1 vs. 100 Reside Was One of many Gutsiest Video games Ever Made

That is an IGN opinion piece from Ryan McCaffrey, who labored at Official Xbox Journal from 2002-2012 throughout the authentic Xbox and Xbox 360 period earlier than becoming a member of IGN, the place he stays “the Xbox man.” Within the run-up to Xbox’s twenty fifth anniversary, he’ll be sharing his recollections from the platform’s first quarter-century.

To at the present time, the Achievements on my Xbox gamercard that I am most pleased with are the 12 out of 12 I acquired in 1 vs. 100. They’re, after all, not possible to achieve now, and so I’ll at all times cherish them. However 1 vs. 100 was greater than a licensed online game adaptation of a preferred sport present. For Xbox, it was an extremely gutsy inventive threat that really labored, and I might like to see the corporate get again to that form of boldness once more.

For those who’re not acquainted with the online game model of 1 vs. 100, it was an Xbox 360 sport performed stay with precise Xbox gamers at sure instances of the week when the present can be “on the air.” It was, fairly actually, appointment gaming. The vast majority of gamers had been in The Crowd, aka the viewers. You’d get to play alongside making an attempt to reply the quick-response trivia questions. In the meantime, 100 randomly chosen gamers would get to be in The Mob, who would compete for precise prizes — free Xbox Reside Arcade video games and/or Microsoft Factors (for these too younger to recollect, these had been digital forex used to purchase video games on the Xbox Reside Market or on Xbox Reside Arcade). Lastly, there was The One, one other randomly chosen participant who, if they may beat The Mob within the trivia problem, may win even greater quantities of money (once more, within the type of Microsoft Factors).

I so vividly bear in mind making the time to go browsing and play within the evenings the sport was obtainable, and making an attempt to reply these trivia questions as shortly as doable. You would get on Celebration Chat with your mates and root for one another to make it into The Mob — and even The One. I by no means acquired to be The One, however I did make it into The Mob as soon as. I fared effectively sufficient that I did win an honest-to-goodness prize: 80 Microsoft Factors, which was the equal of $1. That is a greenback greater than some other sport I might ever performed had given me!

Sadly, 1 vs. 100 did not final. It had a real-life host, a crew of sport and infrastructure engineers that made the stay occasions work, server prices on Xbox Reside, and goodness is aware of what else. I perceive why Microsoft killed it, however nonetheless do not prefer it. 1 vs. 100 represented the form of inventive risk-taking that Xbox simply does not do anymore. I get the franchise-first focus the brand new regime is taking now — and I will not lie, it will be good to have Fallout video games greater than as soon as each 15 years, as one instance — however it certain can be cool to see Asha Sharma and Matt Booty take the inventive swings that made Xbox beloved and profitable within the Xbox 360 period within the first place.

The idea of a stay interactive online game present had a lot promise and potential. As 1 vs. 100 reigned for a quick time, I bear in mind how we might brazenly daydreamed collectively within the Official Xbox Journal workplace about what different sport reveals could possibly be delivered to life this fashion: The Value is Proper, Press Your Luck, and even Jeopardy and/or Wheel of Fortune. None of it ever got here to cross, after all, and none of it most likely ever will. However 1 vs. 100 was actual, it labored, it was wonderful, and I miss it.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s government editor of previews and host of IGN’s weekly Xbox present, Podcast Unlocked, and a co-host of Next-Gen Console Watch. He is a North Jersey man, so it is “Taylor ham,” not “pork roll.” Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.