[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Jul 10 2003, 01:17 AM\']
I think there's SOME room for bringing Concentration into the 21st Century, but we've discussed most of them here, and "Random Cash" and "Double Cash" ain't it.
This is EXTREMELY loose, but I see two major design elements that would do well in a new Concentration set: a video wall for the gameboard (one panel on the wall per square) [/quote]
That's exactly what my board design tried to suggest: not mechanical trilons all over again, but a wall of monitors whose sides all touch to create the entire board surface, with only the slightest hint of seams. More than one individual at that \"other\" newsgroup used to lament the absence of a real gameboard in the Trebek revival. It may have been glitch-proof, but it was a bit dull.
As for the color scheme (if that's what turned off so many of you), it was my own reaction to the fact that the old NBC version was the last show on the network to go color, plus the fact that when it did, it and many other NBC games overemphasized blue, yellow and brown for their color schemes. My logo rendition was intended to be mulitcolored neon, and I felt like jazzing up the number panels on the board as well. Those \"V\" things on the player podiums are neon as well to indicated whose turn it is as well as a buzz-in effect to guess the puzzle if time runs short. It all may look a bit TPIR-like, but TPIR has run for 30+ years...
Finally, I never had a chance to explain what the \"Double Ca$h\" square was since I didn't post the new rules yet, so I'll explain it here:
There are two \"Random Ca$h\" squares, and if a player matches them, the host pushes the black button on his podium, starting a four-digit number display flashing on the display shown on the podium. The player then pushes his/her own black button on their podium to stop the display. The amounts start at $1000 and are incremented by $500, up to $5000, and what turns up is a matter of timing and luck. This amount is then transferred to the display you see above the prize boards with the appropriate arrow turned on to indicate who claims it.
\"But why display it that way instead of on a white card like the other prizes?\" That's where \"Double Ca$h\" comes in. Because the number of spaces on the board is odd and not even, there is only one DC square, and it can only be matched with a Wild Card. If it's matched after the cash amount is on the prize board, that amount is doubled, so it could be as much as $10,000. If it's matched before the two RCs are matched, the host puts up some sort of designation on his podium, so if he gets to run the display, whatever comes up is automatically doubled. But if both Wild Cards are used to match other prizes BEFORE the DC square is uncovered, the DC bonus is not awarded in that game when the card is uncovered by a player. From that point on, players must try to remember where it is and avoid picking it again, or their turn ends and the opponent goes.
If nothing else comes out of this thread, at least it gave me a chance to experience how the designer of the AMC Gremlin came to feel...
