Commas on TPiR

[Flerbert419]

But I think I've figured this out... 4 digits prices, no comma, 5 digits prices, comma!

Nope.

[djsquare]

Ok, so there is no rule!

[CBSpromoman]

But I think I've figured this out... 4 digits prices, no comma, 5 digits prices, comma!

It may well be that the intention was to use commas in occasions when there are FIVE digit prices involved, even when some prices may only be four digits long.

When you hit double-digit thousands, a comma makes those prices look even bigger, but if you're going to have a comma on a five-digit price, it'd look like a bigger error to omit the comma if a four-digit price happens to be involved.

[MSTieScott]

The only time I notice it is when the Double Prices board has a four-digit price and a five-digit price on it.

Off the top of my head, the games that use commas for four-digit prices are Clearance Sale, Shopping Spree, Step Up, and anything that now uses a monitor for a display. I'm sure the answer is nothing more than "It's a stylistic choice." Interesting that commas are more prevalent on the more recent games.

(Also of note is that there aren't commas in the new Bargain Game... but there were in the prototype graphics, as seen on the old priceisright.com Bargain Game page.)

[pannoni1]

The only time I notice it is when the Double Prices board has a four-digit price and a five-digit price on it.

Off the top of my head, the games that use commas for four-digit prices are Clearance Sale, Shopping Spree, Step Up, and anything that now uses a monitor for a display. I'm sure the answer is nothing more than "It's a stylistic choice." Interesting that commas are more prevalent on the more recent games.

(Also of note is that there aren't commas in the new Bargain Game... but there were in the prototype graphics, as seen on the old priceisright.com Bargain Game page.)

In addition to the above, other games which use commas for four-digit prices:
*Grand Game (the winnings)
*Gas Money (on the price tags but not the winnings display)
*It's In The Bag
*The 1,000 and 1,500 cubes on Let 'Em Roll
*The $1,000 and $5,000 slips on Punch-A-Bunch from 1979-mid '80s
*Pass The Buck
*Pay The Rent

The following (along with those mentioned above in the four-digit section) also use commas for five-digit prices:
*One Right Price
*Five Price Tags
*That's Too Much!
*Line 'Em Up (The pricetag)
*Punch-a-Bunch
*The Phone Home Game
*Range Game
*Ten (10) Chances
*Triple Play

Nothing used with an eggcrate, sportstype, or vane display use commas for four or five-digit prices. It tends to be used more on the newer games along with those that offer cash. There were never any commas on Barker's Bargain Bar, so I don't see the need for its use.

Off Price: Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! added commas to their scoreboards in 2002 with the conversion to the electronic scoring displays.

[nbuckler14]

Just to add to the conversation, Grand Game originally didn't have a comma in the $10,000 sign.


*Image is from GSCentral.net*

[123123123]

^  In the unlikely event that the contestants' head is not covering a decimal point in that picture, people could think she had just won a million dollars. 

Commas can be very important.

[someguy23475]

Many people in their daily life, myself included, do not use commas for four digit numbers. They are not necessary.

[CJBojangles]

I think it's simple enough that with four-digit prices, not using a comma allows for larger, more legible text. And five-digit prices are more difficult to read without the comma, IMO. (10000 vs. 10,000) This might be the reasoning behind these stylistic choices.

[TPIRighteous]

It does seem that the original pattern was no comma for 4 digits, comma for 5 digits (except in Grand Game, because the mechanism for a comma was a bit more complicated, but eventually implemented). Punch-a-Bunch slips, as far as I know, have always had $1000, $5000, and $10,000. Omitting the comma in 4-digit numbers was probably for the sake of consistency, since a lot of games had elements (eggcrate displays, prices lit up one number at a time, etc.) that were not conducive to commas.

Of course, as technology has changed and every game has gotten its own unique props, this rule has become less steadfast, and now we've got a mix of numbers with and without commas.

Another important differentiation: even with five-digit prices, there are still no commas in prices that are displayed or revealed digit-by-digit, like in One Away, Any Number, Lucky Seven, or Golden Road, but there are commas in prices that are single entities, like in That's Too Much, Five Price Tags, and Range Game.