Peter’s Place

Just sitting around late Saturday night, I hear a familiar sound from Kelly’s computer — the beginning of a game of “You Don’t Know Jack.”  A sound I haven’t heard in years!  These games were awesome back when I was in college… so why haven’t we heard much about them in such a long time?  Well, after playing a few rounds, we discovered they have a brand new website…

And the folks who made the YDKJ series are very much alive and well.  www.youdontknowjack.com has a daily “Dis or Dat” question you can play online for free.  (Even if you have no idea what that is, you must be at least somewhat interested since you clicked to read this article, so go check it out!) 

They’re also selling almost all of the YDKJ games — most of them updated to be compatible with newer Windows XP and Vista systems.   Yes, you can relive all your favorite Gibberish Questions, Fiber Optic Field Trips, Celebrity Collect Calls, have a G-rated Three-way, and of course, the infamous Jack Attack!

The only downside is the price.  Where most games from 1996 or even 2000 are on the bargain rack for $5.99, Jellyvision is still asking $24.99 for most of the titles.  (Oddly, the newest volume is only $19.99.  What gives?)  You can save a few bucks by ordering one of the many “bundle packs” offered, but it’s not a whole lot of savings.  And most of the bundles include the TV, Sports or Movies version of the game… which I had when they were first released, and wasn’t too impressed.  (The quality of the games was great, but many of the questions were way too obscure, in my opinion.)  The “mainstream” versions of the game are much better.

Still, it’s great if you want to get a Vista-compatible version of an older YDKJ game, or if you want to get versions you missed the first time they were released.  For example, I always wanted to get Volume 4, and never even knew there was a Volume 6 until now, so here’s my chance to get them.  Now I just have to wait until gas isn’t $3.21 a gallon and I can actually afford to fork up $49.10 for the actual cost of those two games plus shipping.