''Buzz!: The Schools Quiz'' is a 2008

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

developed by

Relentless Software Relentless Software was a British video game developer based in Brighton. Founded in 2003, the company was best known for developing most games in Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony's ''Buzz!'' series from 2005 to 2010. Relentless released its ...

and published by

Sony Computer Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (SIE) is an American video game and digital entertainment company that is a major subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony, Sony Group Corporation. It primarily operates the PlayStation brand of video game co ...

for the

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...

. Developed in association with the UK Government's Department for Education and Skills (DfES), it was released only in the United Kingdom. The game's 5,000 questions are based on the

Key Stage 2 Key Stage 2 is the legal term for the four years of schooling in maintained schools in England and Wales normally known as Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6, when the pupils are aged between 7 and 11 years. England and Wales Legal definition The ...

Curriculum that covers children between the ages of 7 and 11 years.
Although the game is published by

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

the development cost were covered by Relentless themselves and a Government grant from DfES to fund the initial prototype.

Rounds

*Fastest Finger - A traditional round of ''Buzz!'' games. Players press their coloured buttons as fast as they can and see if they can get the questions right. *Pie Fight - A round which first appeared in ''Buzz! The Mega Quiz'', when a player gets a question correct they choose who they want to throw a pie at but they have to be careful, they could throw it at themselves! *Fact or Fiction - Another round that was also in ''Buzz! The Mega Quiz''. The questions take the form of Buzz making a statement and players use the blue and orange buttons to say if the statement is fact or fiction. *General Knowledge - New to ''Buzz!'' You select your subject and everyone answers a question on it. *Top Rank - Players put the answers in the correct order as fast as they can! *The Final Countdown - Players' points are turned into time and however long they take to answer a question, their chances of winning goes down. Last one standing wins the game.

Voices

* Buzz - Jason Donovan * Rose - Nicky Birch * Questions - Sally Beaumont

Reception

Probably because ''Buzz!: The Schools Quiz'' was seen more as an educational aid rather than a game per se, the game was not reviewed in any of the regular games magazines and websites although the newspaper reviews that it did receive were positive. ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' gave it top marks of 5 stars and said "''The Schools Quiz'' is certainly no substitute for homework or proper revision, but it is a good way to reinforce what children have already learnt in class" ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' gave the game 4/5 and said "This game is a great way for both teachers and parents to make learning fun" Despite the game being for use in UK schools only, it was criticised by US attorney Jack Thompson who was quoted in UK newspaper ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' as saying "Video games have hurt far more people than they have helped", "I don't see how they can be of any more benefit than normal teaching.". Although in an email to UK video game website

Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 alongside parent company Gamer Network. In 2008, it started in the formerly eponymous trade fair EGX (Eurogamer Expo until 2013) organised by its parent company. Fr ...

, Thompson stated that the quotes were "a total fabrication". Thompson continued "I was never interviewed about Buzz. I had never heard about it until I was quoted having allegedly said this about it,".

References

External links

Relentless Software
{{Buzz! video games 2008 video games Buzz! Europe-exclusive video games Multiplayer and single-player video games Party video games PlayStation 2 games PlayStation 2-only games Relentless Software games Sony Interactive Entertainment games United Kingdom-exclusive video games Video games developed in the United Kingdom