I'm in somewhat of a unique position here. I'm a UK citizen living and working in the US games industry. From time to time there comes along the odd product which is a huge success in either Europe or North America, but never both. The best examples I can think of are pretty much any cricket or rugby video games (these suckers never, ever get love in the States) and then we have the likes of Sony's popular SingStar karaoke franchise -- which is actually just now gaining traction over here. The failure of the sports games is a given in my eyes. US gamers don't give a crap about, or even understand the rules of, stuff like cricket and rugby. And that's fine. But it's kinda weird when games with broad appeal don't enjoy the same success in both territories.
My rather long-winded segue brings me to Sony's latest attempt to import something hot into the States. This time it comes in the shape of the very popular UK casual party franchise Buzz! This peripheral-fueled quiz game is a great example of what can be achieved when you take a global force like the PS2 -- how many tens of millions homes have one? -- and turn its focus towards the more casual Nintendo Wii-style gaming crowd. Bust this game out at boozy parties and family gatherings and it'll surely be a hit.
We've all seen those tacky yet addictive TV shows where contestants buzz in when they think they know the right answers (I'll have a "P" please, Bob) and that's essentially what this latest and greatest version of Buzz! is going to bring the US gaming audience. Buzz!: The Mega Quiz features an insane number of questions, movie clips and sound bites totaling somewhere in the region of 6,000, all of which is wrapped up into a CG-style game show hosted by our Australian man of the moment, named... Buzz.
The game will ship with four buzzer peripherals -- although a full eight can be connected via the USB and regular controller ports for maximum player participation -- and basically sees you compete against other players (hopefully human but AI-based if needed) in an attempt to be the best and score the most points. The biggest challenge that faced Sony was localizing the content for the US audience. With the sometimes large cultural divide between the UK and US -- both in terms of pop culture and current events -- it was required that Sony vet each question in the UK version of the game and replace it if needed with a relevant US counterpart. This is no small feat.
What we're going to be left with at the end of this process is hopefully a great addition to the PS2's ever-growing party/casual gaming library. And while the UK is currently on its umpteenth version of the Buzz! franchise, I'm pretty confident that this initial entry into the US market with Buzz!: The Mega Quiz will set the ball rolling for future editions too. While it's a safe bet that rally driving sims will never approach the popularity of NASCAR games in the States, I'm also sure that there's a very real market over here for the likes of Buzz! and SingStar. Let's just wait and see what happens.
