What I learned playing 30+ years’ worth of Jeopardy! video games

Enlarge /. You go down, Diane …

Collage by Aurich Lawson

Friday, January 8, 2021, marks the end of an era for American television. Then TV stations across the country will air the final episode of Jeopardy! with Alex Trebek as host. Since the restart of Jeopardy! As a syndicated game show in 1984, Trebek released thousands of episodes until shortly before his death from cancer in November.

Accordingly, Friday could also mark the end of an era for one of the most enduring video game franchises (and for Trebek as an enduring digital game personality rivaling football's John Madden). Since the first PC versions of Jeopardy! In 1987, more than 40 different video game versions of the quiz show were released on at least 27 different platforms (including "Sports Edition" spin-offs and the like). This is an awe-inspiring run that straddles the space between the Apple II and PlayStation 5, and turns in on its way to oddities like CD-i, Tiger Game.com, Google Assistant, and Facebook (the last of which is no longer available to play) some form, but is still captured in contemporary reporting).

It is rare for a single gaming brand to encompass so much of gaming's brief history. This is especially true of a licensed brand that isn't controlled by a single company – GameTek, Rare, Hasbro, Atari, Sony, THQ, and Ubisoft are all affiliated with Jeopardy! Games over the years. It's even stranger to see an enduring video game franchise where the basic answer and question gameplay remains virtually unchanged over a period of more than three decades (although some developers have done their best to tinker with the edge).

To mark the end of the Alex Trebek era, I've had so many Jeopardy in the past few weeks! Video games as I could. The result was a fascinating journey through the history of video games and an interesting summary of the evolution of video game technology and design over 30 years.

And now here is the host of danger …

Believe it or not, Alex Trebek's reassuring face wasn't always part of the video game Jeopardy! The very first versions of the game in the late 80s appeared on Apple II, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, and NES without a display host. Instead, the presentation focused on the participants' avatars and the full-screen question board.

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It's not until 1991 Super Jeopardy! This publisher GameTek went out of the way of adding an on-screen host in the first place. But even then, the developers avoided Trebek in favor of a nameless, large-headed, angular host with a huge, silly grin. I've named this Trebek replacement (and its twin, who featured in the Game Boy versions until 1996) as the Guy Smiley, after the exciting Muppet it resembles.

Trebek had to wait for the 16-bit era for his digital debut when it was finally rendered as full screen pixel art with extremely limited animation (this was also the first time he appeared on video game box art). Both the SNES and Genesis versions even include identifiable digitized speech samples from Alex that say things like "Here are the categories" or "You are correct" or "Sorry …".

• Trebek's first video game appearance on the SNES looks even stranger when you see the mouth moving (but nothing else).

• Trebek looks a little better on the Genesis, but can only retain a single painful expression.

• That weird, grinning "Guy Smiley" appeared in Super Jeopardy instead of Trebek!

• Another Guy Smiley featured in Game Boy Jeopardy! Games until 1996!

• This full-screen Trebek probably took up a large chunk of Game Gear cartridge space.

• Game Gear Trebek can only offer a shrug if you give a wrong answer.

• Despite space restrictions for cartridges, the N64 is Jeopardy! insisted on having a stamp video from Trebek.

• The CD-ROM era brings a grainy FMV version of Trebek that welcomes us to play on the Sega CD.

• CD-ROM Trebek is very disappointed in you.

• Let Trebek's calming face calm you down during load times on the original PlayStation.

• A rare Trebek without a suit offers a glimpse behind the scenes of the PlayStation extras.

• Come to me, brother.

• Does this suit make my head look big? Trebek on Nintendo Wii.

• Believe it or not, the Wii version had the only digital version of Trebek's traditional "Talk to the Contestants" moment at the end of every show.

• Nintendo DS Trebek approved!

• The DVD era brings Trebek to the PS2 in DVD quality.

• Do you remember Xbox 360 avatars? Alex Trebek is certain.

