I played these a decade or so ago at a restaurant here in my town that’s long gone and a couple places back east and wondered if it still existed…
What it was is it various nationwide trivia games that was played with these wireless calculator sized pads and it was networked across the nation so you could have thousands of players and win prizes occasionally and it kept various rankings if you put in your info
Of course you watched booze and restaurant ads in between games/rounds and theyed have themed games and the best version of trivial pursuit I ever played
Aol ran versions of it but they were hacked with cheat progs by the time I found them
Does it still exist ?
I too remember the trivia (of course sports-related) while getting my wings but I don’t think they do that anymore. The last couple of years I went one here in Washington State and also one in North Carolina and neither was doing it (unless it’s reserved for special occasions).
I used to play it regularly with some friends of mine, who were avid players of the game for years. I don’t think I’ve played it in at least five years.
We used to play it pretty regularly at Black Angus and then BWW. I think there were a couple other sports bars (that didn’t last) that had it for a short period. Don’t think I’ve played since about 2005 or so. It also used to have a Texas Hold’em Poker that was fun to play
I believe you’ll find that ALL Buffalo Wild Wings locations have the trivia. As I recall, B-Dubs bought NTN. They specifically run a sports trivia countdown game every evening at 7:30. Buzztime also runs a continuous sports trivia game in the countdown format from 11 to closing time. It’s on Buzztime 2 channel; that one I’m not sure if all places bother with.
I’m an avid Buzztime player although I have slowed down in the past few months as some of my favorite sites vanished. To follow up on several question:
Do all BWWs have Buzztime? No. It’s complicated. The Buzztime Playmakers (the game console) have gone through steady evolutions up to the present day 4th generation. The Gen 4 was announced in late 2017 and was going to be the star of BWW. In addition to the Buzztime games it would incorporate a customer ordering system. You could order food, get drink refills and pay your bill using the device. It was scheduled for a progressive rollout in early 2018.
It failed. It had a serious software glitz and customers were able to see the previous user’s credit card information which was still enabled. Buzztime promptly recalled all the ones out there. Meantime, BWW got acquired by a new owner that also owned Arbys. They halted the implementation of the Gen 4 tablets. They were also skeptical of the whole Buzztime alliance and some board members saw it as a money losing proposition (the tablets are expensive to rent) . So they dropped Buzztime from selected markets around the country to evaluate the change in business, if any.
Buzztime seems to have unofficially retaliated by informing BWW that tablet repair was now going to be on a pay basis instead of being included in the rental. Mind you, BWW is well over half of Buzztime’s market. By this time a very high percentage of the tablets were having serious battery problems. Most were many years old and the batteries had swelled up so much the cases were cracking. I have seen some so bad they could not be inserted into the charging unit. Tablets would abruptly quit in the middle of a game. If you are a gamer of any seriousness, this is unacceptable. All around the country BWWs voluntarily dropped Buzztime because they had very few tablets to use, customers were pissed and the store managers could not justify the expensive repair costs. All the BWWs near me dropped Buzztime.
Meanwhile – Gen 4 tablets were rolling out to independent customers but without the menu and pay at the table capability. It’s a mess. Buzztimes’s biggest customer has the crappiest hardware. My local BWW did offer Buzztime again after an 8 month absence. Laughably Buzztime supplied them with 10 tablets (they used to have 30) and they were not even new or rebuilt ones! They are the same old, swollen, ready to explode, tablets like the ones they got rid of. They just happen to work and they are already causing problems with dropouts in the middle of a game.
Next question – the mobile Playmaker app. I have used them a time or two but it has been awhile. Like the tablets they have had problems and at times were not available on app stores due to changes in the phone networks they could not keep up with. But at best they are not a good substitute for the tablets. The tablets are Samsung Galaxy 5 tablets that are fully interactive and display the questions and possible answers and you can play using just the tablets. They do have to be in the restaurant as they disable if not near the signal and cannot be used at a different location. Your selected answer is shown, the timer is shown and you can switch answers as clues are given.
The mobile Playmaker app does not work like that. They are mimicking the first generation Playmakers which were press-button consoles. All they show is 5 buttons to press on your smart phone. You have to watch the TV screen to play the game.
Geeze, I never have any of those troubles. We cheerfully play using whatever version of the playmakers the local B-Dubs have, and have no problems. They also allow me to redeem my points, which is useful. This is Charlotte, NC area.
I used to play at TGIF in Vegas when I lived there. I would live on the half-priced appetizers. I kicked some regular ass.
One night, after winning about 4 games in a row, some lady sitting down the bar from me says,* “Who the hell is this person that keeps winning?”
*
I looked at her and said, “I dunno, but they win every time I’m here.”
Yes it very much depends on what care is taken with the tablets. Some locations even keep the tablets behind the bar and hand them out as needed. I think some of the problems come from all the children that play. Many BWWs are very much family oriented to the extent that on occasion the entire supply of 20 or 30 tablets are all in use. The kids ignore the battery warnings and play them until they die then reboot them (you just press a small button with a pencil or toothpick).
The Harry Buffalo near me still has gen 2 tablets, the only ones I have ever seen. They play just fine as they take good care of them.
