Mike Reid's Pop Quiz

mikepopquiz · Post by **mikepopquiz** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 11:15 am

Does anyone have any hints/tips on this? As my general knowledge is abysmal but my pop knowledge is good, I tend to only go for the pop quiz games. I have seen some negative comments on the board about this game, but I quite like it as unlike most I play on, I usually win on it, albeit £2 or £3 only after a lot of effort. The only hint I can offer is to swot up on Live 8 concerts as there are a lot of questions on this. Also, I can't see the point of not banking as I never get far enough along the winning line to get the big increments - or is it just the fact that I have never hit a machine with a very low starting point to make money (the lowest I've ever seen is 5,000 points to win the first pound). Any advice gratefully received.

Nil Satis · Post by **Nil Satis** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 7:10 pm

Hi Mike (and welcome to Fruitchat)

I'm afraid there aren't really any tips that you'll get for this game. On the positive side you do get a reasonably long game for your 50p and as you say if you know pop music and particularly the Live 8 concerts you should pick up a pound or two along the way but I have to say that it is comfortably amongst the worst games I have ever seen!

I have never seen a game's points low enough to make a reasonable prize achievable (never mind £10 or £20) and the gameplay is atrocious - the lack of information (of how you are doing and how many points you are achieving on any particular question) is just so off-putting. All you get is 'You got 3 out of 5 and that gives you 1511 points' with no indication of which 3 were correct and how the points earned relates to that.

The sound and visuals are also rubbish, although personally those things don't bother me, as I'd always prefer an ugly game that pays to an attractive one that doesn't (e.g. Monopoly Deluxe).

There have been some great pop music games over time - Top of the Pops, the very different Top of the Pops 2, the Pepsi Chart Quiz - but this one is just irredeemable in my eyes!

foxy · Post by **foxy** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 1:08 am

Totally agree.
Prize increments are so strange- £9 then £20.
Has anyone here ever got past £4?
Like Mike I can see no reason at all NOT to bank.Or are we all missing something here?

Nil Satis · Post by **Nil Satis** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 12:36 pm

The point about banking vs. not banking is that your points get reset to 0 if you bank. If for example the first prize level is 10,000 points for £1, the other prizes will then presumably be something like 13,000 for £2 up to say 30,000 for £20. If you get to 10,000 and bank your points, you guarantee the £1 win but have to start again from 0 and hence can only realistically hope to get back to the 10,000 level for a second £1 win in the remaining rounds.

It's not a bad principle and it would introduce an interesting element to the gameplay if only the game itself wasn't so dull and impossible to win on!

mikepopquiz · Post by **mikepopquiz** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 8:38 pm

Thanks for the responses - much appreciated. I can confirm that when you bank on this game, you do keep your points - this is why it seems pointless not to bank. Because of the win sequence, you would need to start on a very low first win points requirement to give you any chance of reaching the increments which are over £1. The lowest I have had is 5,000 points and this is nowhere near low enough. Maybe I've not been lucky enough to visit when someone has fed the machine. The other quirk of this game which I can't figure out is the bonus picture round. There seems to be no incentive in getting the picture quickly, since when you guess the picture you seem to have an equal chance of winning/losing your bonus regardless of how much time you got the picture in. Despite this, I am still picking up my small wins, so I still like the game

As has been mentioned, it does however take some time to win any money so it's not doing any good to my eyesight!

ZAX · Post by **ZAX** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 12:44 pm

Played this yesterday - had a quid win followed by a two quid win but guess what- NO PAYOUT!!!

What was happening was the bank or not bank offer was coming up, I was taking bank, but instead of resetting the points it carried the points over and off we went again to the next prize! Has this happened to anyone else? Once game over came back to the mian menu and no money had been banked.

Yet another bugged game. I ask again- are these freakin machines playtested or not? Any playtesters on here?

Nil Satis · Post by **Nil Satis** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 1:00 pm

Either that one game was faulty or you have just been pressing the wrong option by mistake as what you describe is exactly what should (and does) happen when you DON'T bank - i.e. the points keep accumulating but if you don't complete a round by getting 3 correct answers out of 5 you lose the prize achieved up to that point.

ZAX · Post by **ZAX** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 3:46 pm

Know what youre saying Satis but (for once) was stone cold sober and definitely pressing bank.

So I maintain the thing is bugged. That reminds me I played Mike Reads footie game elsewhere and that crashed when I got onto the penalty shootout.

Maybe its Mike Read eh? He wasnt much of a DJ either as I recall.

ZAX · Post by **ZAX** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 3:48 pm

Sorry I meant Mike Reid of course, not the professional cockney 'funnyman'. Maybe he's due a game as well - Mike Reads cockernee knees up. On the final screen you could try to decipher cockney slang and win a 'pony' etc etc etc

Nil Satis · Post by **Nil Satis** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 5:54 pm

ZAX wrote:Maybe its Mike Read eh? He wasnt much of a DJ either as I recall.

You might be right. Odd isn't it, though, how with his games so poor and with another ex-Radio 1 DJ (Noel Edmonds) so vilified that yet another of them was responsible for two of the best quiz games ever - DLT with his Give Us A Break and Treble Top.

mikepopquiz · Post by **mikepopquiz** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 12:11 am

When you bank you keep your points. Any wins are added to your game credits, so if you have a £1 win, you will get 2 game credits. The wins don't appear as wins as such, but are added to your credits. Zax - are you sure when you banked, you didn't have your credits added to? The first time I played the game, I thought I hadn't got the money when I banked, but the wins were added to my credits. I initially thought you had to play these credits out without collecting, but you need to go to the main screen (not the Mike Reid screen) to get your money out. If you bank, you should be able to get your winnings out and you will not lose your points.

ZAX · Post by **ZAX** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 12:45 pm

Mike

Ok in the spirit of investigation and against my better judgement (cos I crossed it off my list after this happened) I am going to have another go on the same machine after work so will let you know. I wasnt on my own though, and was with my veteran pub quiz mate (has everybody got one of these) and we were both absolutely positive it hadnt been added on.

QuizMaster · Post by **QuizMaster** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 1:35 pm

Your mate can't be much of a veteran or else he'd have told you this was shit.

ZAX · Post by **ZAX** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 4:36 pm

He did. Im just a veteran at ignoring him