I’ve always been a huge fan of quizzes, having been through hundreds of contests all through school, college and even the workplace. I’ve even spent a small fortune on Microsoft Encarta just so that my brain can be treated like a soft punching bag for hundreds of hours by the MindMaze’s dungeon dwellers. So when I first saw Buzz! almost two years back, it was head-over-heels love at first sight, with other games getting completely ignored until the disc gave up the ghost from overuse. But for all us Indian gamers that can’t wait until around March for the next-gen version of Buzz! Quiz TV for the PS3, SCEE, eager to duplicate the SingStar Bollywood experience, has launched an Indianized version of Buzz! The Mega Quiz, finally bringing the cheesier-than-cheesecake Buzz and his lovely redheaded assistant Rose (you know, the one with the exploding bustline in a Size 6 dress) officially to the country.

Working with the local quizzing legend Derek O’Brien and his talented team, Buzz! The Maha Quiz - now with 40% localized content (yum!) - looks like its set to complement the thousands of general knowledge questions already in the game with an assortment of questions that should be “more relevant to the Indian audience”. I guess that probably means that they’ve swapped out a lot of the Hollywood and Western music content for Bollywood films and songs (uh-oh!) and replaced a lot of the general knowledge trivia geared towards the Americas and Europe in favor of India - which is something that we’re really happy to see.

Launching the game at the swank Vie Lounge in Mumbai last Thursday, Sony Computer Entertainment India’s Country Manager, Atindriya Bose joined big-ticket personalities (what, no David Amor?) including cricketing firestorm Sreesanth, Radhakrishnan from NEO Sports, Rajeev Masand from CNN IBN and Bollywood celebs Neil Mukesh and Sonia Mehra in the first official Buzz! quiz in the country. We’re not really sure who won that round, but in an official press release sent our way, Atindriya Bose quipped:

Buzz enjoys a tremendous fan following across the globe because of three key elements - accessibility, character and sociability. It’s the live-in-your-living-room game show experience that everyone can enjoy, thanks to the Buzz! Buzzers. The cheeky personality of Buzz guides the tone of the game and related communications, setting it apart from bland competitors. Rose with her vixen-like appearance and appeal, also adds glamour to the game. After the success of Singstar Bollywood, it is only natural that we bring in Indian game contents in such a popular franchise as Buzz! ™: The Maha Quiz.

Amen, but wait… “bland competitors”? Was that a dig at the terrible voice acting and the annoying IR-based “Big Button Pad” controllers for Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action that turned out to be infuriating ripoffs of the Buzz! Buzzer? Oh well, we’re just happy that Sony India has released a great party game for the PS2 and has gone to enough trouble to show that they care about actually generating localized content for their games, instead of just importing the generic UK versions we are so used to getting. We’re still to get our most eager hands on the game, but this definitely looks like it could knock Guitar Hero off from its “Most Played Game at Parties” throne. Buzz! The Maha Quiz is priced at INR 1499 and is available now at all game outlets.

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Sony Computer Entertainment Europe brings Buzz!: the Maha Quiz to India

Mumbai, January 21, 2008: After the huge success of Buzz! ™ Quiz games the world over, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) brings this global phenomenon to India for the first time. At a high profile event, held at snazzy suburban club Vie Lounge, Juhu last evening, Buzz was launched amidst much panache and fanfare. The event’s glam quotient was provided by Sreesanth (Cricketer), Neil Mukesh (Actor), Rajeev Masand (Entertainment Editor - CNN IBN) and Radhakrishnan (Sports Anchor, NEO sports) who gave a live demonstration of Buzz- The MahaQuiz. The event was hosted by the charming Sonia Mehra (actress). Bursting with over 5,000 questions Buzz!: the Maha Quiz offers players questions on trivia ranging from celebrities to nature to sports to history, and has something for everyone. What is unique about Buzz! ™: The Maha Quiz is the relevance of questions to Indian consumers developed in collaboration with Derek O’Brien and Associates. Buzz!™: The Maha Quiz has been developed by the BAFTA winning Relentless Software and promoted by SCEE in India. also graced the occasion.

Another launch from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) targeting the fast growing social gaming category, Buzz!™: The Maha Quiz gives players the chance to recreate the TV game show experience LIVE in their living rooms. Players will meet the instantly recognisable and comically cheesy game show host, Buzz and his increasingly curvaceous assistant Rose. They will explore a well designed and lavish virtual studio, a broad range of entertaining round types, thousands of teasing questions and get to use the bespoke handheld ‘buzzers’ to make the frantic multiplayer quiz action as accessible as possible.

Mr. Atindriya Bose – Country Manager, Sony Computer Entertainment said, “Buzz enjoys a tremendous fan following across the globe because of three key elements - accessibility, character and sociability. It’s the live-in-your-living-room game show experience that everyone can enjoy, thanks to the Buzz! Buzzers. The cheeky personality of Buzz guides the tone of the game and related communications, setting it apart from bland competitors. Rose with her vixen-like appearance and appeal, also adds glamour to the game. After the success of Singstar Bollywood, it is only natural that we bring in Indian game contents in such a popular franchise as Buzz! ™: The Maha Quiz.”

Following the footsteps of huge international hits including the platinum selling Buzz! ™: The Music Quiz, the podium dominating, Buzz!™: The Sports Quiz and the general knowledge testing, Buzz!™: The Big Quiz, the Maha Quiz also focuses on general knowledge as the perfect social game to play with friends and family.

Three new rounds have been added alongside some old favourites, with the final round revamped to make the game competitive right up to the very end making for an even more exciting conclusion. With all this, plus more characters and refined multiplayer features, The Maha Quiz will delight quiz fans whilst also serving as the perfect introduction to the Buzz series on PlayStation.

Every edition of Buzz has seen an evolution in the technology and game play. Some of the exciting new game features are a) slick TV-style presentation and a studio at-its-most technically advanced b)fully-implemented 5-8 player mode c) 12 different territory SKU’s d) 5000 + brand new general knowledge questions, covering TV, movies, music, sports, science, nature and more e) new pictures, videos and music and f) all-new round types g) “Mystery Games” h) track your stats in the Hall of Fame i)16 contestants to choose from, j) plug in an EyeToy USB Camera and get yourself on the big screen k) fine-tune the Buzz! experience with 3 difficulty levels and 3 game lengths and l) Classic Buzz! game modes: Single Player and Multiplayer, plus Teamplay, Quiz Master and Quickfire Modes.

About Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd:

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE), based in London, is responsible for the distribution, marketing and sales of PLAYSTATION®3, PlayStation®2 and PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable) software and hardware in 102 territories across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Oceania. SCEE also develops, publishes, markets and distributes entertainment software for these formats, and manages the third party licensing programs for the formats in these territories.

More information about PlayStation products can be found at www.playstation.com or visit the Virtual Press Office at www.scee.presscentre.com.

PlayStation, PSP and the PlayStation logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. PS3 and Cell Broadband Engine trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

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By N2H

• Arachnid Says:
  January 23rd, 2008 at 4:28 pm

  I think “You don’t know Jack” was more fun. I cant find that game ANYWHERE now