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TUAW's Daily App: Qrank
Qrank is the kind of game that I'm pretty sure we'll be seeing more of in the near future; it's a social quiz game that is fully powered by a connection to Facebook, Twitter, and its own in-game friend service. It's a free download off the App Store, and once you create an account (and connect it to any social services that you'd like), you get 20 brand new questions every day to try and answer for as many points as possible. Something like this is complicated and painful if not done right, but Qrank (or QRANK, if you want to shout about it) has it just about dead-on. The login process is kind of a pain, but once things are set up, the quizzes move fast, and the questions are an interesting mix of history, pop culture, and general knowledge. The constant updates are a huge bonus as well; with a lot of quiz games, questions tend to repeat themselves, but the flow of new information means that there are new questions to answer every day. I'm not 100% sure of the business model; there are ads, and I had a few questions that seemed branded (they made explicit mention of actual products). That leads me to believe that there are probably a few ways that Ricochet Labs is making money from players, and not all of them are completely clear. That may not bother you, though. If you've got a few friends to match scores with every day, Qrank seems like a fun, daily diversion into trivialand. Technology is making social, quickly updated games like this one much easier, and I think we'll end up seeing quite a few more of these in the future.
You Don't Know Jack is coming back
A little part of gaming history died when the final You Don't Know Jack episode went live on Jellyvision's website. Fortunately, if you thought that was the end of the long run for the classic quiz games, then you don't ... well, you know. As originally heard on the Giant Bomb podcast and later confirmed on the official site, Jellyvision is partnering up to THQ to bring the series back yet again. More details are expected later this year, so we don't know just yet if this is a new game or simply a new way to play the old ones (a release on XBLA or PSN would be nice). Show host Cookie says on the Bombcast intro that he's been working on a game for three months already, so a new title isn't out of the question. Either way, we can't wait to get Jack back. Life just hasn't been the same without a good Jack Attack every once in a while -- remember the clue!
Blizzard offers Stormrage novel quiz contest
If you're looking for something to do on a lazy Saturday afternoon, here's an idea: Why not win a copy of Blizzard's newest WoW novel, Stormrage? Blizzard is giving away 20 numbered and signed copies of the novel, and all you have to do to win is answer a series of questions about the plot. Don't worry if you haven't read it, all of the questions and their answers come from 3 recorded excerpts of the novel available on the site. Listen to the excerpts, answer the questions, and you'll be in the drawing. 20 winners will be chosen at random from the correct entries on May 19th, which means you still have quite some time to get your entry in. Of course, there's no time like the present, and you're probably not doing anything better, right? Good luck.
Encleverment Experiment begins on XBLA Nov. 11
Aside from being a pretty cool name for a band, Encleverment Experiment is a new Xbox Live Arcade game from Blitz Arcade. Debuting on Wednesday, November 11th, the Avatar-supporting bout of brainage offers 16 different minigames and puzzles, including word searches, mathematical exercises and odd-one-out type things. Thankfully, the difficulty can be toned down from difficult (for adults) to something quite a bit easier (for children or bloggers).If you're keen to enroll in "Professor Ivor Question's mental faculty," it'll cost you 800 points ($10). As an early test of your skill, see if you can count how many puns there were between the quotation marks.Highlight for solution: 19. Look closely. %Gallery-77503%
Win Grunty by answering 10 Escapist questions
As part of their Halloween celebration, the Escapist magazine is giving away twenty Grunty the Murloc Marine codes to sharp readers able to answer their 10-question quiz about the World of Warcraft's Hallow's End event. Readers, who have to register at the site (go ahead, it's free), need to get all ten questions correctly in order to be entered in a random drawing to receive one of the codes for the murloc pet. Aside from being unbearably cute and badass at the same time, the Starcraft-themed baby murloc which was given away at this year's BlizzCon also gets into a shootout with the Zergling pet. Or explodes in green goo. It depends on who gets the jump. Fortunately for you readers, there's no need for that kind of violence. Just head on over to the Escapist Magazine and answer their fairly easy quiz (insert Headless Horseman laughter here), a multiple choice affair that doesn't have any time limit -- so it's actually kind of a giveaway. Well, a giveaway for players with a good grasp of wowhead and wowwiki the game, as it's not exactly easy. Well, it wasn't easy for me, but I'm no expert on Azerothian Holidays (I got 9/10, so I'm out of the running). If you think you've got the chops for it, though, hop on over to the Escapist and start the quiz!
