NTN Buzztime
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| NTN Buzztime, Inc. | |
|---|---|
| Image:Buzztime.png | |
| Type | Public (AMEX: NTN) |
| Founded | 1983[1] |
| Headquarters | Carlsbad, California |
| Industry | Interactive entertainment |
| Employees | 217[1] |
| Website | www.buzztime.com |
NTN Buzztime (AMEX: NTN) is a company which produces interactive entertainment across many different platforms. Its most well-known product, simply called Buzztime, and formally known as the NTN Network, since 1985, is a system which serves trivia and other games over a national network to over 3,000 bars and restaurants in the United States and Canada, as well as to Great Britain. The North American and British networks are kept separate. Typically, independently-owned bars and restaurants offer Buzztime. However, it is also offered by major chains such as Buffalo Wild Wings and Damon's Grill. The National Telecommunicator Network offers several different kinds of trivia games based on a variety of subjects, including world history, geography, sports, art, music, and science.
NTN Buzztime is based in Carlsbad, California. The company formerly went by the name NTN Communications.
Contents |
[edit] How Buzztime works
Buzztime players use machines known as "Playmakers" to answer the questions that are displayed on the television screens. Questions are answered by pressing numbered buttons that correspond to multiple-choice answers. The region on the right side of the "Playmaker" is known as the "Playzone" and it features a numbered keypad. However, many players also effectively utilize the row of numbers at the top of the "Playmaker" to respond to questions.
After each game, the top 20 individual winners as well as the top 20 establishments on the entire network (based on an average of the five highest scores at that establishment—top six for Showdown) are broadcast in a "Network Rankings" summary for each game. Many teams gather together in their respective establishments to partake in the battle of wits.
Many frequent Buzztime players are enrolled in the "Players Plus" program. Players earn Players Plus points by participating in a game, and can earn additional points by beating a target score that is given before the start of each game. Players earn 500 players plus points for minor games if they don't get the target score; however they get 1000 points if they do. For major games, players get 1500 points for a non-target score, and 3000 points for passing the target score. However, for the game "Showdown", 2000 points are given for non-target scores and 4000 points are given for the passing of the target score.
[edit] Games
The most frequently played Buzztime game is Buzztime Trivia (formerly called Countdown), which is a game of 15 multiple choice questions, each with five possible answers, on a variety of topics. Players can earn up to 1,000 points per question based on how fast they answer; the number of points decrease as time passes. Clues are given to help the player eliminate incorrect choices, with the third clue usually alluding to what the correct answer is. The answer is given once time runs out. A score of 15,000 is considered a "perfect" score.
Several specialty games use the Countdown format but are based on a single subject. Some of the more commonly played games are Get Reel! and RetroacTiVe, which focus on movies and classic television shows, respectively. Topix is a series of 15 questions based on one topic, which changes with each game, Abused News is a game based on current events with a focus on offbeat news stories, Hockey Hall of Fame Legends is a game of hockey trivia, and Tuned In is television trivia. There are two variations of Countdown played every day. Appeteasers, played in the first two hours of Buzztime's broadcast day, consists of seven questions (7,000 points is a "perfect" score) but otherwise is identical to Countdown. Wipeout is a 15-question game where no clues are given; instead, incorrect answers are eliminated until there are only two possible answers left.
NTN also offers selectable games (either topic specific or games that weren't very popular in the past), such as Law Trivia, Kid's Science, and Battle of the Sexes (a game in which males and females compete against each other). These require the manager code, which a bartender or server may be able to set up.
During the week, several "premium" trivia games are played. Most of them are usually an hour long.
- Sports Trivia Challenge on Sundays
- Sports IQ on Mondays
- Showdown, a 75-minute general knowledge trivia game, on Tuesdays. After Showdown, a 15-minute game called Speed, where 18 rapid-fire questions are asked, is played. This is followed by the 30-minute Mini-SIX, a short version of the Thursday game. Showdown is preceded by PasTimes and Brainbuster (a Countdown version game with harder questions and clues). On the East Coast, Glory Daze precedes the aforementioned set, while on the West Coast, it is played after Mini-SIX. This combination of games, combined with the supposed prestige of Showdown, usually results in a high turnout for the Tuesday premium games.
- Passport, featuring questions about a specific geographic area, on Wednesdays (this game will be discontinued after October 3, 2007[2]).
- SIX, a Trivial Pursuit-style game where the questions are grouped into six categories, on Thursdays (this game will move to Wednesdays as of October 10, 2007[2]).
- Spotlight, an entertainment trivia game, on Fridays
- Playback, a music trivia game, on Saturdays. Preceding Playback are three warm-up games. Triviaoke is a game which gives an artist and lyric and asks, in multiple-choice form, which lyric comes later, giving three lines of lyrics which come after the lyric posed in the question as clues. Next comes Jukebox, a Countdown-type music trivia game with 14 questions (14,000 points is a "perfect" score) played in two halves. The first half is a standard Countdown-style Q & A, while the second half polls the players in each establishment which of two categories is desired for the next question, with the majority of the players in the establishment ruling which question is posed there. Both Triviaoke and Jukebox are used later as sections of the Playback game. Tuned In is played immediately before the Playback game.
In an attempt to win the premium games at any cost, the players in some bars often use aids such as laptop computers (also know as borging as in the various Star Trek series), cellphones and printed reference materials to assist in raising their scores. This is seen by some other players as lacking in good sportmanship.
QB1 is an interactive game that Buzztime offers to participating locations during NFL and college football games. Players earn points by correctly predicting which plays the offense will make during the game. QB1 is Buzztime's oldest game, having premiered during Super Bowl XVIII in 1984.
In the past, Buzztime trivia offerings were available over online services such as the now-defunct ImagiNation Network. Now, Buzztime trivia can be found on other platforms, such as an electronic home-system version and a mobile phone version.
In 2004, the company launched the Blast channel that is available to establishments that upgrade to the ITV2 system. (New Buzztime installations are ITV2.) This channel features the games Blackjack, Cutthroat (a form of billiards), Texas hold 'em poker, and Crazy Golf, a miniature golf-type game. It also can be used to broadcast some of the QB1 games, allowing the first channel to broadcast the trivia games.
In January 2006, the company renamed the iTV Network "Buzztime." The company also changed to its current name as part of this new focus on its trivia product. Furthermore, the "Blast" brandname was discontinued. It also launched an expanded players' website, which features more-detailed player statistics and a phpBB-based forum.
[edit] Other products
NTN Buzztime also produces a variety of wireless paging products, the most common example being a device that vibrates when a food order is ready.
NTN Buzztime also produces ProHost Seating and Reservations Software for managing door and floor operations in Restaurants, Casinos, Theme Parks, Hotels, in its Arlington, TX office. Signature customers include Harrah's Entertainment, MGM Mirage, Universal Studios and Hardrock Cafe.
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ a b Yahoo. NTN: Profile for NTN BUZZTIME INC. Retrieved on 2007-10-28.
- ^ a b https://players.buzztime.com/showthread.php?t=7889
