Video games - You Don't Know Jack

Home > Listing Index > Video games > You Don't Know Jack

	Video games - You Don't Know Jack

You Don't Know Jack is a series of computer games developed by Jellyvision. YDKJ, promoted as the games "where high culture and pop culture collide," combines trivia with comedy.

How it works

One, two, or three players can play the game. The premise of You Don't Know Jack is similar to that of a TV quiz show: players compete for money by answering trivia questions. (Since this is not a real quiz show, however, players do not win real money.) All versions of the game have an off-screen "host" who is voiced by a Jellyvision staff member and referred to by his nickname — "Cookie" and "Schmitty" are the two most common in the series. However, in YDKJ: The Ride, all the hosts from the previous games, including Nate Shapiro, the original host from the first game, take turns hosting and Buzz, the notedly unpopular host from the second game, keeps getting tossed down a trapdoor.

Most versions of YDKJ offer the choice of playing a 7- or 21-question game; some versions offer only 15 questions, and the 4th volume, The Ride, offers only 13 questions. In a 21-question game, there is a brief intermission after the tenth question.

In most versions, a randomly-chosen player is given a choice of three different categories. Each category has a humorous name that vaguely describes what that question is about. After a short animated introduction (often accompanied with a jingle about the question number), the host asks the question. The first player to buzz in with the correct answer — using their specified buzzer key on the keyboard — wins the money for that question and gets to choose the next category. Players lose money with an incorrect guess like they would on Jeopardy!, but not before the host wisecracks about it. (One running gag in the series relates to questions about The Facts of Life: "Tootie" is never a correct answer.)

In most versions, the more difficult questions are worth more money. Two versions (The Ride and 5th Dementia) allow players to buzz in before the question to determine how much it is worth.

In multi-player games, players have the opportunity to "screw" their opponents by buzzing in, typing "S," and selecting one of his or her opponents. That player is then forced to give an answer within ten seconds. If the player who is "screwed" answers correctly, he or she wins the money while the player who "screwed" him or her loses money. Players are only allowed to "screw" once in each half of the game (they each receive a new "screw" in the second half of a 21-question game). The basic design has rarely changed, but is different in some games. For example, in the Ride, instead of just forcing an opponent to answer with a screw, you launch screws into the screen blocking the view of the question, then force them to answer it even if it's unreadable.

Hosts

There have been many different hosts of You Don't Know Jack over the years. The following is a list of hosts and the games they appear in.

Nate Shapiro, voiced by Harry Gottlieb: Nate Shapiro, the first host of the You Don't Know Jack series is still quite popular today. He is voice-acted by Harry Gottlieb, the C.E.O of Jellyvision. However, in the real world, he doesn't like being in a cramped sound booth, so he's only hosted two games. He hosts the first YDKJ, the Netshow, the tabletop game, and hosts for part of YDKJ: The Ride.

Guy Towers, voiced by Andy Poland: He appears in YDKJ Sports, YDKJ Sports: The NetShow, and part of the Ride. He also played 'Bob' the host of the teenage YDKJ spinoff 'HeadRush'.

Buzz Lippman, voiced by Peter B. Spector: This host has appeared in two versions: Volume Two and The Ride, which he only plays a bit part. Peter appeared in the Bonnie Hunt feature film "Return to Me" as well as the CBS show "Turks" and 2 episodes of CBS "Early Edition." Peter has appeared in over 60 tv commercials and hundreds of v/o radio spots.

Cookie Masterson, voiced by Tom Gottlieb - the brother of Harry Gottlieb (Nate): Cookie is one of the most well known of any of the hosts. He is also one of the most popular among YDKJ fans. He originally served as sign-in host, taking down players names and the like, in the opening "green room" segments of Volumes One and Two. He hosts in Movies, Volume Three, The Netshow, Playstation versions, part of the Ride, and Offline. He also was the announcer for the YDKJ TV show in 2001.

Josh "Schmitty" Schmitstinstein, voiced by Phil Ridarelli: Josh Schmitstinstein, or "Schmitty", is the most recent of all the American CD-ROM hosts. He hosts in TV, part of The Ride, The Netshow, Louder!, Faster! Funnier! (a 2nd Offline game), 5th Dementia, Mock 2 (the 2nd PlayStation game) & 6: The Lost Gold

Jack Cake, voiced by Paul Kaye. British fans will remember him as the host of the only UK version of YDKJ.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for You Don't Know Jack ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article You Don't Know Jack; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Video games - You Don't Know Jack

How it works

Hosts

Searches on eBay

Related searches on eBay