Choosing between Order and Destruction in Warhammer Online
Have you decided what you're going to play in Warhammer Online? In the days leading up to the game's launch, some of us already have a good idea of which class we'll play (like "all"). Prima Official Game Guides is getting ready for the Warhammer Online launch as well, with a class quiz that asks, "In the War between Order and Chaos, what role will you play?" To help answer that question, or just to help show you some of the possibilities in Warhammer Online, they've got a short personality test that shows how well a given character choice fits you.Some of us at Massively guess that the majority of players will choose Destruction when Warhammer Online launches, but there's definitely something to be said for the white hats as well. The quiz result is pretty much a foregone conclusion, but it's a nice distraction from work or while you wait for access to the game a bit later this month. We'd wager that most who take the personality test simply choose the most twisted answers possible (we did), but give it a shot and see what comes up. Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out all of our previous Warhammer Online features, and don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!
The Daily Grind: What's your Bartle quotient?
The Bartle Test of Gamer Psychology has long been a staple of the MUD and MMORPG community. We've ever mentioned it here a couple of times.The Bartle Test (developed by -- you guessed it -- Richard Bartle) is a series of questions the answers to which result in the test-taker's Bartle Quotient. In your Bartle Quotient, you're told how closely you identify with each of four types of MMO gamer pychologies -- Achiever, Explorer, Killer, and Socializer. The final figure is a ranking -- from most dominant to least dominant -- of those types in your own gaming personality. For example, this blogger is an ESKA.The test has been criticized over the years as an innacurate or insufficient measurement, but it's remained popular nonetheless. Take the test, and tell us where you stand. Do you feel it's accurate? If not, where did it go wrong?
Hong Kong students bring PSP to school, compete in exams
Next time your teacher tells you to put away your PSP in class, point them to this. In Hong Kong, a program called the "Mobile Learning Platform" takes advantage of various electronic devices (PSP included) and uses them to give students quizzes. According to the PlayStation HK site, "students can use mobile devices including PDA, mobile phones or mobile gaming devices to log in to the mobile learning platform and then test their own knowledge anytime and anywhere."The program will be used for an "inter-school mobile quiz" contest to be held on July 8th. Eighteen schools will participate in a challenge that tests their knowledge of the Olympics, and other trivia. Sony Computer Entertainment Hong Kong is one of the sponsors.Y'know, when we were kids in school, we wouldn't be able to use our Game Boys in class. But now, these students can use PSPs and win prizes. You guys have it so good.[Thanks to Siliconera!]
This Quiz Ends With You
If there's any publisher that can demand gamers invest more than money and their time into a game, it's Square Enix. Their fans are among the most devoted in gaming.Now, after many of you hunted down a copy of The World Ends With You, played through the lengthy title. Square Enix wants more from you. They've put up a quiz to test your knowledge on the game. For those of you who have played through, test your knowledge here. Let us know how you score in the comments!%Gallery-11943%[Via Go Nintendo]
Ubisoft bringing us Hell's Kitchen, Price is Right games (... thanks?)
And the Ubisoft mehware continues. Siliconera just spotted a listing on the site of EB Games for a game version of long-running quiz show The Price is Right. According to the retailer, the title will be released on the DS and the Wii on September 9th, almost 20 years after the game show made its videogame debut on the Commodore 64. Drew Carey's first appearance in a game is rather more recent.And that's not all, shovelware fans: Ubi has also snapped up the rights to create a game based on Hell's Kitchen, presumably starring mobile belligerence unit and ego-on-legs Gordon Ramsay. Quite how the company plans to include Ramsay's famously foul language and secure an "E" rating for the game is, as yet, unknown.
