Buzz!: The Schools Quiz

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Buzz!: The Schools Quiz
Buzz the schools quiz cover.jpg
The cover of Buzz!: The Schools Quiz
Developer(s) Relentless Software
Publisher(s) Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
Platform(s) PlayStation 2
Release
  • EU: 11 January 2008
Genre(s) Party, Educational
Mode(s) Single player, Multiplayer

Buzz!: The Schools Quiz is an educational game based on the popular Buzz! series of games. The game was developed by Relentless Software in association with the UK Government's Department for Education and Skills (DfES), and it was released for the PlayStation 2 exclusively in the United Kingdom. The game's 5,000 questions are based on the Key Stage 2 Curriculum that covers children between the ages of 7 and 11 years.
Although the game is published by Sony the development cost were covered by Relentless themselves and a Government grant from DfES to fund the initial prototype. [1]

Contents

Sony is publishing it. But we've funded it ourselves to get it out there. We really wanted to do something positive and this was a great opportunity afforded to us by the government. We don't make a penny from the version in schools but we will make money from retail sales if it sells well.

— Andrew Eades (co-founder of Relentless Software)

Rounds

Voices

Reception

Probably because Buzz!: The Schools Quiz was seen more as an educational aid rather than a game per se, the game wasn't reviewed in any of the regular games magazines and websites although the newspaper reviews that it did receive were positive. The Sunday Times 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" [3] The Guardian gave the game 4/5 and said "This game is a great way for both teachers and parents to make learning fun" [4]

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 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.". [5]

Although in an email to UK video game website Eurogamer, 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,". [6]

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References

  1. ↑ Bramwell, Tom (2007-01-11). "Buzz!: The Schools Quiz". Eurogamer . Archived from the original on January 12, 2013. Retrieved 2007-01-11.
  2. 1 2 3 "Buzz!: The Schools Quiz". Behind The Voice Actors. Archived from the original on 2021-07-09. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  3. ↑ Andrews, Stuart (2008-01-28). "Buzz! The Schools Quiz". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 2008-07-24. Retrieved 2008-02-20.
  4. ↑ Allan, Keri (2008-01-24). "Buzz! The Schools Quiz". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 2008-02-20.
  5. ↑ Martin, Nicole (2007-01-12). "Sony sells PlayStation quiz game to schools". London: The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2007-01-14.[ dead link ]
  6. ↑ Bramwell, Tom (2008-01-18). "Thompson accuses British newspapers of fabricating Buzz quotes". Eurogamer . Archived from the original on February 21, 2013. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
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