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Interactive TV games have become a surprise hit on digital TV platforms around the world. Initially thought of as something to entertain the children, interactive TV games have an extremely broad demographic and BSkyB in the UK has pioneered a pay-to-play business model which delivers significant revenues. Interactive TV games can be a profitable business as they can be easily re-skinned for different markets, languages or cultures.
UK
Sky Vegas Live on Sky Digital (OpenTV) (11 Mb)
During March 2004, Sky launched Sky Vegas Live, a slicker
and more upmarket competitor to AVAGO, the first interactive Bingo/Keno
channel in the UK.
For those of you outside the UK who've yet to see Sky Vegas Live, we're
providing you with an opportunity to see a short video here.
Sky have managed to learn from the experience of AVAGO and have upped
the production value stakes to create a slicker offering, but one which
still plays on the fact that viewers like to see and hear their name on
TV. Sky's channel has a primary position in the Sky EPG, just below
Sky's Movie channels and also benefits from additionally being stripped
across Sky One Mix's schedule on a daily basis during a late night,
post-pub slot.
Broadcasting 7 days a week from 18.00-02.00, Sky Vegas Live leverages
Sky's existing betting infrastructure. Viewers press red once on channel
295 and are asked to register or enter their existing SkyBet user ID and
pin number. This is the same login and ID used for all Sky Bet
services.
Once the viewer has logged in to Sky Vegas Live and a game is open for
play, they can press the SELECT button and buy a game card. If the
viewer doesn't like the numbers they have been automatically allocated,
they can choose a different game card by pressing BLUE. Once a card is
selected, the viewer can then use the LEFT and RIGHT keys on their
remote to choose the stake for the next game and then press SELECT to
complete their purchase.
Viewers on Sky Vegas Live can play with up to 10 Cards at once. Viewers
can purchase additional cards by pressing select and can pull up their
leading or winning card by press GREEN on the remote.
Sky Vegas Live's games are 'Keno' games where the odds change depending
on the game. For instance Super Keno 15 draws 15 balls out of a possible
80 and has a jackpot of over £ 1 million. The schedule is made up of
other variations such as Super Keno 10 and Super Keno 13. In all games,
players can vary their stake per card from £1 to £100. The more numbers
the viewer matches, the more they can win.
The studio presenters announce the 20 numbers selected by the random
number generator live on-air and similar to AVAGO, Sky's system
automatically marks viewers’ game cards with the numbers drawn.
In terms of presentation, Sky Vegas Live have brought together a team of
professional presenters, Sky's branding of the channel is repetitive and
solid, reinforcing the message to viewers to keep playing. The use of a
virtual studio means that draws are fast-paced and better synchronised.
Virtual studios will also allow Sky to easily introduce different games
with or new on-screen identities overnight.
Sky Vegas Live also offers a much cleaner on-screen experience. It is
very seldom that presenters on Sky Vegas Live are obscured by the on
screen display of the game cards, which contrasts with AVAGO's on-screen
experience which can seem cluttered, obscuring the presenters and taking
up too much screen real-estate.
Whilst the number of players throughout the course of a day can be a few
thousand, or even just a few hundred, the revenue from these games is
significant, particularly if player loyalty can be maintained.
More Information http://www.skyvegaslive.com
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Sky Vegas Live 1
Sky Vegas Live 2
Sky Vegas Live 3
Sky Vegas Live 4
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High-Resolution DVD of this and other interactive TV applications.
UK
National Lottery on Sky Digital (OpenTV) (6.4 Mb)
Sky Digital and
the National Lottery have launched a service that makes it possible to
buy your Lotto ticket through the TV. Viewers must first set up a
National Lottery account, entering their your name, address and debit
card details. The viewer can then transfer money into their National
Lottery Account and buy tickets either by choosing their numbers with
the remote control or selecting random numbers with the 'Lucky Dip'
function.
Viewers who already have a National Lottery web account can use the same
details to log and purchase tickets via the TV.
The new service allows players to buy up to 8 weeks' worth of tickets at
a time, selecting either just the Saturday night draw or Saturday and
Wednesday's games.
