Review: The Price is Right (Wii)

This review is a bit late… I received The Price is Right for Wii and DS for Christmas.  It’s rare that I get the same game for two different systems, but I figured the Wii version would be best for “normal” play, and the DS version would come in handy for road trips.

Right now,  the DS version is on loan to a friend out of town, so I’ve barely played it enough to fairly review it at this time.  But I have the Wii version here.  Overall, a very good reproduction of the game, but, just like with any other computer version of TPIR, there are some minor imperfections.

The first minor annoyance begins as soon as you press the “Start” button on the Wii Menu screen.  After the usual reminder to put on your Wiimote wrist strap, you’re treated to a slideshow of logos of the various companies involved with the game.  Then, there’s a disclaimer.  Reminding you that this is, in fact, only a video game, and anything you “win” in the game is fake.  Like some idiot thinks he’s going to spend $50 on a Wii game, and expect it to spit out unlimited amounts of REAL cash and prizes?

Anyway, onto the game.  As soon as it begins, it’s just like the real show open.  You have the exciting “come on down” music going, that ring of lights flashing around the edges of the screen, the real voice of real announcer Rich Fields doing his spiel, and the various catchphrases flashing across the screen.  Yada, yada, yada.

Now onto the game.  This is where it gets a little weird.  You can’t use your Miis in the game.  You have to choose from a very limited selection of pre-made characters.  (Guessing this is because the Wii version looks very similar to the PC and DS versions, and adding Mii capability would have required a lot of extra programming that wouldn’t be used on the other versions.  They could have done it if they really cared, but that likely would have pushed the release date beyond the 2008 holiday shopping season.)

Next, you have to choose which mode you want to play.  There are two modes for single-player use.  In Three Strikes Mode, you get to keep playing until you get three strikes.  You’ll bid on an item in Contestants’ Row, play a random pricing game (regardless of whether you had the winning bid), spin the wheel in the Showcase Showdown, and again, regardless of the result, you’ll sit through the fabulous Showcases, and bid for an attempt to win there as well.  Then, the cycle begins anew.  Strikes are given for not winning on Contestants’ Row or at the big wheel… so you’re guaranteed to make it through the cycle at least once.

The format of Three Strikes Mode barely resembles the real show… but if you’re just looking for a quick way to play pricing games (without having to bid over and over until you win on Contestants’ Row first), this is the way to do it.  I could also see groups of college dorm-dwelling TPIR fans using this mode in tournaments to see who can survive the longest without getting 3 strikes.  The unfortunate part is that it’s difficult to avoid getting strikes (mostly because you have NO control over the big wheel, explained further later in this review) so most people will finish their Three Strikes games pretty quickly.

Classic Mode is much more “realistic” to the actual TV show.  You’re one of the first four contestants on TPIR, meaning you’ll have six chances to win the “One Bid” (the official TV name for what this game — and most fans — refer to as “Contestants’ Row”) and get yourself up on stage to play a pricing game.  If you blow all 6 chances to get on stage, you get an immediate Game Over.

If you make it on stage, you get to play a random pricing game.  Unfortunately, the game only includes a handful of the show’s wide variety of games, but at least they included the most popular ones, like Plinko, Cliffhangers, 3 Strikes and Race Game.  There are also a few ok-but-not-as-exciting ones, like Shell Game and Flip Flop, and thankfully they didn’t go for the really lame ones, like Double Prices.  (It would have been nice to see more Classic/Retired games like Penny Ante and Superball…)

The games themselves are neat, for the most part.  Real TPIR announcer Rich Fields is kind of like the host, narrating the action and your instructions for each game.  And, when it’s time to announce the prizes, the game displays actual video clips from those prizes appearing on the real show.  Neat concept, and obviously it saved Rich from having to re-voice every prize description.  On the down side, because each prize is played as a separate clip (as opposed to on TV, when Rich might do a series of prizes back-to-back), the background music is abruptly started and stopped.  Also notice, there are times (especially in the showcases) where the video will freeze for a few moments as Rich reads… those were the spots where the real TV show cut to a “reaction shot” from the contestant… and obviously the contestants had to be edited out.  So they just froze the video long enough to cover the contestant shot, and the video resumes afterward.

Regardless of whether you win, you’ll continue onto the Showcase Showdown.  This can be somewhat frustrating.  On the real show, contestants can try to spin the wheel gently or firmly, in an attempt to try to land on a certain number.  On the Wii, you just point at the wheel, press A, and wave the remote down.  The wheel spins at the same speed every time, regardless of how slow or fast you moved your hand.

If you lose at the wheel, just like on TV, you’re done being a contestant… so it’s Game Over.  Unlike in “Three Strikes Mode,” you have to actually earn your way into the Showcase.

If you make it to the Showcase, just like on TV, you’ll have the pleasure of sitting through both showcases.  If you’ve read this far, I don’t need to explain the rules of the Showcase.  Win or lose, the game will then show you your total winnings from the game.

In either Three Strikes or Classic Mode, you’ll have the chance to unlock “classic clips” from TPIR by completing certain challenges — like hitting $1.00 on the big wheel.  If you unlock every single challenge, you will unlock the ability to play any pricing game, anytime.

Next you have Party Mode… for more than one player.  Yes, one of the biggest disadvantages to Classic Mode is that it’s one player.  If you want 2-4 players, you have to use Party Mode.  And, you can’t use your “registered” character for Party Mode — you need to pick a character and enter your name every time.  Because Party Mode characters are different from the “registered” characters, meeting any of the special challenges will not unlock anything for your regular character.  If you’re serious about unlocking all the challenges, don’t even bother playing Party Mode, because you’ll feel like you wasted your luck/skill if you pull off something spectacular, only to have it not count for anything.

On the plus side, when you play Party Mode, each player is guaranteed the chance to play a pricing game, and you get a little bit of control over the selection.  Rather than just choosing at random, the game lets you choose from a menu of four games.

One down side though — Party Mode only uses one Wiimote.  Seems kinda stupid, when most people have extra Wiimotes.  Again, looks like Ubisoft was going for the lowest common denominator — a PC only has one mouse, and a DS only has one set of controls, so they decided to treat the Wii as if there would always be just one Wiimote, to avoid the extra programming required to handle multiple controllers.  Whatever.  You’ll have to pass the one Wiimote around the room, but at least you aren’t draining the batteries of your other Wiimotes.

Despite all the little imperfections, this still is a decent game.  I just wish they could have had Bob Barker voice the “host” parts.  I assume it was cheaper to have Rich Fields voice all the host lines, but considering they also used his clips for the prize announcements, you’re hearing nothing but Rich Fields, Rich Fields, Rich Fields, Rich Fields, Rich Fields, Rich Fields and Rich Fields.  Don’t get me wrong, the guy’s got a great announcer’s voice, but it gets to be a little grating after awhile when it’s the only voice you hear during the entire game.

Perhaps the only version I’d recommend more is the one made by Big Jon’s PC Games.  It’s very unofficial, homemade by this guy (who calls himself Big Jon, if you haven’t guessed), and it used to crash often when I had it on my old computer.  But when it worked, it had a much larger library of pricing games, and a neat way of making you “win” your way into accessing more and more of the games.

See Also:

- Review: Press Your Luck 2010 (Wii) posted 11/3/09
- Review: Family Feud 2010 (Wii) posted 11/3/09
- Review: Price is Right 2010 (Wii) posted 11/3/09