Although there are no prizes while the game is in beta, once the regular season begins you’ll be able to win Microsoft Points, XBLA games and other prizes. If you’re the One, you’ll be given the choice to walk away with the pot once you reach a certain level, but if you get a single question wrong the Mob gets to split your pot. If you’re one of the poor souls stuck in the crowd you needn’t worry because you can still win prizes by being one of the top three point scorers at the end of the night.
For the most part the game is just a continuous barrage of questions but there are pauses every now and then for a commercial break, commentary from Cashman or at the start of a new round. I know a few of you are probably thinking commercials in a game is a bad idea, but they’re short, only happen a few times per show and they give you a much needed break to go grab a beer. Besides, the commercials keep the game free so at a minimum they’re a necessary evil.
Unfortunately for all the good there was one problem that continued to hound me throughout the evening, disconnections. In the two hours I played I was disconnected no less than 16 times and watched the One disconnect twice. I realize this is beta and the whole point of it is to test the service out, but this is still pretty appalling. According to Major Nelson, the team is aware of the issue and are working on it. Hopefully we’ll see a fix in place by the time the next episode rolls around later this week.
Overall, 1 vs. 100 was quite the experience and assuming the stability issues are fixed it could be a sleeper hit. I went in with only marginal expectations, experienced network hell and still came out shocked at the raw potential the service has. The combination of a live broadcast experience with easy access and a chance to get money for nothing is ripe for exploitation and if Microsoft plays its cards right this thing could be big. Here’s hoping they’ve got a few Primetime announcements coming at E3.
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Article comments
1 - Sam
I totally agree. I also attended the beta and enjoyed it. I did notice that we could not hear Cashman until the second half of the evening. Also, here in the EDT timezone, starting at 10pm is quite late esp. since they plan on doing these on weeknights. 10-12 on a weeknight just won't happen for me. Other than that- great experience and amazing potential.
2 - Ken Edwards
I noticed WPeddle playing this last night and was jealous. I want to try it out, even with all the problems. I mean hey, I was in the beta test of Home for crying out loud.