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UK Lotto 1
UK Lotto 2
UK Lotto 3
UK Lotto 4
UK Lotto 5
UK Lotto 6
UK Lotto 7
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High-Resolution DVD of this and other interactive TV applications.
UK
Hulk game on Sky Gamestar (OpenTV) (4.5 Mb)
A
new Hulk game has launched on Sky Gamestar to coincide with the recent
cinema release of the Hulk movie. Sky Gamestar struck a deal with
Universal studios to create the game and Denkie Ltd were the developers.
Costing 50 pence for an
unlimited play session, the game allows the user to take control of Hulk
as he goes on the rampage through desert, city and forest terrains.
His aim is to defeat the army controlled by General Thunderbolt Ross and
avoid capture. To do this he must see of waves of attacks from foot
soldiers, tanks, heavy artillery, helicopters and bomber jets. Hulk does
this by catching and punching the bullets amd missiles thrown at him and
by being able to pick up and throw all land based vehicles.
If things do get too frantic Hulk can rely on his Hulk Smash to destroy
all the vehicles on the screen. As a final challenge he must defeat
General Ross to gain his freedom.
Click Here to obtain a
High-Resolution DVD of this and other interactive TV applications.
France
Who wants to be a Millionaire (OpenTV) (10Mb)
French
Operator TPS, e-TF1 (the new media branch of France's leading commercial
broadcaster) and httv are responsible for this stand-alone version of
the Who Wants to be a Millionaire Game.
The game has many similarities with the UK stand alone version of the
game available on Sky Gamestar and at present there is no enhanced TV
version of Millionaire in France.
According to httv, the Open TV application, available since the 3rd June
2003 from a call-to-action on TF1 and as part of TPS' games portal 'Bandiagara',
has generated up to 1,500 hours of connection per day.
The French stand-alone Millionaire game is available to TPS viewers as a pay-per-play service charged at 0,34 Euro Cents per minute. TPS had 1,192,000 subscribers at the end of June 2003.
UK
Scuzzboarding on Sky Gamestar (OpenTV) (8.2 Mb)
Launched back in April to coincide with the
launch of Scuzz (one of Sky's new music channels) the 'Scuzzboarding'
game on Sky Gamestar is a snowboarding game that is particularly
groundbreaking for the OpenTV platform.
Fastmoving and with perspective the game allows the viewer to control a
snowboarder over a slalom course avoiding obstacles and hitting targets
by using the left and right keys or and select to jump.
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Click Here to obtain a
High-Resolution DVD of this and other interactive TV applications.
UK
Graham Norton Volleball on Channel 4 (OpenTV) (6 Mb)
With their own ISM and a close working
relationship with the Sky platform, Channel 4 are able to leverage their
brands and drive more viewers to their own applications and also to
their branded games which form part of the Sky Gamestar offering.
This volleyball game takes Channel 4's leading personality Graham Norton and trades on his brand value in a slightly camp but entertaining cartoon game.
Players of the game can choose their opponent and when in the game, use a variety of moves using the colour keys on the remote to beat their opponent. Great fun!
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Click Here to obtain a
High-Resolution DVD of this and other interactive TV applications.
UK
TETRIS on GoPlayTV (OpenTV) (2.9 Mb)
Sony Pictures Digital
owned GoPlayTV has relaunched TETRIS to UK viewers following the
liquidation of the games' previous developer and licensor Runecraft.
By moving over to GoPlayTV, the game
has benefited from 'technical enhancements' including richer graphics,
better game-play and more personalisation.
The addition of Tetris is a further enhancement to GoPlayTV's line as it
competes with the offerings of Playjam, Sky Gamestar, Avago and
Fancy-a-Flutter and others.
TETRIS, as with many games on the GoPlayTV network benefits from a number of features enabled by GoiNTERACTtv's return path/backend technology. Interactions with GoPlayTV are stored at the backend so that the channel is able to personalise the game with a person’s name, their highest score and best time of multiple players in each household, plus a personalised demo mode, which offers hints and tips for playing the game at the highest level.
Click Here to obtain a
High-Resolution DVD of this and other interactive TV applications.
UK
MTV Doubles Week Tennis (OpenTV) (2.6 Mb)
MTV UK has
re-launched its award-winning interactive tennis game under the new
title of 'Doubles Week Tennis' with a special version of the application
running across all 5 MTV channels on Sky Digital during Wimbledon
fortnight.
