Author Topic: Hypothetical Rotation Cut  (Read 5454 times)

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Offline 123123123

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Hypothetical Rotation Cut
« on: August 05, 2019, 06:54:01 PM »
Since it's currently Priceless Summer, I thought now would be as good a time as any to post this hypothetical that's been rattling my brain for a while. (Mods, if this makes more sense in OILF, please feel free to move it)

Now, from the early years of the show, we see that the show could work with only 5-6 games. Even when the show moved to an hour long, they were still a ways off from all the games they have now.

Imagine, for reasons beyond anyone's control, the show had to majorly cut down the number of pricing games in rotation. Obviously, the show could theoretically continue with only 6 games, but that would get REALLY bland real fast.   :lol:

So my conundrum was, in this day and age, how many of the 77 games could the show keep in rotation without becoming too bland and what games would they be. A lot of different factors could come into such a decision (timings, conflicts, versatility, fan appeal, variety) and I just wonder what games would win out. I put below what I would do in such a situation with some reasoning behind it. Please feel free to critique mine, put your own choices, etc.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Must Haves

-Plinko
-Golden Road

-Double Prices
-Squeeze Play
-Push Over
-Balance Game

*I feel like Plinko would be the last game to be gone, but not necessarily because it's gameplay. At this point, TPiR and Plinko are linked so closely that the average viewer would notice it being gone. Golden Road might not be as well-known, but still has the "big prize at the end of the road" motif that no other game (except maybe 3X) has going for it. The other 4 are the 1-prize necessary evils that could be played for almost anything.

Cash Games

-Grand Game
-Time Is Money
-1/2 Off

*Along with Plinko, the four cash games would then become weekly games and one day wouldn't have a cash game. With these four, they would all be able to have their grand prize be adjusted for special shows and weeks

Multi-Prizers

-Switch
-Safe Crackers
-Magic #
-Do The Math

-Most Expensive
-Easy as 123
-Take Two
-Danger Price
-Race Game

*I feel that all of these games have rules that are different enough to avoid too many conflicts. Evenmore, all of these game have small or no restrictions on the prizes that can be played with.

Car Games

-Money Game
-Any Number
-Pass The Buck
-Rat Race
-Lucky Seven
-That's Too Much
-Card Game
-Five Price Tags
-Pathfinder
-Stack The Deck

*The list is order somewhat coinciding with how the games would be used in the new rotation. At the top, you would still have Money Game and Any Number set up how they are now. But now with less car games, harder games like Pathfinder and Stack the Deck could be played for nicer cars. Also, non-car games for a car would become a much more common occurance (biweekly?)

Others

- Check Out
- Cliff Hangers

*The SP-only and GP-only games would have to be the first to go due to having multiple cash and car games that use those, but I would keep these two around.

Notable Omissions

*3 Strikes: I love 3X, but Golden Road can have the same excitement plus can be player for more than just high end cars

*Punch-a-Bunch: Too luck-based. I know that Plinko is also heavily luck based, but the show simply isn't the same without it. The same can't be said about Punch.

*Grocery Game: It was between this and Check-Out in the end. It just seems that the game is "broken" for lack of a better term. Contestants seem to just go all out on their first turn, go over and that's it. A waste of 3-4 minutes. At least with Check-Out, there is a possibility of reprieve if a mistake is made early.

Offline moneygamelover

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Re: Hypothetical Rotation Cut
« Reply #1 on: August 05, 2019, 07:07:11 PM »
It's interesting that your list of games to keep is EXACTLY 30 games. 30 games is precisely the number of games needed to play a full week without repeating a game during a week.
Adjustments that should be made to pricing games to make them fairer: Secret X: Add a 3rd SP so that perfect pricing ensures a win. 1/2 Off: Add a 4th set of SPs so that perfect pricing ensures a win. Master Key: Add 2 more SPs so that perfect pricing ensures a win. Rat Race: Add 2 more SPs so that perfect pricing ensures a win.

The following pricing games should be retired because there's no way or no easy way to make them fair: Spelling Bee, Plinko, Punch a Bunch, Pass the Buck, Let em Roll, 3 Strikes.

The following retired pricing games should be revived: $uper $aver, Give or Keep, Buy or Sell, Hurdles, Bump, Penny Ante, Credit Card, On the Spot, Split Decision, Add em Up, Walk of Fame, Barker's Markers, Magic Number.

Offline 123123123

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Re: Hypothetical Rotation Cut
« Reply #2 on: August 05, 2019, 07:13:46 PM »
It's interesting that your list of games to keep is EXACTLY 30 games. 30 games is precisely the number of games needed to play a full week without repeating a game during a week.

I honestly didn't even notice. I just tried to make it somewhat balanced  :-)

Offline JayC

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Re: Hypothetical Rotation Cut
« Reply #3 on: August 05, 2019, 10:54:11 PM »
Grocery Game is too much of a classic to be retired. I don't think contestants going for it with one item has been that much of a problem recently. I would rather axe Bullseye or Now or Then than Grocery Game or Check Out.

I'd put Pick a Number in the must haves also, they've been playing it a lot more the past few seasons as a quick 1-prize game and even a car game. Cliff Hangers would be a must keep too since it's gained almost as much status as a signature game for the show as Plinko.




Offline pannoni1

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Re: Hypothetical Rotation Cut
« Reply #4 on: August 06, 2019, 07:58:03 AM »
Bonus Game and Clock Game should also remain due to their iconic classic status, which have been around practically since the beginning. Yeah, Shell Game is not necessary and I wouldn't miss that too much, but even with the redesigned prop, Clock Game still has that "higher....lower...higher..." challenge that shouldn't be ignored. Of course, they are also fine non-car for a car games as well. In exchange, I'd cut out Pass The Buck and 1/2 Off, due to them being a bit too luck based. That said, with fewer cash games, that allows things life Cliff Hangers ($1,000 per step) or even a fee game like Grocery Game having a flat $10,000 cash prize for winning, much like the Facebook game for the non-car games.

Still, I'd imagine if Television City became too expensive and the show was forced to move to a smaller studio, this wouldn't be too farfetched of a situation, or even if the show was only on weekly. Just look at the various lineups in Season 5, when there were between 27 and 29 games in the rotation, and especially Season 4, where there were just 20 games in the first two months of the hourlong era. Although the FAQ states that there isn't a valid reason why Bonus Game returned to the rotation, it was likely due to the shortage of games at the time in order to create more variety, and had Price remained a half-hour show, Bonus would likely had never been seen again.

That said, all those new games introduced in the late '70s and early '80s was what really needed for the show to reach its full potential with games like Hole In One, 3 Strikes, Squeeze Play, Check-Out, Pick-a-Pair, Take Two, Barker's Bargain Bar, Punch-a-Bunch, Grand Game, Now or Then, Blank Check (Check Game), the late Penny Ante, and of course Plinko, and that propagated the show to being #1 in daytime, just like it has been for the last 40 years. I'd say that you need at least 45 games to keep it fresh enough, but I'd say once you go over 70, it starts to get to a point where certain games can become "forgotten".
« Last Edit: August 06, 2019, 08:04:30 AM by pannoni1 »
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