April 23rd, 1997

The Skinny [The Bottom Line:] You Don't Know Jack The Net Show is a fun and entertaining way to spend several hours each week playing a trivia based game show. Base on the very popular You Don't Know Jack computer games, this online version will be sure to take up much more of your time than you might want. PROS Well made, funny, and clever. Questions are challenging without being too difficult. Even filler material is amusing. Game play is very fast and cohesive. CONS Overly Addictive. PowerPC Only. You Don't Know Jack: The Net Show Processor: PowerPC Only Memory Needs: 4-5MB Hard Drive Space: 10-11MB Price: Free Publisher: Berkeley Systems www.jacknetshow.com by: Bryan Chaffin (bchaffin@webintosh.com) You Won't Do Jack, Except Play This Game... Is your time precious? Do you value each precious waking moment? If you answered yes to either one of those questions I have some very valuable advice for you. Stay away from You Don't Know Jack: The Net Show. Finally released for the Mac, this fantastic waste of time is now draining the finest minds in all computerdom. This game is fun. It is witty. It is clever. It is amusing. In fact, when Webintosh Labs finally recovered from feverish Jack Net Show gaming, we all agreed that we liked it. Jack: The Net Show is set up like a TV game show, complete with sarcastic announcer (who sounds suspiciously like David Spade). When played the first time, you tell the game your age (25-34 in our test runs). This presumably sets the tone of the dialogue as there were many announcer comments that were inappropriate for young players. Contestants are given the choice of categories from whence a question is derived. If you answer the question correctly, you earn money. If you get the answer wrong, you lose money. The harder the question, the more money it is worth. Unfortunately you do not get to keep the money, it is used only to keep score. When play begins, you hear backstage voices and sounds that a contestant might expect to hear right before going on the air. It is very realistic, if a tad bit silly at times. A stage director asks for the number of contestants and their names which are typed in. We found the two player version to be a bit tricky when it came to crowding two people around a keyboard, but as with virtually any other gaming title, Jack is much more enjoyable with two players. And with two players, you do gain the advantage of being able to "screw" your opponent by forcing him or her to answer one question. This would preferably be a question they would not know, but be careful, if they get it right you lose money. Each question is preceded by jingle-like songs with each one being in a different style. Our favorite was Question Four "The question that cares." Just like any other game show worth its salt, Jack earns its money from advertisers. These advertisements are downloaded before play during the intro. In fact, the purpose of the intro is to provide a distraction during download. It is probably the least offensive way imaginable to make you spend your time downloading commercials you will be forced to watch on your computer. Sinisterly brilliant. Once downloaded, each commercial gets played during "breaks" between rounds. They are short, fairly unobtrusive and are the price of playing a "free" game. As such, these commercials are well worth the price. One must be connected to the Internet to play, as questions (and commercials) are downloaded from Bezerk (the game's site/distributor). Game mechanics are handled by downloadable free software that you must preinstall on your hard drive. This makes for swift game play not hampered by slow Internet connections. High scores are kept track of on the Jack Web site and there are daily and monthly prizes that can be won. If you want a high score, be prepared to get every question right, the first time. If you want to win a prize, be prepared to play. Daily prizes are awarded randomly, monthly prizes are awarded to randomly chosen scorers with a minimum average score. There is a new game every Monday and Thursday. Jack: The Net Show offers students whose email addresses end with ".edu" an opportunity to win $100 on College Daze (Tuesdays). In addition, there are $1,000 Wednesdays where you can win, you guessed it, $1,000, of all things. This April, Jack gives the opportunity to those playing on certain days the chance to win free versions of the brand new You Don't Know Jack Movies. Once again, winners are chosen randomly from eligible players. You Don't Know Jack: The Net Show is great fun and quite challenging. For the fan of trivia games, game show fanatics, or just about anybody else it is simply the opportunity of a lifetime to do nothing constructive on your computer.