When it launched last year, the Ad-Break-Tennis game was designed to encourage viewers to stay with the channel during the advertising breaks and not surf to other music channels.
Last year the gameplay took place during the advert breaks with semi-transparent overlays that still allowed the viewer to see the advertising beneath. (see the Broadband Bananas Video Vault for last year's video).
Scores in last year's game were built
up over multiple ad breaks providing the player didn't change channels.
Unfortunately, despite capturing viewer's attention and encouraging
loyalty during the ad breaks, the game's interference with the TV
advertisements resulted in some of MTV's advertising clients become
rather upset and it is rumoured, litigious!
Not surprisingly then, this year has seen reversal of the loyalty
strategy. 'Doubles Week Tennis', once again developed by NDS has now
been re-designed to enable the viewer to compete against the TV during
MTV's normal broadcasts.
This year, rather than playing during advertisements, the game-play and
score are minimised during the ad breaks until the main broadcast
resumes. As before, the aim is to reduce channel surfing and keep MTV
viewers tuned in for longer and as previously, if the channel is
changed, the viewer's scores are lost.
The new game has also benefited from a graphical redesign. Last year's
blocky graphics are replaced with colour tennis player characters,
although sadly these have not been animated further.
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Click Here to obtain a
High-Resolution DVD of this and other interactive TV applications.
UK
Millionaire on Sky Gamestar (OpenTV) (5.4 Mb)
A stand alone interactive game version of
Celador's format 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire?' has launched on Sky
Gamestar.
Closely reflecting the show's format in both design and use of audio,
the game has been created by Milton Keynes based developer Minds Eye
working in cooperation with Sky Interactive and Celador. The game even
includes familiar features such as 'Phone a Friend', 50/50 and 'Ask the
Audience'.
Other interesting features include an almost immediate pay mechanism
that allows the viewer to commence playing the game before the premium
rate call has actually completed. This is important as viewers will need
to dial in every time they want to buy more game credits.
This is because Millionaire has adopted a business model that is unique
on Sky Gamestar. Whilst other Sky games offer an unlimited session for a
modem call costing 50 or 75 pence until the game is exited, the
Millionaire game costs 50 pence PER GAME, or alternatively the viewer
can purchase 3 game credits in one call for £1.
Developer, Minds Eye have developed some of the most popular games on
the Sky platform including Tomb Raider parts I and II, Banzai Pinball
and Space Invaders.
Minds Eye's Tomb Raider game recently benefited from the launch of its
second episode, 'The Shadow Falls' which continues on from the debut
game 'The Eye Of Osiris' rejuvenating interest in the game format.
Special games features on Tomb Raider include 10 game levels which
include a specially designed training area, support for the Sky Gamepad,
pass-codes enable gamers to jump straight into a completed level, plus
'save crystals' which allow players to restart partially completed
levels.
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UK
'Sky Bet Millions' (OpenTV) (5.1 Mb)
Following on from the huge sucess of Sky Bet
Vegas' fixed odds games, Sky has launched its latest betting game: 'Sky
Bet Millions'
Offering a Bingo style interface, the game makes it possible to win up
to £1m with stakes as little as £1, although smaller winnings are
possible with bets as little as 20p.
In the game each player chooses a card with a grid of numbers between 1
and 90. Of the 90 numbers, 15 are highlighted in yellow on screen. The
viewer can press green to toggle through alternative cards if they are
not happy with the one they are given.
As the draw starts 90 numbered balls are drawn at random. The numbers
are automatically matched to the highlighted numbers on the player’s
chosen card as they are drawn. The quicker the player’s 15 numbers are
matched, the more cash the player wins. If the 15 numbers are matched
within 30 balls being drawn, the player can win £1 million from just a
£1 stake!
For those with less time to spare, or those who like to play hard, Sky
have included a Turbo Draw option which cuts down the time to draw to
roughly 30 seconds.
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Click Here to obtain a
High-Resolution DVD of this and other interactive TV applications.
