WiiWare Games: TV Show King (Wii)
In our third installment of this week’s released WiiWare games, we will cover TV Show King, a four player quiz game developed by Gameloft. Emulating the style of a typical quiz show, TV Show King pits players against each other by selecting one out of four possible answers for each question prompt by using the Wiimote. After every few questions, players will also be given the option to spin a wheel which can increase, decrease, or outright wipe out their earned amount. In the final round, the two highest scoring players will engage in a one on one battle to answer the final five questions; The player that answers the questions first will be awarded the additional points.
In an effort to stand out from the other released WiiWare titles, TV Show King is the only game so far to allow players to use their Mii creations as contestants for the quiz show. In single player mode, one player will select the Mii of their choice while the remaining opponents are randomly selected from the Miis stored in the Wii’s internal memory, any attached SD cards, or even from the Wiimote itself. Any remaining Wiis will also be seated as part of the audience, while nearly every other character from cameraman to seat filler will be rendered in the typical Mii style. The exceptions to this style are quiz show host Jerry and assistant Angela; The former appears to be suffering from a botched botox injection while the latter likely went to the same surgeon as Jessica Rabbit. A tattooed disc jockey is also present, but seemingly only has one music track to work with. Jerry will also address the players with a voiceover typical of a talk show host, but only has one set of dialog that will be repeated with each playthrough.
Despite the budgeted presentation, the concept of witnessing one’s saved Miis display jubilation and disappointment when applicable carry a sufficient amount of charm. Unfortunately, the attention given to the Miis will not be enough to mask the major flaws that would hinder a game of this type.
One of the missteps involve the fact that the players can clearly see what choices their opponent have chosen for each question, virtually eliminating any kind of guesswork for the more difficult question. While the game rewards extra points to players who answer quickest, it isn’t enough of an incentive to keep clueless quiz takers from hanging back and seeing what choice everyone else has made. Even though no attempt is made to hide the choices from players, it makes little difference as a large majority of the questions are incredibly simple, almost borderline insulting. Nearly every question falls under common knowledge, and any answer not immediately obvious can easily be identified through process of elimination (in a question that asks to name a character from “Thelma and Loiuse”, for instance, “Loiuse” is one of the choices). Once in a while a pop culture question may appear to be slightly clever, but these are far and few between; When a question from the “Scholar” category asks to add two and two together, it’s not likely that trivia buffs will brag about it.
The truly unfortunate thing about TV Show King is that these faults could have been easily rectified; Mulitple levels of difficulty would have added a more balanced play experience for players of varying age or intelligence. An online mode that keeps player choices a secret until all participants have answered would have been a welcome addition as well. But with only one difficulty level, an additional quiz mode where players can keep answering questions until they answer incorrectly, and a few brief and uninspiring uses for the Wiimote, TV Show King is ultimately a flawed and shallow experience that may only prove interesting to casual households with four Wiimotes. Single players over the age of ten would do well to invest their money toward a certain other WiiWare game with “King” in the title.
