Author Topic: Hit Me shouldn't have been retired  (Read 4704 times)

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Offline gregrob

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Hit Me shouldn't have been retired
« on: January 17, 2007, 01:02:28 PM »
Admit it. Hit Me had plenty of winners since its 1980 debut. It was simple enough for contestants to choose the item with the exact price and the price multiplied by 10 to get 21 and win. I always felt Hit Me was, along with Clock Game, the easiest game to win. Retiring it makes no sense to me. What about you?

Offline Mallory16

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Re: Hit Me shouldn't have been retired
« Reply #1 on: January 17, 2007, 01:47:59 PM »
It had a very high win percentage.  That wasn't the problem.  It was that, even though it had a very high win percentage, most of the winners really didn't understand how they won, or really, how to play.  It shouldn't have been hard to understand, but the reality is that it was.

Offline LiteBulb88

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Re: Hit Me shouldn't have been retired
« Reply #2 on: January 17, 2007, 08:46:38 PM »
You're preaching to the choir, man;  many of us here completely agree that Hit Me shouldn't have been retired.  Simple arithmetic was really all that was needed; it proved to be Add 'Em Up's downfall, and eventually, it was Hit Me's.  It's missed.

Offline ILoveBonusGame

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Re: Hit Me shouldn't have been retired
« Reply #3 on: January 17, 2007, 10:55:36 PM »
You know, I believe that Hit Me was just one example of the many unfortunate "signs of the times" of today. It is very unfortunate that a game so easy to win - prices ending in "0" were obviously multiplied by 10 - was lost so often in its final days. I grew very frustrated with idiots who would pick prices multiplied by 6 or 7 because they were too dumb to pick the price ending in 0.

Offline Alfonzo

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Re: Hit Me shouldn't have been retired
« Reply #4 on: January 17, 2007, 11:02:44 PM »
You'd be surprised. I knew people that watch the show frequently and are very familiar with Hit Me. They didn't have any idea how the game was played or won! And these are people that knew how to play Check Game! It was much more than explaining that they had to find an item that was the exact price and one with the price multiplied by ten. Believe me, I tried. We on the board understood the game, but it really was confusing to many regular viewers.
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Bryan, the Punchboard player who gave up $5,000 for a chance at $10,000 and won

Offline SteveGavazzi

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Re: Hit Me shouldn't have been retired
« Reply #5 on: January 17, 2007, 11:20:16 PM »
I don't think it helped matters that Bob usually didn't explain it completely (or even at all).  Why he would opt not to do that with what was arguably the most complex game on the show, I have never understood.
"Every game is somebody's favorite." -- Wise words from Roger Dobkowitz.

Offline Axl

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Re: Hit Me shouldn't have been retired
« Reply #6 on: January 18, 2007, 11:31:52 AM »
Quote

SteveGavazzi wrote:
Why he would opt not to do that with what was arguably the most complex game on the show, I have never understood.


Lack of time.

Offline OldPrice75

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Re: Hit Me shouldn't have been retired
« Reply #7 on: January 18, 2007, 07:44:10 PM »
Even back when Bob took his time explaining it, it still mixed up people.  It's a pity people couldn't get it.

Quote
It was simple enough for contestants to choose the item with the exact price and the price multiplied by 10 to get 21 and win.


But that's not the object of the game.  That's simply the best strategy.  Besides, if Bob simply tells them to get the 10 and the Ace, and they get something else, then will the contestants understand what happens next?  The game needs to be explained in full.

Offline Mallory16

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Re: Hit Me shouldn't have been retired
« Reply #8 on: January 18, 2007, 09:28:05 PM »
Not to mention, try this little test:  try to explain the game to someone who isn't us.  See how long it takes before they understand how to play.

Not easy, is it?

Offline sideshowPA

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Re: Hit Me shouldn't have been retired
« Reply #9 on: January 18, 2007, 09:45:22 PM »
That's a great activity, Frank.  And, on top of the grocery pricing aspect, keep in mind that the player has to have a somewhat rudimentary idea of the game of Blackjack, which can't always be assumed.
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Offline UAB-Kirksville

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Re: Hit Me shouldn't have been retired
« Reply #10 on: January 19, 2007, 12:48:32 PM »
Given the current popularity of gambling games on TV, though mostly poker, there are some blackjack games out there making the ratings, I was rather surprised at this one.

I liked Hit Me. It was easy to win if you had half a brain.

Offline SteveGavazzi

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Re: Hit Me shouldn't have been retired
« Reply #11 on: January 19, 2007, 04:39:04 PM »
Quote
UAB-Kirksville wrote:

Given the current popularity of gambling games on TV, though mostly poker, there are some blackjack games out there making the ratings, I was rather surprised at this one.

I liked Hit Me. It was easy to win if you had half a brain.


If you knew the rules.  I think some of you are missing the point here -- a large number of Hit Me contestants did not understand what was supposed to be happening.
"Every game is somebody's favorite." -- Wise words from Roger Dobkowitz.

Offline martink

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Re: Hit Me shouldn't have been retired
« Reply #12 on: January 19, 2007, 05:51:04 PM »
It was an easy to understand game, the show is all about winning prizes, why get rid of a perfectly good combination?

Offline Alfonzo

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Re: Hit Me shouldn't have been retired
« Reply #13 on: January 19, 2007, 06:41:24 PM »
Sigh. Let's try this again. Just because WE here in our own little section of the PiR universe understood the game doesn't mean everybody else on the planet did. The people I mentioned that I tried to explain the game to are not dullards. They didn't understand how the shown prices on the grocery products corresponded with the cards that were with the products. It was an eay to WIN game, but not neccessarily an easy to UNDERSTAND game. Heck, I was eight when the game debut, but it took me years to completely figure it out.

Yes it was won a lot, but it sure wasn't fun watching people win who obviously had no clue how they won.
"Audience, if you're scared buy a dog!"

Bryan, the Punchboard player who gave up $5,000 for a chance at $10,000 and won

Offline SteveGavazzi

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Re: Hit Me shouldn't have been retired
« Reply #14 on: January 20, 2007, 11:44:38 AM »
Quote
Last night, I wrote:

I think some of you are missing the point here -- a large number of Hit Me contestants did not understand what was supposed to be happening.


Quote
About an hour later, martink wrote:

It was an easy to understand game, the show is all about winning prizes, why get rid of a perfectly good combination?


Hello, wall.

I'm gonna be blunt here:  If your explanation for why Hit Me should not have been retired includes the phrase, "it was easy to understand," then your argument is invalid.
"Every game is somebody's favorite." -- Wise words from Roger Dobkowitz.