UK
Banzai Pinball on C4 (OpenTV) (8.3 Mb)
Milton Keynes based UK developer Minds Eye
productions has developed this pay-to-play game for Channel 4 and Sky
Gamestar. Accessible from Channel 4's portal as well as the Gamestar
area, the game is rich in design, makes good use of audio (featuring
Banzai's offbeat Japanese presenters) and benefits from a unique 50
frame per second scrolling, extending the game's available real-estate
as the ball moves about the screen. Features include realistic
physics, bumpers, slingshots, sinkholes, ramps, targets and also Sky
Gamepad support. Game-play is particularly entertaining and when put
against other recently launched games such as MTV's 'Mugshot Mania',
there is clearly no comparison, the Banzai game is streets ahead!
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Click Here to obtain a
High-Resolution DVD of this and other interactive TV applications.
UK
MTV Mugshot Mania Game (OpenTV) (6.3 Mb)
Mugshot Mania is a 'free-to-play’ platform game
which has been incorporated into the MTV Core service that sits behind
the MTV UK channel.
Developed by NDS owned Visionik, the
concept of the game is that the player is an unauthorised fan who sneaks
backstage to take the ‘mugshots’ of celebrities backstage and put them
in their photo book. The game takes the player through 25 different
levels. When viewers reach the final level they are directed to a secret
area on the MTV website where they can download celebrity ‘mugshots’ to
their mobile phones.
According to Matthew Kershaw, Head of Interactive MTV Networks UK &
Ireland “Games create a really engaging entertainment environment that
enhances the viewing experience. In our experience games also boost
viewer loyalty and increase channel ratings, especially if the game is
free like ‘Mugshot Mania’.”
According to a release from MTV, further interactive games will launch
on MTV in the near future.
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Click Here to obtain a
High-Resolution DVD of this and other interactive TV applications.
UK
Cluedo on Sky Gamestar (OpenTV) ( 6.5 Mb)
Hasbro's traditional
board game 'Cluedo' has recently launched on Sky Gamestar with the game
sessions costing 75 pence.
As can be expected, the Sky version reflects much of the style and gameplay of the original board game. The viewer can choose to be "Professor Plum', 'Colonel Mustard' or any of the other Cluedo characters and move through the various rooms of the house. Players must pick a suspect and murder weapon for each room to solve the murder mystery.
To eliminate
cards, the viewer has to complete a series of logical games or
challenges. These include simple tile games where the viewer has to
rearrange the tiles in a jumbled up image, a memory game where the
viewer has to find the pairs of cards and also a game which requires the
viewer to balance a set of scales using different weights.
These challenges get progressively harder as the viewer moves through the game. The more thorough the viewer is with with your investigation the more points they will score.
The interactive television version has been produced by Rockport Entertainment Ltd.
Click Here to obtain a
High-Resolution DVD of this and other interactive TV applications.
UK
'Sky Bet Vegas' - Juicy Jackpot (OpenTV) (7.9 Mb)
With channels like Avago and GoPlayTV attracting
significant segments of the UK public with their games and gaming
services, it was only a matter of time before Sky entered into the space
with a considered and competitive gaming offering.
'Sky Bet Vegas' is a
well-thought-out selection of simple and easy-to-use services that send
a clear statement to the competition that this is Sky's platform and
that gaming revenue is a key part of Sky's own business plan. Make no
mistake, (despite persuasion to the contrary because of gaming laws)
there is now a 'one-arm bandit' in every Sky home and it very much looks
and sounds like the real thing!
Sky Bet Vegas uses the same account as Sky's sports betting service so
that existing Sky Bet customers will be able to use the service simply
using their existing account number and pin, whilst new users can
register quickly and easily with the incentive of a free £5 credit to
their account. The service is also offering prizes of up to £250,000
with 3 extremely simple 'fixed-odds' games, Stakes for these games can
be as little as 20 pence.
The service has launched with three games to choose from - Juicy Jackpot
(shown here) Top Spin and Super Keno.
Further details of
the services can be seen in this short promo video.
All the 'Sky Bet Vegas' games require the set-top-box to be connected to
the telephone line during game play at a local call rate. Connection is
also required for registration.
