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Author Topic: Half Off Debut  (Read 6428 times)

tyshaun1

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Half Off Debut
« on: May 28, 2004, 11:19:57 AM »
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1/2 Off made its debut, and I must say, it's a pretty entertaining game. The contestants start out with 16 boxes, and must determine which prize out of 2 is half-off its correct price. By choosing the half-priced product, they eliminate half the boxes. There are 3 selections total, which means they can narrow it down to 2. The goal is to choose the box which has $10,000 in it.
Today's player managed to narrow down to 4 boxes (1, 7, 11, and 15) chooses the 7, and wins the dough. The reveal is similar to Fortune Hunter, where the contestant lifts the box to reveal what she's won. Overall, a quite enjoyable game, especially the sound effect when the empty boxes are removed. Good work, Mandel!

Tyshaun
« Last Edit: May 28, 2004, 11:53:13 AM by tyshaun1 »

JayC

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Half Off Debut
« Reply #1 on: May 28, 2004, 11:22:47 AM »
Isn't there a rule againest posting spoilers before the show is over now?

tyshaun1

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Half Off Debut
« Reply #2 on: May 28, 2004, 11:32:43 AM »
[quote name=\'JayC\' date=\'May 28 2004, 10:22 AM\'] Isn't there a rule againest posting spoilers before the show is over now? [/quote]
 Yes, but I didn't divulge info about the entire show, only the outcome for 1/2 Off, which I posted after it aired on the east coast and is CLEARLY labeled as a spoiler. All of which is within the rules. So sorry about your luck.

Tyshaun

Lemonjello

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Half Off Debut
« Reply #3 on: May 28, 2004, 11:48:15 AM »
So, is there anything in the other 15 boxes?

TV Favorites

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Half Off Debut
« Reply #4 on: May 28, 2004, 11:51:05 AM »
I have posted some pictures from the premiere playing of The Price is Right's newest pricing game, "1/2 Off" at Game Show Favorites.  WARNING:  These photos DO contain spoilers from the first playing so view at your own risk.  Here are the pictures:

http://www.gameshowfavorites.com/PriceIsRi...alfOffPremiere/

tyshaun1

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Half Off Debut
« Reply #5 on: May 28, 2004, 11:51:17 AM »
[quote name=\'Lemonjello\' date=\'May 28 2004, 10:48 AM\'] So, is there anything in the other 15 boxes? [/quote]
 It was not mentioned one way or the other, but apparently, no.

Tyshaun

tvwxman

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Half Off Debut
« Reply #6 on: May 28, 2004, 12:12:18 PM »
[quote name=\'tyshaun1\' date=\'May 28 2004, 10:51 AM\'] [quote name=\'Lemonjello\' date=\'May 28 2004, 10:48 AM\'] So, is there anything in the other 15 boxes? [/quote]
It was not mentioned one way or the other, but apparently, no.

Tyshaun [/quote]
 If it's not mentioned one way or the other, then how do you know?

Apparently, it sounds like you're guessing.

BTW, I like the game....but not the reveal...just like fortune hunter (obviously) , where I thought Bob's shenanigans got old after awhile...

But Mandel should be absolutely proud! Read his blog and you'll see how the idea came to fruition....esp what didn't make the cut.....interesting read on how a game really gets 'developed'.

Apparently.

ms
-------------

Matt

- "May all of your consequences be happy ones!"

Matt Ottinger

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Half Off Debut
« Reply #7 on: May 28, 2004, 12:27:14 PM »
[quote name=\'JayC\' date=\'May 28 2004, 11:22 AM\'] Isn't there a rule againest posting spoilers before the show is over now? [/quote]
 Not at all, and I can't believe anyone paid so little attention to the discussion that they thought otherwise.

We don't want people who were AT A TAPING spoiling the results.  So if you're in the audience and you see a million dollar spin, or a $100,000 puzzle solve, or something interesting happening on Jeopardy! (hmm....), keep it to yourself.

However, there IS an appropriate place to put spoilers, and that would be in the Show Summaries forum.  It doesn't have to be a summary of the entire show to still be something that people on The Big Board might not want to read about until they've had a chance to see it in their area (or on their TiVo).  So I've moved it.
This has been another installment of Matt Ottinger's Masters of the Obvious.
Stay tuned for all the obsessive-compulsive fun of Words Have Meanings.

melman1

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Half Off Debut
« Reply #8 on: May 28, 2004, 12:42:54 PM »
[quote name=\'tvwxman\' date=\'May 28 2004, 09:12 AM\'] But Mandel should be absolutely proud! Read his blog and you'll see how the idea came to fruition [/quote]
 For the newbies in the audience, could someone explain who "Mandel" is, and where his "blog" is?
melman1, "some sort of God on this message board" - PYLdude, 7/9/06.

Matt Ottinger

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Half Off Debut
« Reply #9 on: May 28, 2004, 12:44:47 PM »
http://mandelweb.com/

Mandel is a member of this Forum and a long-time contributor to the general internet musings of this community.  He's employed by Fremantle.
This has been another installment of Matt Ottinger's Masters of the Obvious.
Stay tuned for all the obsessive-compulsive fun of Words Have Meanings.

Michael Brandenburg

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Half Off Debut
« Reply #10 on: May 28, 2004, 12:47:07 PM »
Now that I have seen the new "½-Off" game on TPIR, I thought it was quite good.  It reminded me of a game that was once played on the old Ohio Lottery "Buckeye 1000" TV game show of the 1970s, back in the days when playing the lottery meant buying tickets with pre-printed numbers on them and then waiting for the outcome of a once-a-week number drawing.

