BlockBusters – Can I Have a P please computer Bob?
I love quizzes , mainly because I have a head full of useless fun facts (Did you know that 20% of the population has cheek-dimples- see , useless !) As a child it would mean pestering parents to ask me questions, playing guess that nursery rhyme, memorizing names of garden plants and strangely becoming obsessed with discovering new names of colours from the carpet section of the Great Universal home shopping catalogue.
But when the ZX Spectrum came along a new avenue of pleasure was opened up ( and boy, weren’t my parents thankful!)
But when the ZX Spectrum came along a new avenue of pleasure was opened up ( and boy, weren’t my parents thankful!)
The year is 1987 and it’s Blockbusters from TV Games. Based on the TV show with Bob Holness , answer questions to connect two sides of the board and then attempt the gold run to win the game. Each question is generated by a hexagon with a letter (or initials in the Goldrun) , the answer beginning with that letter.
This was my first TV tie in quiz show game. It even came with an animated Bob Holness head for added realism and had your name on the screen. I know that seems pretty tame by today’s standards but, trust me, it was exciting at the time. Rather like that fact that 36 human hearts could fit inside a giraffe’s heart, see head full of useless trivia.
This was my first TV tie in quiz show game. It even came with an animated Bob Holness head for added realism and had your name on the screen. I know that seems pretty tame by today’s standards but, trust me, it was exciting at the time. Rather like that fact that 36 human hearts could fit inside a giraffe’s heart, see head full of useless trivia.
The only other Spectrum quiz games I had played seemed to have a fairly limited number of questions, which was good if you were challenging friends and had already learnt all the questions. But this game seemed to have a good many questions before it started repeating. It also allowed for some sloppy spelling mistakes ( although there were still many times I lost due to my inability to spell or just my inability to type quickly on a Spectrum keyboard!)
Although I never really did watch the actual TV show that much , it was usually on when I was hauled away from the TV screen to do boring things like eat dinner, I became hooked on this game for quite a few weeks. Playing against the computer did actually feel like a challenge and I was learning things . Albeit yet more trivia to go into my head and never get used, like for instance - the human eye has around 576 megapixels.
In fact my parents actively encouraged me to play it for the educational angle. Here was a game that all members of the family were happy to either play or to have played in the house.
In fact my parents actively encouraged me to play it for the educational angle. Here was a game that all members of the family were happy to either play or to have played in the house.
I was surprised when I went back to play this game, it still drew me in , the questions were still as challenging as they had been. There were still questions I didn't know and I even lost a few games before I made it to the Goldrun. The nostalgia factor is still very much there and those lovely Spectrum primary colours help with that. The strange thing for me was this was a game I never shared with my friends , or even really with my father. Perhaps because at the time I didn't see the fun element, or understand how much fun you could get from figuring out answers to questions, perhaps it was a game I had to grow into?
Now many years later I do see what a brilliant little game this is and indeed the whole Blockbusters premise was. Perhaps because now I'm not studying/learning/cramming my head with junk, I can appreciate games that were educational more. Or perhaps I just have an addiction to learning and collecting trivia , for instance , did you know -playing video games can reduce your nightmares, because gamers “resolve threats” during game play instead of in their dreams. Now that is one piece of trivia that IS worth knowing.