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UK
Amazing Nev on BBC2's Smile (OpenTV) (7.7 Mb)
This simple maze game is available to accompany the Smile
children's programme on BBC2 on Sunday mornings. Accessible by pressing
the red button, the game is played with the colour keys on the Sky
remote.
Pressing the keys makes the barriers appear and disappear allowing Nev to pass through the maze, collect the discs and keeping going forward and eventually reaching the home target.
Canada
iTrivia on Bell ExpressVu (OpenTV) (2.4 Mb)
Costing Canadian $ 1.99 per month, NTN's iTrivia
service allows Bell ExpressVu's subscribers with OpenTV STB's (the 3100
or PVR STB) to practice their trivia skills in 6 categories ranging from
entertainment to sports and Canadian trivia. The viewer is allowed 40
seconds per question - with the number of points they can score
decreasing from 1000, down to 250 points with each 10 seconds that goes
by.
UK
Eight Legged Freaks Game on Playjam (Sky) (OpenTV) (3 Mb)
The Playjam games channel on Sky attracts an
average audience of 250,000 individual viewers each day, peaking at
500,000.
This branded game loosely based on the Space Invaders format has been used to promote Warner Bros movie - "Eight Legged Freaks" which went on general release in the UK at the end of the summer of 2002. Playing level one of the game is free, but play to the next level requires payment via premium rate telephony - either with the box making a 50 pence drop call via its internal modem or by the viewer calling a premium rate number (a whopping £1 per minute) and then inputting a pass code given over the phone.
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UK
GoPlay Wheel of Fortune on Sky Digital (OpenTV) (7Mb)
Produced by Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment,
with visual design by amassmedia and coded by UK iTV developer
GoInteract (a Sony offshoot) this full screen games service currently
features interactive versions of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy.
GoPlay bears a striking resemblance to the TwoWay TV service that was pulled off air with the demise of Energis' Bright Blue Portal and will certainly appeal to that audience.
The games are offered in 3 versions. A free play version to accustom the viewer with the gameplay, a 50 p "Fun Play" version that allows you to play one full game and a "Match Play" version with an associated £1.00 charge.
The latter offers viewers the chance to submit their scores and win a variety of electronic goods which not surprisingly in the most part also come from Sony!
Sony have made no secret of plans to launch a European version of their gameshow channel so it is interesting to see that this service has launched independently as a stand alone portal in the IMM.
It will be interesting to see what other formats will join these two games in the future to keep the portal fresh.
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UK
GoPlay Jeopardy on Sky Digital (OpenTV) (5 Mb)
Jeopardy, also part of the GoPlay portal is
available in the same 3 charge versions as Wheel of Fortune and follows
the US TV show's inverted quiz format. (Viewers get the Answer and have
to choose the right Question!)
Using the remote, the viewer selects a question genre, its value in points and chooses an answer with either the remote's number keys or the up and down buttons.
In the video you will notice that the design incorporates space for banner advertising. It will be interesting to see what companies feature in this space in the coming months.
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UK
MTV
Hits' Ad-Break Tennis (OpenTV) (3 Mb)
Available throughout Wimbledon fortnight, this
game application developed by NDS allowed the viewer to play a classic
"Tennis" TV game during ad breaks, using the up & down keys on their
remote control.
The main aim of the application is to make MTV Hits' ad breaks more
sticky. Until now, many viewers of MTV Hits are likely to have switched
channels to other music video networks on the Sky platform during ad
breaks.
As you may be able to see from the video, for viewers opting to play the
game, the main video is darkened a little to improve the contrast
between the green bat and ball, however it still can be a little
difficult to see at times.
Interestingly, as viewers play, their score is displayed on screen and
is retained so long as they don't leave MTV Hits. Also when the ad break
comes to a close, the game is paused until the next ad break when the
viewer can return to playing the game.
Italy
FantaCalcio on Stream (OpenTV) (1.94 Mb)
This is the iTV
version of the widely played italian strategic game called "Fantacalcio
Grand Prix".
It follows the "Independent Team" regulations and is played using an
Internet connection for exchanging data with a central server.
Starting with an initial budget of 200 "FantaBillions", each player can
create and manage at least two "FantaTeams" by buying or selling
football players on a virtual football market, with respect of the
budget available.