Quiz Magic Academy presents worthwhile trivia on the DS
Arcades aren't doing so hot in the U.S., but Japanese gamers still love frequenting them and inserting coins into the humble machines. Through arcades, series that most of us in the West are unfamiliar with become super-popular in Japan. Take, for instance, Quiz Magic Academy.Since popularity often leads to system jumping, it should come as no surprise that the game is making its way to the DS. It's essentially a trivia title, but what makes it so appealing is its eight player Wi-Fi support. Trivia is at its best when you're competing against others and showing off your vast pools of useless knowledge, so this extensive use of online-play is most certainly appealing. Unlike games such as LOL (aka just LOL), though, you can still choose to solo your way through Quiz Magic Academy if you prefer to go it alone.Other nifty features in this arcade-cum-DS title are that it transmits new questions wirelessly, and also links up to Quiz Magic Academy V, the as-of-yet unreleased arcade sequel. All in all, it seems like Konami has taken trivia as far as it can go. Well, color us jealous.[Via Siliconera]
Mila Kunis loves World of Warcraft
Because how often do we get to post a hot picture of Mila Kunis? Complex magazine interviewed Ms. Kunis, of That 70's Show and Family Guy, for her new movie, and they apparently got wind that she, along with her boyfriend Macaulay Culkin, was a World of Warcraft player, and they decided to quiz her on the specifics. And surprise surprise, she actually knows her stuff. She's tracking the expansion, she knows most of the races, she's down with Leroy Jenkins, and she's at least been to Stormwind and "Dust Home Marsh."She doesn't actually say what character she's playing, obviously, but based on her quiz answers, we'll guess she's Alliance, probably a level 25-30 Human priest. Culkin shows up later in the interview, and he knows a lot more -- Complex jokes that he's "Home Alone", but while there are plenty of those in the game, none of them are level 70 paladins.But pretty sweet. Maybe Blizzard can get wind of this and ask her to bring a more feminine touch to those ads.Thanks, Justin!
This week, you probably Do Know Jack
Sacre bleu! Something odd seems to have happened to our favorite sardonic online flash quiz for its March 31 edition (embedded above). Questions like "Repeat after me!" and a comparison between lines from Great Expectations and Jackass 2: The Movie seem completely out of pace with the game's usual punishing difficulty. Don't even get us started on the "repeat after me" Jack Attack, which could probably be completed by a mentally handicapped surrender monkeys (cheese-eating or non).We can only hope this is a one-time glitch, and not a trend that will last past through the beginning of the fourth month of the year ...
Quiz time: Can you spot the "real" gamers?
If there's one thing you can count on this holiday season (besides annoying relatives), it's holiday ads full of glossy, high-res pictures of people pretending to play games. But are they really just pretending? And would you be able to tell if they weren't?MTV's prolific Stephen Totilo has set up a cute little quiz to find out. Inspired by a six-story Target billboard (right) featuring a mischievously grinning "gamer," Totilo has laid out ten pictures, some of people actually enjoying our favorite pastime and others of people who are just posers. The answers will be posted tomorrow, so head on over and see how well you can pick out the vacant stare of a true gamer.