In this case, the regular "Buckeye 1000" game tickets carried an extra 5-digit number in the ticket's top margin, which you matched with the 5-digit winning lottery number that was drawn on each week's show.  (The regular 5-digit numbers on the tickets won you either $250 or $500 if you matched them with that number.)  If you matched this special number on your ticket, you qualified for this special limited-run game that was played on the show along with the regular TV game that paid the winner up to $1000 a month for life, with a $400,000 minimum payoff.

There really wasn't much to the game, however: Sixteen qualifying players would be seated in a gallery (like on Jackpot) with cards numbered from 1 to 16.  They would stand up at the start of each round of play and then a wheel with segments alternating "High" and "Low" would be spun that would eliminate half of them from further play (either the players numbered 1-8 or the players numbered 9-16, depending on what the wheel stopped on).  The eliminated players would then sit down and a second wheel with segments alternating "Odd" and "Even" would be spun to eliminate half of the remaining players, narrowing the field to four.

These four players still standing would then turn over their number cards and on the card backs would be one of the letters "X," "T," "R," and "A" (the game was set up so that no two players would have the same letter at this point).  One more wheel was spun with those four letters on it, and the player holding the letter corresponding to the one the wheel stopped on would win the prize for that round and be eliminated from further game play entirely.

My memory is a little hazy on the prizes for each round in this game, but I think it was played for $5,000 in the first round, $10,000 in the second, and $25,000 in the third, with all of the other players getting $1,000 for qualifying for the show.

Now to the guy who created this game for The Price is Right: How about coming up with some new and interesting games for the Ohio Lottery's current Cash Explosion Double Play show?  They've had that same boring game for years, which is why I switched to the Powerball Instant Millionaire lottery show that airs opposite it in the Greater Cincinnati area.


Michael Brandenburg
(and I hope you'll have it up and running starting October 2, 2004!)

J.R.

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Half Off Debut
« Reply #11 on: May 28, 2004, 12:47:40 PM »
This is really one of the best games to have come out in a really long time. Right now, I see little to no need to tweek any of it.

Just as a small suggestion. Maybe you can add variety to the boxes, by having some with smaller cash prizes (Like $1000 or under), some with nothing at all, and maybe one or two with a "Pick Again" possiblity.

Mandel deserves all the acolades, well done ! Look foreword to the next game you concieve !
-Joe R.
(Also, is it me ? Or does did "Half-Off" reminds me of $otC's "Instand Ca$h" segment ?)
« Last Edit: May 28, 2004, 12:49:02 PM by JRaygor »
-Joe Raygor

That Don Guy

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Half Off Debut
« Reply #12 on: May 28, 2004, 01:38:10 PM »
Two things came to mind when I saw 1/2 Off:

One - how long has it been since there was a game that used six or more (for lack of a better term for it, although it's not 100% accurate) "two-digit" prizes?  (The last one I can think of was Trader Bob.)

Two - it appears that somebody at the show has finally realized that $10,000 is not what it used to be, when you consider that anyone who gets all three choices correct has a 50-50 chance of winning the money.

And how many active games are there now where both (a) you can win no matter how badly you do with the prices, and (b) you can get all of the prices right and still not win, apply?  The ones I can think of off the top of my head are:
1/2 Off
Hole In One Or Two
Let 'Em Roll
Spelling Bee
Pass the Buck
(I don't incluce Plinko as $10,000 in that game is not considered a "win")

-- Don

MikeK

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Half Off Debut
« Reply #13 on: May 28, 2004, 01:43:27 PM »
[quote name=\'That Don Guy\' date=\'May 28 2004, 01:38 PM\'] One - how long has it been since there was a game that used six or more (for lack of a better term for it, although it's not 100% accurate) "two-digit" prizes?  (The last one I can think of was Trader Bob.) [/quote]
 Someone's forgotten about On the Spot...but after seeing that abomination a handful of times, I can't blame you for forgetting. ;-)

chris319

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Half Off Debut
« Reply #14 on: May 28, 2004, 02:30:08 PM »
Unimpressive.

There have been two pricing games with the same basic concept for almost 30 years. All Half-Off is, is Bonus Game/Shell Game with one small prize taken away and with longer odds:

Zero correct small prize picks: 1 in 16 odds (I assume the contestant still gets to pick a box if she flubs all three small prizes)

One correct small prize pick: 1 in 8 odds

Two correct small prize picks: 1 in 4 odds

Three correct small prize picks: 1 in 2 odds. If you played Bonus/Shell game with three small prizes the odds would be 3 in 4.

The way they are staging it, however, is very clever, making it potentially the perfect prize-budget-control game. If you want a win, load all 16 boxes with $10,000 worth of stage money. If you want a loss, leave all 16 boxes empty. A win or loss could be completely preordained and the audience would be none the wiser. In addition, there is no "guaranteed win" as there is with Bonus/Shell Game; this is what makes a preordained loss possible. If a contestant gets all three small prize picks correct, she can still lose because she picked the "wrong box", when in fact both of the remaining boxes, or all 16 boxes, could be empty. They don't do a post-facto reveal so the audience doesn't know what's in the unpicked boxes. Legal disclaimer: I'm not saying this is how the game actually is implemented, it is how the game could be implemented if they so chose.

I hope they at least change the pattern of box elimination each time it is played.

To its credit, the "half-off" concept used with the small prizes is novel.
« Last Edit: May 28, 2004, 02:43:39 PM by chris319 »