Each FantaTeam has a "FantaCoach" and is composed by 18
elements (2 goalkeepers, 6 defenders, 6 centerfields, 4 attackers); its
position in the placings depends on the sum of scores obtained by each
element of the team represented in the real championship.
The goal of this game is to achieve the best score among
all players and win one of the fantastic rewards offered by Stream. An
extended version of the game is also available for public activities; it
allows managing up to 20 FantaTeams.
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Turkey
TV Gool on Digiturk (OpenTV) ( 4.7 Mb)
A little bit of photographic bitmap animation
can make a simple interactive game all the more realistic and enjoyable
to play.
Although perhaps not as sophisticated in terms of playing technique as Rage's Beckham game also featured on this page , this game from local developer Info(+)TRON does have some unique effects - particularly in terms of sounds and animations.
In this game there are fewer variables, e.g. you need to only select the target in the goal, and a simultaneous selection of spin on the ball and kick power. I think the simplicity of this game must mean a wider audience demographic.
Also, watch out at the end of this video where the player is slow to respond which causes the footballer to bend down and tie his shoelaces! Fantastic!
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UK
Big Brother Game on Sky Gamestar (OpenTV) (3.8 Mb)
Essentially a variant of Pac-Man, viewers first
accessing the Big Brother game on Sky Gamestar have the option to play
for real, see a demo or effectively train in the "Try for Free" area.
Completing this introductory level successfully will see the game invite
the viewer to pay 50 pence via a premium rate drop call to go to the
next level. In this video clip we are just showing the demo option which
gives the best idea of gameplay, look and feel.
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UK
David Beckham Soccer™ International Challenge (OpenTV) (5 Mb)
This game, developed by RAGE http://www.rage.com forms part of Sky's "World Cup Arena" special
area on the IM and also features in promotions on Sky Active and Sky
Gamestar.
Players must hone their shooting skills to take England through the first and second, Quarter and Semi finals of the world championships and lead England to victory by scoring the Golden Goal against Germany in the Final – all without moving from their armchair! To take the free kicks and penalties, players must set the direction and elevation, the amount of spin they want on the ball and the power with which they want to strike. Real addicts can even compete nationally in a high-score competition - the tougher the shot, the more points you get.
Training and Demo's are available at no cost - whilst the full game is based on a 50p drop call.
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France
Jouet Interactif on Tiji (Mediahighway) ( 2.5 Mb)
The first time I heard that Tiji was going to launch
interactive games on its channel I was quite excited because I
understood that children would be able to play a variety of games whilst
continuing to watch the TV channel. It sounded a good deal for the
viewer and the channel too.
Discovering the service finally on air - I have to say I am more than a little disappointed. My first concern is that the games - which were clearly designed as a 1/3 overlay are now not actually overlaid on video - but placed on top of a still image - so the viewer looses the video.
Perhaps the developers found that some of the Mediahighway boxes couldn't process the interactivity and show video at the same time? Frankly I'm not sure - but its a real pity.
Whilst the games seem well designed enough - I have to say I have never encountered an application that loads so slow in my life. We have cut many seconds of waiting time in our video of this application and you will see from the video and hear from the audio that we have accelerated the part of the video which features the loading of the background by 300% just so we don't keep you all waiting for endless minutes.
UK
BBC CBeebies (Bill & Ben) (OpenTV) (2.3 Mb)
This CBeebies game
accessible via the CBeebies channel on Sky Digital and also via the Text
portal on the BBC channels carried on Sky is regularly updated with new
games.
The latest game is based on the classic children's characters "Bill and Ben" - (the flowerpot men!) who have recently been re-launched and updated in a new animated series.
Aimed at pre-school children, the design once again favours the use of the colour keys for easy use and like the "Bob the Builder" version below - also uses simple sound effects.
UK
BBC CBeebies on Sky Digital (OpenTV) (5.2Mb)
This application aimed at
pre-school children shows very clearly that simple application design
can work extremely well, particularly if you have a popular brand such
as Bob the Builder!
"Can we fix it - yes we can!"
The use of the fastext colour keys RED, GREEN, BLUE, YELLOW as a integral part of the design works extremely well as does the effective but economical use of sound effects!
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