Vacant / Engaged

[grecian]

On my way back from Cambridge yesterday checked in at Leicester Forest Services- theres an Itbox in there -screen knackered so WU scores are minimal, but what did surprise me is that SBB is given the full front page, and the rest are classed as 'other games' and you have to press a screen to get to them. Obv someone else has a vision about the future of the SWP as well..

Which begs the question- any itboxes/gamesnets anywhere else on the service stations

As regards SBB-fronted ItBoxes, I've only seen one of these, but it was in a bowling alley. I suspect they may be more common in non-pub environments, maybe in amusement arcades where the average player is likely to be more into SBB than quiz games.

Toddington had a machine for a long while but I've not called in there for an age so can't be sure now. Someone recently told me Watford Gap had something, and a fair while back London Gateway had something as well. Can't remember what in any case but might be worth checking.

If anyone knows a general rule of the "Service stations run by X have no machine / Y type of machine" that would be vastly appreciated as I don't visit them enough to have a handle as to which service station companies have contracts with which SWP companies.

[Northern Monkey]

had to think about it meself- Bingo

Edit: Hmm HE post has disappeared, strange things afoot at Fruitchat



EDIT BY CARDINAL R: Soz. That was me. The moment I'd clicked POST was the moment I realised that I saw one of these SBB fronted machines in a bowling alley last night. It was absolutely burnt.

[dangerous]

Watford Gap heading south had a standalone Skill Ball Bingo and nothing else.

[dm]

On my way back from Cambridge yesterday checked in at Leicester Forest Services- theres an Itbox in there -screen knackered so WU scores are minimal, but what did surprise me is that SBB is given the full front page, and the rest are classed as 'other games' and you have to press a screen to get to them. Obv someone else has a vision about the future of the SWP as well..

Which begs the question- any itboxes/gamesnets anywhere else on the service stations

The one just before Gretna heading to Carlisle has the same thing.

[q-time]

I've only ever seen Itboxes at service stations - cannot recall the name of the operating companies, however.

[Nil Satis]

While trekking around supporting the team who are Top Of The League (if only for a few more hours ) I have seen quite a few of those Skill Ball Bingo-fronted ItBoxes. They have a green casing as opposed to the usual grey one and I haven't seen them anywhere else other than service stations. Obviously having the whole of the front screen dedicated to one game reduces the choice available but there are usually one or two decent games.

Going all misty-eyed for a second, Forton on the M6 near Lancaster used to have one of the standalone Millionaires with the One and Two Player options. When will we ever see the like of those again?

[dangerous]

Manchester Airport Terminal 2 has the Bingo itbox. It was ridiculously slow as I remember.

[David Healy]

Going all misty-eyed for a second, Forton on the M6 near Lancaster used to have one of the standalone Millionaires with the One and Two Player options. When will we ever see the like of those again?

I played one on Saturday!

Would anyone like to know where it was?

[Dolan]

Fulham?
Are you really him?

[QuizMaster]

Can't see the day when a stand alone resurfaces again, unless it's a mammoth game. Too many companies have tried recently and got heavily burned in the process JPM's Crystal Maze was a recent one.

As an interesting Millionaires aside, I see the format of the show has been changed to 12 questions instead of 15, supposedly, the producers say, to 'enhance the excitement'

What they don't realise is that their main problem is the premium rate phone line policy. Because the only people they attract to try and enter the show are the sort of fuckwits who ring ex-Blue Peter presenters on Late Night Cash Call, they can't actually get anybody onto the show of a decent standard to actually answer the questions.

Even if one of the munters does get to £4000, it's then more money than he's ever seen in his life so he collects it so he can 'Take the missus to Benidorm and get some Lambert & Butlers' on the way back.

Once he's through the £4k he'll be back on the phone to Debt Matters within a week.

Fuck the phone lines off Tarrant, and get some real players on there.

[wigwamsun]

Ye gads QM, you cant come on here and talk sense. What next, A-level results to be believed?

[Terry Tibbs]

perhaps the games are getting quicker hence freeing up more spare time space. Maybe instead of a game that lasts 5-6 minutes for 50p games are now lasting 9o seconds etc

why would stand alones every pop up again in numbers? the cabinet has to be tailored to that machine and each game has a life cycle, i assume. so surely its far more expensive to make standalones than to put on multiple game terminals

[grecian]

Fulham?
Are you really him?

Nil Satis refers to Everton I think! Is FULHAM the person who racks up big scores on Football Crazy around London? I've noticed the name before certainly. Wonder whether he's on here.

[fotherz]

What they don't realise is that their main problem is the premium rate phone line policy. Because the only people they attract to try and enter the show are the sort of fuckwits who ring ex-Blue Peter presenters on Late Night Cash Call, they can't actually get anybody onto the show of a decent standard to actually answer the questions.

That is clearly untrue. There is another set of people who will call these premium rate lines - the "pro quizzers". One or two have won a million.

There isn't much entertainment value in watching some smartarse regurgitating trivia that he has sat at home learning, though. I don't understand why the company would give away a million quid for a show which is no more entertaining than someone winning 16k. Perhaps they expected people to think "wow, that guy won a million, what a legend". Of course the general public are more astute than they think, and nobody is impressed by someone who sits at home learning lists of facts...

Tarrant: "What is the capital of Surinam?"

Quizzer: "Paramaribo"

Tarrant: "Wow, well done! How on earth did you know that? Have you been there?"

Quizzer: "No. I learned the world capitals from a book"

Tarrant:

[grecian]

As an interesting Millionaires aside, I see the format of the show has been changed to 12 questions instead of 15, supposedly, the producers say, to 'enhance the excitement'

What they don't realise is that their main problem is the premium rate phone line policy. Because the only people they attract to try and enter the show are the sort of fuckwits who ring ex-Blue Peter presenters on Late Night Cash Call, they can't actually get anybody onto the show of a decent standard to actually answer the questions.

I beg to differ QM.

You might be aware that they've recently introduced a new method of qualifying onto WWTBAM for future series: auditions. They're accepting applications at the moment and auditioning at various locations around the country. There will still be telephone selection as well, but it's not yet clear what proportion of contestants will be via audition and what proportion via ringing in.

To get to the point, I entirely disagree with you and think that telephone lines are probably the best way (short of an entrance test quiz) to get decent players on to the show. That's because decent players will know that if they manage to get onto the show, they've a good chance of getting a fair whack (32k used to be what I'd call the baseline amount; nowadays 16k as they've made the questions more difficult). Therefore there'll be more willing to spend, say, £2k on calls for the show without seeing that as a reckless gamble, and they'll be more likely to get the "ringback" question if they do get called back.

This is illustrated by the fact that a majority of the big names in the British quizzing scene have made it on to the show at one or time or another since its inception.

Any other method of selection (short of selection by brute ability) is likely to militate against the strongest players. Television production companies have a fairly fixed idea of the demographic they do not want dominating their shows and it is basically middle aged men who do lots of quizzes, which (sad to say) encompasses a majority of the keenest and best quizzers. Rather, they want the young, the attractive, the self-consciously zany i.e. basically those who are least likely to do well in quizzes.

I fully expect that the audition process will lead to a sharp decline in WWTBAM contestant standards from its current level.