Buzz! makes beeline for North American PS2
Alright, so the connection between Buzz! and bees is no more than a tenuous one meant to serve the purposes of a trite headline, but in our defense, it's entirely possible that Sony's quiz game may ask you a question about bees at some point. This seems especially likely in the one called "Junior Jungle Party" -- what is a garden if not a junior jungle? After selling 18 gazillion copies in Europe (smart people live there!), Sony Computer Entertainment America has finally seen fit to bring the Buzz! franchise to North American PlayStation 2 owners, h@rdc0rez and casual alike, for the holidays. The series emulates a trivia-based game show, complete with creepy host and obnoxious huge-red-button-controller. If we're to believe David Amor, boss of developer Relentless Software, Buzz! is the perfect game to enjoy with those friend things we've heard so much about. "The Americans are ready for Buzz," he declares. "I think it's that time. Buzz! is real immediate social gameplay. It's perfect for inviting a group of friends around, whether they're into games or not." Look for Buzz! The Mega Quiz and Buzz! Junior Jungle Party on store shelves tomorrow. Read -- AnnouncementRead -- America's Ready to Buzz! (Next-Generation)
The long-awaited first screens of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader
Go get your "You Might Be a Redneck If" calendar and mark today as the day we finally saw the Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader game. And, if it's possible to be disappointed by Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader, that's how we feel.The two screens we are shown are nothing but text and the game/show's logo. The text in the trivia question is presented as writing on a chalkboard, but uses a typewriter font. At least they didn't try to fake handwriting with Comic Sans or something.Anyway, the game sounds about right: 3000 questions, and you can get help from five fake children. You also have access to the helpful "cheat" options found on the show. Really, the only difference is that it costs you money, instead of giving you the opportunity to win money.
Let's play Food Identifying Game!
Forget all those history, literature, and art questions on Jeopardy. Nep League DS has officially asked the greatest question in the history of game shows: "What is this?" That's right, in Nep League DS, you can compete to test your skill at knowing what different foods are called! There are also other games about dodging a monster by identifying kanji and picking a route on a runaway minecar by answering questions.The game is based on a TV show that uses a strangely distributed approach to its questions: each member of a team of five gives one character of the answer. We wonder how that will work on the DS? Game sharing? Online? Passing the DS around? Just answering the whole question yourself?
Test your WoW quotient
tehkittyboy over on the WoW LJ passes along this WoW Purity Test. I'm not usually one for taking these online tests, but considering it had to do with WoW, I went ahead and filled it out. Just like all of these quizzes (in the great tradition of Cosmo quizzes), it's silly, but you end up with a number that you can feel good (or bad?) about. In my case: 35%. Which sounds low, but then again, maybe it's a good thing that I don't have 60 days /played on one character.And if you're after something a little more serious, Curse points us to this slightly more academic gamer psychology test on GuildCafe. It's based on the Bartle Test, a famous test about 10 years old meant to categorize online game players into four different groups: Achievers, Explorers, Socializers, and Killers. The test was originally created for players of MUDs (if you remember those), but it's now been updated for MMORPG players. According to this test, I am an SAEK, which means I'm more interested in socializing and achieving than finding new places ingame and killing other players. Is that why my WoW Purity score is so low? Who knows.
Bug-hunting game looks like edutainment done right
Insects are huge in Japan. We don't mean in the Mothra kaiju sense, but in that they're very popular. Kids like to collect and battle stag beetles (sound like another popular Japanese form of entertainment?) Therefore, a bug reference guide on the DS seems like a pretty good decision.Quiz & Touch Kensaku Mushi Sukan (Quiz & Touch Insect Encyclopedia) is our kind of non-game: not only does it provide visual and sound information about many species of bugs, but it also has quizzes and minigames about the bugs, including games based on identifying particular insects by sound and color. Librarians and those training to be librarians will probably agree: more reference books should have games in them.%Gallery-3479%
Create iPod quizzes with free utility
Aspyr Media has released iQuiz Maker, a free Mac utility to create quizzes for Apple's iPod game, iQuiz. With a free PC version scheduled for May, maybe educators will begin using iPods as teaching tools in the same way as PSPs. While the iQuiz tool is suited to trivia games, we hope that Aspyr or others will release simple iPod game tools for other genres. However, our wish is tempered by how closed the iPod is to developers; there would be a lot of great games--and sure, bad ones too--if anyone could program for that MP3 player.