Given the small size (and high cost) of game cartridge memory in those days, these language examples were a significant treat for developers. Even the tiny Game Gear version continued the tradition with some surprisingly cohesive digitized language samples.

The beginning of the CD-ROM era in the mid-90s would bring even more Trebek into our virtual lives. Both the Sega CD and CD-i versions of the game featured a very grainy digitized video of Alex going on stage and saying "Let's play Jeopardy!" Greeted. The expanded CD storage also meant a lot more of Alex's voice, with brief pauses in loading before phrases like "For $ 300, this is the hint" or "For game rules, choose help!" (It is really a miracle that the last one never became his catchphrase).

In the CD-i version, you can even hear Alex address you by name … if your name happens to be among hundreds of canned recordings. Reading all of these names must have been a fun recording session for Trebek in the 90s.

In the new millennium, digital Trebek would continue to change over time. It first appeared on PS2 in a game in full-screen DVD-quality video. He appeared on the Wii and Nintendo DS as a big-headed Mii-like avatar, mimicking the popular style of the time. On the Xbox 360, it resembled the system's gaunt cartoony "Avatars" (remember these?).

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Starting with the Wii version, Alex also read the thousands of clues that were included in the game (announcer Johnny Gilbert or a sound-like note in many previous CD-ROM editions). That was an important addition that helped Digital Jeopardy! Get closer to the pace and feel of the TV show presentation.

Let's play Jeopardy!

Convert Jeopardy Game Show Basics! in a video game probably seems easy right? Just present the clue (aka "the answer") on the screen and ask the player to provide the answer (aka "the question"), right? In practice, however, there are dozens of small game and presentation choices that affect how a digital game from Jeopardy! has worked over the years.

For example, how do you represent the human players and / or computer opponents on the screen? Most versions of the game let you choose between six and ten different avatars, from cartoony drawings on the NES to digitized black and white photo horror on Game.com. However, some versions (CD-i, Playstation / PS2, PS4 / Xbox 360 / Switch) do not contain any player avatars at all. Others, like the Wii and Nintendo DS, offer full-fledged Mii-style character creators for practically endless variety.

• The Ars candidate appears ready to bully the other avatars in this NES screenshot.

• The Ars avatar in this Game Boy screenshot looks like he's had a stroke.

• The Game Gear version of Jeopardy! is the only one with all white avatars.

• It's a real generation war on the SNES.

• A real variety among Genesis avatars.

• These large digital avatars repeat the same video animations over and over again on the Sega CD.

• One of the avatars available in the Game.com version appears to have had a car accident on the way to the studio.

• A real melting pot for avatar selection on the N64.

• No avatars in the PlayStation version but we get this 3D rendered podium …

• The PS2 version doesn't have avatars, but you can draw your nameplate.

• A gallery of pre-designed Wii avatars. Or, you can use a Mii that was made elsewhere in the system.

• The Nintendo DS eliminates potted avatars in favor of a full character creator.

• Luigi finally shows up in danger! Play on the Switch (it's actually just a user icon).

The canned avatar options usually have a decent selection of skin tones, ages, clothes, and options for both men and women. The only exception is the Game Gear version, which for some reason only features pasty, white avatars (and before you suggest that, other versions have managed more variety on the screen with much more limited hardware color palettes).

Early danger! Games seemed so excited about these avatars that they paused the process for a potted animation for more than seven seconds after a player hummed in or gave a response. This perhaps peaked on the Sega CD, where on-screen avatars canned the same five second long video loops after each response to accept invisible applause (or hang their heads on sad "awwws" from the audience).

Text entry becomes a problem as soon as you step away from the PC keyboard into the console area. The makers of the video game Jeopardy! I can't seem to agree on the best way to display an on-screen keyboard (OSK). Options range from the full QWERTY setup from Game.com to a single horizontal alphabetical line on SNES and PlayStation 2. Regardless of the layout, click Using an on-screen keyboard is a tedious and time-consuming process, caused by slow response times in many versions of the controller and annoying "clicking" sound effects.