Author Topic: Nintendo DS DoND Quickie Review (Read 5555 times)

clemon79 · « **Reply #15 on:** July 24, 2007, 02:51:27 PM »

[quote name=\'JasonA1\' post=\'158450\' date=\'Jul 24 2007, 11:36 AM\']
You realize that's begging to be a money loser, right? I mean, if the buy-in on a real money DOND is something like $25 for a $500 top prize and I get offered $100, I'm bolting.
[/quote]
If you're offered any amount of money higher than your buy-in and you don't bolt, you're a fool who totally deserves to be separated from said buy-in. (That said, Vegas is overrun with exactly that sort of fool.)

There is no way that the buy-in for a $500 DoND would be $25, unless the money tree was SO skewed that the $500 prize was basically perfunctory. Rest assured that the buy-in would be such that the house percentage was a positive number, and therefore financially inviable for a casual casino patron. (And probably a big positive number, since those sidegames are the ones where they REALLY rape you.)

JasonA1 · « **Reply #16 on:** July 24, 2007, 03:18:28 PM »

I merely threw the amount out as a for-instance as to why real money DOND in that form wouldn't work. Although I'm sure there would be plenty of people who would find their way to a less-than-$25 position.

-Jason

clemon79 · « **Reply #17 on:** July 24, 2007, 03:27:23 PM »

[quote name=\'JasonA1\' post=\'158465\' date=\'Jul 24 2007, 12:18 PM\']
I merely threw the amount out as a for-instance as to why real money DOND in that form wouldn't work.
[/quote]
Well, yeah, and blackjack wouldn't work if they paid 600-1 odds, either. What's your point?

clemon79 · « **Reply #18 on:** August 08, 2007, 04:10:16 AM »

I happened across the review for DoND DS on Gamespot tonight. It received a 1.5 (Abysmal), the second-lowest rating they have ever given to a DS game. (Elf Bowling 1 & 2 received a 1.4.)

The best part: turns out they Larsened the game: the money placements aren't random; they put together a fixed set of templates and pick one at random...

...except for the first game each time you load the cart, which is the same layout every single time. I tried it. They're dead right. Case 21 will always have the million in it the first time you play, then it randomizes among the possible templates. (The review says Case 13. They are wrong, proving that the reviewer couldn't even stand to play this dog again to check his facts.)

(This reviewer played it out. He was unsurprised to find that there was absolutely no fanfare whatsoever for winning the Big One. Just the same "you made a great deal!" message. Oh, I think it said "You made a perfect deal!" above it. Ooh. Pinch me.)

Let me repeat the main point here: these morons couldn't even write a routine to randomly fill a one-dimensional array with a known set of values. And they couldn't be bothered to seed the random number generator for the value they DID generate.

Utterly, utterly amazing.

Chelsea Thrasher · « **Reply #19 on:** August 08, 2007, 04:24:41 AM »

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'159962\' date=\'Aug 8 2007, 03:10 AM\'] I happened across the review for DoND DS on Gamespot tonight. It received a 1.5 (Abysmal), the second-lowest rating they have ever given to a DS game. (Elf Bowling 1 & 2 received a 1.4.) [/quote]

What completely boggles my mind is this little nugget from the Gamespot review:
Gamespot Score: 1.5
Critics Score: 1.7
User Score (192 Votes): 7.8

Holy sweet merciful crap. Admittedly, the numbers of folks voting is a fraction compared to a title such as NCAA Football 08, but really, are the idiots who DID vote highly for it just voting it up because it's Deal or No Deal and they just don't know any better, or are there actually folks out there who think that the game is actually good?

Dbacksfan12 · « **Reply #20 on:** August 08, 2007, 11:29:15 AM »

Personally, it makes me question the intelligence of Deal or No Deal's audience to begin with.

clemon79 · « **Reply #21 on:** August 08, 2007, 11:42:35 AM »

[quote name=\'Modor\' post=\'159977\' date=\'Aug 8 2007, 08:29 AM\']
Personally, it makes me question the intelligence of Deal or No Deal's audience to begin with.
[/quote]
Bingo, sir. At least, those who think that playing the game for funsies is worth shelling out $30 blindly.

dzinkin · « **Reply #22 on:** August 08, 2007, 12:29:55 PM »

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'159979\' date=\'Aug 8 2007, 11:42 AM\']
[quote name=\'Modor\' post=\'159977\' date=\'Aug 8 2007, 08:29 AM\']
Personally, it makes me question the intelligence of Deal or No Deal's audience to begin with.
[/quote]
Bingo, sir. At least, those who think that playing the game for funsies is worth shelling out $30 blindly.
[/quote]
I was gonna say! There are those of us who like Deal or No Deal for what it is, don't pretend it's anything else and sure as hell wouldn't pay to play it for funsies.

You would be completely justified in wondering if that particular segment of the DoND audience would fill a phone booth, but we do exist. ;-)

clemon79 · « **Reply #23 on:** August 08, 2007, 01:01:37 PM »

[quote name=\'dzinkin\' post=\'159982\' date=\'Aug 8 2007, 09:29 AM\']
I was gonna say! There are those of us who like Deal or No Deal for what it is, don't pretend it's anything else and sure as hell wouldn't pay to play it for funsies.
[/quote]
Well, sure. Of course, that doesn't give Mark a snarking opportunity.

That said, my comment was more directed towards a) my ongoing bemusement at people thinking that playing this game is an enjoyable activity, and b) my utter amazement that these idiots over at Destination Software think this is a full-price title. Even Nintendo only charges $20 for the Brain Ages. (Not that this is even worth $20, but you'll note that the friggin' PC game is only $20. In fact, the only other home version of DoND that retails over $20 is the tabletop electronic game.)