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First of all let me say that I am NOT a representative of NTN or ever in any way
been paid by them to do anything.
The History of NTN... According to "So You Think You're Good At Trivia:
Take the official NTN Trivia Challenge"(Available at bookstores everywhere). NTN
started out in Houston. The Oilers stadium needed something to get people involved
in the football game. QB1 was the answer, but the dream wasn't realized until
technology was good enough to actually acheive it. The idea quickly spread, but the
football season was too short. They wanted something to do year round, so NTN
Trivia was born. It is now in the U.S. , Canada, Australia, South Africa, and soon (if
not already) the U.K.. Mostly played in restaurants, bars and hotels, there are about
2,000 sites carrying it, and it grows every month. Players get controllers and play
for free (in almost all places). You simply enter a handle(name) up to 6 digits.
Numbers cannot be used and all letters are automatically capitalized. The
only buttons normally used in gameplay are #'s 1-5, some games require
that you put a year in such as 89 meaning 1989.
What does the plus beside the handle mean?
That means the person belongs to Player's Plus. A completely free membership to
NTN. This entitles you to earning points each game you play. Eventually you
will receive a catalog in the mail with products at discounted prices you can buy
with a certain amount of points. A + means the player is from another location and his
rank color cannot be seen. A + means the player has less than 250,000
points. A + means that the player has more than 250,000 but less than 750,000.
A + means that player has more than 750,000 but less than 1,500,000. A + plus
is between 1,500,000 and 3,000,000. A + plus is between 3,000,000 and 6,000,000.
And finally between 6,000,000 and 12,000,000 is ?
SO HOW IS IT PLAYED?
NTN consists of satellite equipment, TV hookups, and controllers in groups of 10.
Controllers are officially called playmakers, but their nicknames are boxes, control
thingys, etc. During the day there is general trivia. There are 3 types of trivia
usually played. Before 1:00PM, Appeteasers are played. These are 7 question
games that last about 15 minutes. The national rankings are not displayed for this
game but the local (in place) are displayed. After 1:00, the games are Countdown
and Wipeout. Countdown is the game most often played. It has 15 questions. It lasts
about a half hour (with national rankings displayed). Each question is worth 1000
points if you guess correctly immediately. As clues are given, the point value goes
down. There are three clues, normally the third shows the correct answer, but not
always. Occassionally the third clue will tell you what it isn't. The first two clues
ALWAYS tell you which answer it isn't. Here is an example
No port in a storm (This means #2 is wrong, i.e. port-ugal)
No pain (This means #4 is incorrect s-pain)
Braz is (This means #1 IS right)
Wipeout is a similar game, but instead of clues, the incorrect answers disappear
and two are eventually left. This is more difficult because if you have no idea what
the answer is, you aren't told the correct answer like in countdown.
At 7:30 and 12:00 there is a sponsored game where the very last
question is worth 2000 points. There are other late night games, like Retroactive
which is a Countdown game, but all the questions are about 50's-70's TV shows.
Nightside is an adult oriented game that gives no clues whatsoever. Viewer's
Revue is a countdown game that says between questions a person playing the
game somewhere. Brain Busters is a Countdown type game which the questions and
clues are very difficult. Topix is Countdown with a new topic every time it's played.
There is also seasonal games such as hoops (basketball trivia), Halloween,
Christmas, The Olympics There are also games that you must ask for to play, like a
kids game and a sports game.
The BIG Games
On Monday Night is Sports I.Q. 7:30 EST
On Tuesday Night is Showdown (General, tough trivia questions that really test knowledge) 9:00
On Wednesday Night is Trivial Pursuit 9:00
On Thursday Night is Sports Trivia 9:00
On Friday Night is Spotlight(a trivia game about Hollywood, TV, Movies, Tabloids, Music, etc.)9:00
On Saturday Night is Playback (a trivia game about music) 10:00
Most of these games are an hour long and the top
winners receive prizes.
Real Sports Games
There are real sports games played in real time simultaneously with QB1(NFL,
CFL, and College) baseball (DiamondBall), boxing (UpperCut), and
hockey (PowerPlay). Also during College Basketball playoffs, you can choose the
winners of all the games.
So, where can I play?
Holiday Inns, T.G.I. Friday's, BW3's, Damon's, Chili's (a few), East Side Mario's and many, many others. You can call NTN or check out the NTN homepage to find locations in your area.