 "Photo: Photos courtesy of amazon.com")
Next time you throw a party, don't forget to invite your TV. A new breed of games is designed especially for large gatherings, and all you need to play is a TV, a DVD player and a remote.
Games students grew up with like Trivial Pursuit and Candyland can now be found in DVD format. These games include voices, sound effects and animation. Some include a board on which players move their pieces like in the traditional board-game versions.
While most people have the equipment necessary to play DVD games, some may prefer the traditional board games. DVD games are a good icebreaker when there are unfamiliar people at a party, but between good friends DVD games can get in the way of conversation.
The DVD games get old quickly when there are repeated questions and obnoxious hosts. The questions asked in some of these trivia games are a good way to test your knowledge of a particular subject, but the general format is often corny.
In the game "Who Rules?" the host makes a painfully obnoxious buzzer sound whenever there is an incorrect answer. It's irritating regardless of which team you are on.
The "Who Rules?" host's reaction to correct answers is just as annoying as his response to incorrect ones. I knew that after every correct question I was going to win a "prize," and I wasn't that amused with the prizes I received. It's hard to get excited about cartoon prizes you don't get to keep.
A popular DVD game is "Scene It?," a game in which players watch short film clips and determine what movie they are from. The makers of the game have capitalized on its popularity by creating numerous special editions of the game. Special edition "Scene It?" games focus on a particular TV show like "Friends," a movie like "Harry Potter" or a company's productions like Disney or ESPN.
Like the different editions of "Scene It?" many DVD games fill a particular niche. Milton Bradley's "The Bible DVD Game," contains a variety of trivia questions from the Old and New Testaments. "Sex and the City Trivia" quizzes fans of the hit TV show on knowledge of their favorite characters. For the true child of the '80s there is even a "Name That Tune '80s Edition DVD Game."
We've seen the idea of different variations of a game before with the numerous editions of the board game Monopoly. Why play boring, basic Monopoly when you can have the snazzy Star Wars Monopoly? Plus the different editions are good for business because consumers shell out more cash for a flashier version of the same game.
The downside of DVD games is they are relatively expensive for college students. The DVD games usually range between $25 and $50, while traditional board games usually range from $20 to $30.
Renting DVD games would be a good way to save cash, but it is hard to find them for rent in Chico. All the Best Video and Blockbuster in Chico do not have DVD games available for rent.
Students today are too plugged into technology. DVD games are a way to interact with the TV, but students should spend more time interacting with each other.
Unless you have nothing better to do, I wouldn't recommend wasting your evening playing DVD games.
Monica Unhold can be reached at
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