Ability to purchase additional questions. Ability to create your own quizzes and share them. Online play. Expandability. Great fun in a party setting or group of friends.
Cons : There are no instructions for setting up and using the Buzz controllers. Online play can get repetitive with limited format. There are no batteries included. You must re-bind the controllers every time you use the game. Single Player (non-online) mode is boring. Character players are not truly customizable.
BUZZ Quiz TV is a fun game. Trivia is always a crowd pleaser and this game has a great mixture of questions with a fair spattering of difficulty. The main categories are Music, Movies & TV, Sports, Knowledge, and Lifestyle. Some of the subcategories include Movie Buff, Blockbusters, Inventions, The Natural World, Style, Sports Personalities, Classic Music, TV Hits, Toons, Gizmos and Gadgets, 90’s Music, etc.
Actually getting started playing took longer than I thought it would. Setting up the controllers was a bit of a challenge and was not an easy process. The instructions included in the game tell you to check the instructions you got with the controllers… only there were NO instructions with the controllers. I had to get the information myself online… and even with the directions, it was a bit difficult to get everything sync’d and working.
Once the controllers were bound to the USB connector and working – that’s where the fun began. Having wireless controllers is a big plus and once set-up, the buzzers worked great and were very responsive.
You begin by choosing a character to play as and the choices are fun, but not great. Given the details other games have in designing and customizing characters – this is one area that was lacking. You pick one of several characters and then have the ability to choose one of four outfits. Not having customizable playing character is not a big deal, but is something that could have been a lot of fun to play around with.
The game play is fun and paced fairly. The questions are a good mix and you can be surprised by the phrasing and the level of difficulty. You can play with up to 8 players but that means you’ll have to purchase and additional set of Buzz Buzzers. Four come with this bundle.
There are over 5000 questions included so that foretells a good amount of playtime. Also, there is room for growth for the true trivia junkie.
Via the Playstation Store, you can purchase additional “themed” quizzes. The online downloadable content run in price ( as of 10/2008 ) from $5.99 to $7.99. These add-ons each have 500 new questions. There are three new add-on quiz packs available currently ( again as of 10/2008 ). Additional quizzes include quiz themes on “Sci-Fi” and “VideoGames”.
Building your own quizzes and sharing them with the Buzz community is also possible.
The online play was fun but got redundant very quickly. Each match is a three set challenge : A timed quiz, the faster you answer the better. A multiple choice, which could have more than one correct answer. And finally a set your bet challenge, where you choose the wager of points yourself. This is where the online play got a little tired. Same silly jokes from your host Buzz and same format each time.
A typical online match includes four players, but if others aren’t online, you could be matched up with as few as one. I do like that if you invite your friends to a match, you are then able to open up your game to anyone else – so you can have a full set of four players even if you only have one friend online.
Single player, non-online play is rather boring. You play against… no one. You’re playing strictly for score. There are no computer controlled opponents.
All in all – a good and fun game. Best for multi-players and online game play.
Trophies are enabled – with trophies given for wins, number of games played, etc.
Reminder – This set comes with NO batteries so purchase some ahead of time. Each controller requires two AA batteries.
Rating: 4 / 5
Whenever I have friends over for a party, invariably we end up playing some type of trivia game, usually while imbibing our drink of choice. In fact, it’s become a tradition at parties to break out a console and get our trivia game face on. I love trivia questions, as do my friends. Usually, we’ve gravitated to the Scene It? series on the Xbox 360, but that changed when I received Buzz! Quiz TV.
On the surface, Quiz TV is basically your typical game show brought to virtual life. There’s nothing super exciting about it. You just answer questions. Sometimes questions are asked after looking at various pictures; sometimes it’s a movie clip; sometimes it’s an audio clip. But it’s always the same thing: a question is asked and you want to be the quickest to answer. The categories are very wide-ranging, from the biggest blockbusters to different periods of music (90s, 80s, modern, oldies, etc.) to scientific questions to geographical questions…Buzz! Quiz TV has it all. And with 5,000 questions out of the box and more available online, there’s a ton of replayability inherent in the game.
What makes Quiz TV unique and more entertaining than other similar games (Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action, I’m looking at you) is the wink and nudge, smarmy humor encapsulated in the host. Buzz, the host, has that voice that can only be described as smarmy and says provocative things. But it’s all done with a wink and a laugh, a send up and parody of some of the really bad game shows hosts out there. Additionally, while you can’t create your own character, the selection of available avatars is terrific and, again, full of character. Whether you’re playing as a mime who strikes poses, the cheesy and egotistical super hero, or the 80s-style mall rocker, there’s a lot of humor to be had. Very expressive and, more interestingly, the host will respond based on the character you’ve selected. So, playing as the super hero you will hear different remarks than if you were playing the has been 80s mall chick.
Additional features add to the value. For instance, if you have enough controllers, you can play with up to 8 people. Or if you can’t even find another person to play with, you can take the questions online. Also, as seems to be the thing to do these days, there’s a community section where you can craft your own trivia questions and spread them to the world or play other people’s trivia questions.
It would have been nice if you could play online and in the same room at the same time; that is, take your “team” of local players and compete against others online. But, unfortunately, the online portion seems to be just one player. This is a downside for me because games like these are more of a social activity and playing online, while still technically social, isn’t as fun as having a group of people with you.
Other small issues abound, though. One thing to note is that the game doesn’t come with batteries, so you’ll need eight AA batteries to play it. But the biggest problem for me is the lack of variety. Sure there’s variety in the groups of questions and the types of questions being asked, but the game types are set in stone. For instance, you’ll always begin a game with “the point builder” where you simply want to get an answer before the time runs out. The second round will, again, always be the same and has you playing hot potato with a bomb where quick and correct guesses will get the bomb out of your hands. The third round will always be the same, etc. all the way to the end. It’s not that the game types included aren’t fun because they are (and have brought out tons of laughter amongst my gaming group), it’s that there’s not enough variety or randomness.
One of the features I’ve enjoyed with Scene It? is that the game types are completely random and so it doesn’t feel like you’re playing the exact same game over and over. I wish there were more game types and it was random, but I understand that the way it’s created mimics typical game shows.
Overall, though, Buzz! moves into the Playstation 3 world with a great solid entry. I love the character of the game, whether it’s the host or the individual contestants. The questions verge on being a little too easy, but there’s so many categories and fun questions that cover a wide section of our world that it’s forgivable. By far the best part is the post-release support. Already there’s at least one question pack, a Horror Movie Question Pack just in time for Halloween that included an additional 500 questions. That kind of support will help give Buzz! Quiz TV longevity. I just wish that there was more variety in the game types and rounds.
Rating: 4 / 5