Itbox 66
I found my first example last night of what had been predicted on here (owing to the link between these and Gamesnets), namely an ItBox 66 with the addition of the John Parrott Sports Quiz, and with that the transformation of the ItBox into an unplayable waste of time is now complete. Sad times indeed.
Fair enough, you will find a little 'free' money from the John Parrott game but:
(a) it will only be at that sort of level
(b) you are just as likely to find it impossible mode (or 'win £2 for your £1 and then go impossible' mode)
(c) in either mode it is simply too hard for punters and gets very little play - three or four credits in the last seven days seems about the average across the range of venues and machines where I have seen it, therefore it's going to take a hell of a long time to replace the £6 or £8 it has paid you
Both this and especially Rocket Money (not solely sport-based therefore in theory appealing to a wider audience) could have been star games - attractive to punters, with the bonuses of top score tables to compete on, while at the same time offering genuine long-term rewards to better players. The problem with both of them is they have been written by people with either no understanding of how to grade questions by difficulty or no understanding of how to apply differential grading within an individual game. Both games could have been a 147 break but instead are more like fouls off the black.
(a) it will only be at that sort of level
(b) you are just as likely to find it impossible mode (or 'win £2 for your £1 and then go impossible' mode)
(c) in either mode it is simply too hard for punters and gets very little play - three or four credits in the last seven days seems about the average across the range of venues and machines where I have seen it, therefore it's going to take a hell of a long time to replace the £6 or £8 it has paid you
Both this and especially Rocket Money (not solely sport-based therefore in theory appealing to a wider audience) could have been star games - attractive to punters, with the bonuses of top score tables to compete on, while at the same time offering genuine long-term rewards to better players. The problem with both of them is they have been written by people with either no understanding of how to grade questions by difficulty or no understanding of how to apply differential grading within an individual game. Both games could have been a 147 break but instead are more like fouls off the black.
I think to be fair the machines are getting very little play at the moment probably because of (a) credit crunch (b) season (summer quietest in pubs traditionally unless a resort) (c) crummy games (d) continual bloody updates of new games that are in the main rubbish.
quiz machine companies dont appear to understand that punters like good games sticking around.They seem to mainly keep games that are just about impossible to win on.
My tip is obvious to look at high scores with dates even on games you dont play as it gives an indication of the throughput.For example track & field has been out a couple of months and there are still sites I visit that dont have the top ten scores filled.
quiz machine companies dont appear to understand that punters like good games sticking around.They seem to mainly keep games that are just about impossible to win on.
My tip is obvious to look at high scores with dates even on games you dont play as it gives an indication of the throughput.For example track & field has been out a couple of months and there are still sites I visit that dont have the top ten scores filled.
I couldn't agree more with just about every word of that! All of the main cabinets (ItBox, Gamesnet, Paragon) are going through a real low point at the moment. I saw a Gamesnet last night with no WWTBAM, no DOND (i.e. the real one - it still had Big Reds and the No Questions version 
), no Smarter, no FFQ, no Word Up, no Caesar's, no Every Loser Wins, ...
Instead it had two Family Guys (i.e. two icons for the same game), two Skill Ball Bingo icons, two of those bloody awful 'brain-training' games and any amount of other rubbish. It was almost like they had sat round a table and actively decided to offer the most unattractive games selection they could think of. The ItBoxes are heading the same way very quickly.
Hopefully the machine companies will see sense and (a) bring back some of the few decent games that they have actually managed to release in the last couple of years (b) stop releasing such utter dross. If not I fear the game is well and truly up for anyone who plays SWPs for anything more than entertainment or beer money only.
), no Smarter, no FFQ, no Word Up, no Caesar's, no Every Loser Wins, ...Instead it had two Family Guys (i.e. two icons for the same game), two Skill Ball Bingo icons, two of those bloody awful 'brain-training' games and any amount of other rubbish. It was almost like they had sat round a table and actively decided to offer the most unattractive games selection they could think of. The ItBoxes are heading the same way very quickly.
Hopefully the machine companies will see sense and (a) bring back some of the few decent games that they have actually managed to release in the last couple of years (b) stop releasing such utter dross. If not I fear the game is well and truly up for anyone who plays SWPs for anything more than entertainment or beer money only.
From my admittedly limited looks at them on a few London GamesNets and test itBoxes thus far, I do think there is some decent low-hanging fruit on John Parrott on installation mode; it's definitely more generous than Nil Satis suggests. It seems to have been installed on a much more generous mode than Rocket Money, to my mind.
Despite DMAC's sighting of busy scoreboards, though, I doubt this will get the long-term punter throughput it needs to become a long-term payer, particularly if someone like DMAC has been along to grab the low-hanging fruit. If it's not paying I have seen it punting out spoiler questions well before even the first prize, which I am sure is the kind of thing which must annoy punters and make them feel they're not getting their money's worth.
All that said, I like this game, and given that I quite like Rocket Money despite its flaws, I welcome this company's entry into the market.
Despite DMAC's sighting of busy scoreboards, though, I doubt this will get the long-term punter throughput it needs to become a long-term payer, particularly if someone like DMAC has been along to grab the low-hanging fruit. If it's not paying I have seen it punting out spoiler questions well before even the first prize, which I am sure is the kind of thing which must annoy punters and make them feel they're not getting their money's worth.
All that said, I like this game, and given that I quite like Rocket Money despite its flaws, I welcome this company's entry into the market.