Joystiq hands-on: Scene It

Stepping into Microsoft's "Social Fun" suite at the truck defying Viceroy Hotel, we got a chance to lay our hands on the recently announced 360 version of Scene It along with its kooky candy colored controllers. As you can see, the controllers are fairly small. They are very light, run on two AA batteries, and come in four oh so fashionable colors. All of the standard face buttons are topped with a huge button that also serves as a D-pad. The button, as you might expect, serves as the game's buzzer. The A, B, X, and Y buttons are used for selecting answers. We settled in to play a quick game and test our movie trivia knowledge.

Scene It is comprised of several trivia and memory games sprinkled with some decent though definitely not mind blowing 3D window dressing. One game requires you to watch clips of a movie and answer some questions about it. Players of the Scene It DVD board game will know that these questions rarely relate to the movie itself. We watched a clip from Office Space, for example, and were asked how many times the word "memo" was spoken (you did get the memo, didn't you? about the TPS reports?). In this game, all players answer at the same time. The faster you answer, the more points you are awarded.

Another game had us identifying what was missing from a movie still. For example, a Three Amigos still without the singing bush or a Ghostbusters still without any self-frying eggs.. Again, this game was open to everyone, with highest points to those who answered the fastest. Another game required us to decipher a celebrity's name by putting several pictures together. For example: gavel + wrench + fish + match = Lawrence Fishburne a gavel, a wrench, a fish, and a match equals Lawrence Fishburne. First one to buzz in and answer correctly wins this challenge. Finally, we were faced with a game in which an image is slowly appears on screen. The object is to guess the film being drawn. You have to be careful though, as you might get a curve ball. What we positively knew was Patton turned out to be Tootsie.
All in all, the game turned out to be a fun experience, and certainly one that movie buffs will enjoy. Of course, the game falls squarely into the category of casual family fun, a market it seems everyone is keen to expand on these days. The Microsoft reps informed us that there were definitely other games in the works for the new controllers, though they had no comment on anything specific. Ummm ... hai guise, how about You Don't Know Jack? K thx bai.











Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
sheppy @ Jul 13th 2007 10:49AM
Wow... buzzer controllers. Never saw those for a game console before at all.
Neil Christie @ Jul 13th 2007 1:58PM
Why is this guy being minused? This game is a COMPLETE rip of Buzz! for PlayStation 2.
http://www.fidia.hr/cjenik/big/buzz+ps2.gif
Robert @ Jul 13th 2007 10:52AM
I'm with you guys on this one. You Don't Know Jack would be perfect!
I own YDKJ 1-3, I should see if I can't get those installed on my XP machine. :P
JodyAnthony @ Jul 13th 2007 10:52AM
the first console to get you dont know jack gets my money.
polar @ Jul 13th 2007 11:17AM
YES.
Please?!
Mindlog @ Jul 13th 2007 11:20AM
Exactly what I was thinking when I first saw the controller. If there is a merciful god please give me YDKJ ASAP :D
lol sheppy
Ocho @ Jul 13th 2007 11:34AM
Man, YDKJ on the 360 would rule with those. And let's not forget about the possibilities downloadable content. Can I just mail my money to Jellyvision now?
Patrick @ Jul 13th 2007 7:12PM
omg, ydkj for xbla would be sweet, with a new episode each week
seb @ Jul 14th 2007 12:46PM
sorry JodyAnthony, YDKJ HAS already been out for a console, the PS1 back in the 90's by vivendi-universal.
But I absolutely agree!! a YDKJ would be great on the 360, especially w/ weekly udates like patrick said
CaptNink @ Jul 13th 2007 10:52AM
We...need....JEOPARDY!
Alex S. @ Jul 13th 2007 10:55AM
So why can this glorified DVD trick-play game get wireless controllers but bestsellers like GH2 cant?
lazygamer @ Jul 13th 2007 11:15AM
The controllers are Infrared, so to the 360 are just remote controls.
fidgetwidget @ Jul 15th 2007 10:31PM
Because its being published by Microsoft... and GH3 has wireless controllers.
Slvrgun @ Jul 13th 2007 10:55AM
I think this will be a huge hit when more games come out that utilize the controller!
sheppy @ Jul 13th 2007 10:57AM
I think You Don't Know Jack would get in sooo much trouble nowadays. I mean, Brain Boost got pulled because of "spastic." I remember YDKJ: The Ride, I put my name in as "Fuckmaster" and the game replied by saying "We'll just file you under retard" and that was my name for the game.
baby sea tuna @ Jul 13th 2007 11:16AM
Amazing! It's like it knew you!
JodyAnthony @ Jul 13th 2007 11:19AM
hahaha sorry sheppy, you know i love you, but baby sea tuna, that was great.
sheppy @ Jul 13th 2007 11:32AM
Would I have put that up if I didn't expect it to be picked on? C'mon. Every guy here had that period, when they were younger, where pronouncing their cock as massive or how awesome they were at sex was an everyday thing. Most of us grow out of that middle school mentality. Some still live there.
unosturgis @ Jul 13th 2007 10:03PM
hmm..sheppy, your first comments usually rock, but your secondary ones just confuse me. lol
vidGuy @ Jul 13th 2007 11:00AM
OMG! It's a gimmick! Microsoft is so screwed now, they are completely forgetting about the hardcore gamer. This game needs HD bloom lighting and some realistic sweat, stat, or it's going to be a failure!
Tom @ Jul 13th 2007 11:10AM
Wow, those controllers looks so familiar... But I can't quite put my finger on it.
sheppy @ Jul 13th 2007 11:17AM
This may be what you're thinking of. This first of a massively popular game in Europe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzz%21_The_Music_Quiz
Comes with four controllers that plug into a single USB port on the PS2. But the game supports up to 8 players.
Tom @ Jul 13th 2007 11:37AM
Heh, thanks Sheppy, but it was sarcasm. I'm from the UK and own Buzz :-)
ck @ Jul 13th 2007 11:10AM
I have one and two currently installed on my XP. They work just fine.
It's time for a comeback for Jellyvision.
Andrew @ Jul 13th 2007 11:30AM
If a YDKJ game was released this very instant, I would drop what I'm doing and leave work right, drive 140MpH to the nearest EB and buy it right now in cash.
Mr Paul James @ Jul 13th 2007 11:46AM
Sheppy stop spazzing out just because Microsoft has used the same idea as Sony.
If you want to go along those lines...
Online console play, using cds as a storage media, vibration in controllers, and a hard drive in a console.
Now shut up and grow up you twit.
Jonathan Tran @ Jul 13th 2007 11:46AM
YDKJ would get an AO rating.
In the open answer questions, if you type "fuck you" he would say, "hahaha you're sooo funny! Fuck me? no, how about FUCK YOU!" and you would either get -$400,000 or sometimes it just quit the game
Mr Paul James @ Jul 13th 2007 11:47AM
BTW in case that wasn't clear, they're all things that Sony "STOLE" from another company...
*Shock horror!!!*
TravistyOJ @ Jul 13th 2007 4:42PM
If these buzzers use RF, they may work with the USB receiver, which means you could use them to play YDKJ on your PC.........right?
razer @ Jul 13th 2007 12:43PM
And it's a stupid comparison considering BUZZ is a music trivia game and Scene-In is about movies and TV. If you stupid idiots are going to bash something and say how they copied something at least make sure it's the same thing..
Brandon @ Jul 13th 2007 1:26PM
Dude, the format is sooooo similar. Even the controllers look alot alike.
Rich_Geek @ Jul 13th 2007 12:58PM
Yeah, a completely stupid comparison.
Think before you post!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzz%21_The_Big_Quiz
Blee @ Jul 13th 2007 7:05PM
To apply the same level of critiquing that Nintendo continually receives, I sincerely ask: could this not have been done with a regular controller? The 360 controller's face buttons are color-coded and I am sure any other button could be assigned as the buzzer button. While no doubt a highly entertaining game, this seems much more "gimmicky" to what Joystiq usually derides as such.
Martez @ Jul 13th 2007 3:07PM
You get four controllers for, I believe, free. It's not like they're $15 a piece. I don't see why you couldn't use four regular controllers (or one, if you want to make it turn based and that much less fun), but making them a pack-in assures that the whole family can play and compete.
PsPEE @ Jul 13th 2007 1:51PM
Joystiq finds a casual game fun, from MS! Bah double standa.. ahh forget it!
LeeCary @ Jul 13th 2007 2:31PM
I like the controllers, I'm hoping for Family Feud, maybe they could resurrect Richard Dawson to host?
Booxatron @ Jul 13th 2007 3:09PM
Forget Dawson...we want Louie!
zelig2 @ Jul 13th 2007 4:55PM
So this company can make a game that comes with 4 wireless controllers all for the price of a normal game but Guitar Hero II can't make a wireless guitar for the 360 because it costs too much????
Rob Stevens @ Jul 13th 2007 4:12PM
YDKJ would do just fine on a console, perhaps with a Mature rating, but there's nothing in the game to warrant an AO. Language isn't enough to push you over the ratings threshold.
LordPaul @ Jul 13th 2007 4:35PM
OMG IT's A RIPOFF!!!
Of a million quiz shows & board games BEFORE FECKING SONY!!!
Get a grip fanboi idiots
Tom @ Jul 13th 2007 5:02PM
Go be on a REAL gameshow, don't waste your time with this! While you're at, learn guitar and carry a gun around everywhere you go.
Jake @ Jul 17th 2007 12:26PM
You can still use normal controllers you already own, right?