August 21, 2009 - Let me open this review by stating that I am old enough to admit that board gamers were a part of my childhood. They were and are still a fun and exciting form of entertainment. Thanks to the advancements in technology, many of the classic board games have made the jump to the realm of video games. Some having done so during the days of the 8-bit systems of yesteryear, others have managed to evolve along with the consoles, and finally some having made their debut more recently. Despite its history, board games as interpreted through video games have often been a tough sell. For one, many board games are methodical, turn based, plodding, slow paced, and may be hampered by the throwing of a die (or equivalent). This molasses-like approach certainly doesn’t take away from the bonding, and good natured ribbing that may occur amongst your peers when you are playing the actual board game. On a console however where gamers are subject to things at paces much quicker and more chaotic, watching an animated die role across your television screen leaves much to be desired. Add to this the idea that the video game rendition could cost twice as much as the board game itself may result in the cartridges (or CDs and DVDs for the younger gamers out there) collecting dust on your shelves.

Scene It has been around for awhile, and age-old trivia around for even longer. The interactive SI games take the best of both worlds in regards to trivia and board gamers. You roll a die, which dictates how many spaces your game piece moves. You then might be asked a trivia question, have to pick up a card, or perhaps the calling card of all the Scene It games, watch a video clip and then answer a responding question. For those unfamiliar with the mechanics of the Scene It board game, a player could ultimately make their way from the beginning of the board to the end (the Final Cut) with ease. Presuming they either know their trivia (or perhaps have super human powers to read people’s minds as they ask the questions) since the game allows a player to continue rolling the die for every correct response. Scene It on the Xbox 360 removes this nuisance by making the trivia interactive amongst all the participants thus removing the tedium that is “rolling the die”. This alone puts SIBOS in good shape; throw in the numerous categories of questions, online play, clever customization options and the remarkably easy setup for getting a game going and you have yourself a template of trivia done right on a gaming console.

Right out of the box, SIBOS gives you four fully functional controllers to utilize. A big colour-coded button at the top represents your buzzer while the four familiar looking buttons beneath it are used to make a corresponding selection. The controllers work great and are expectedly responsive. That is of course you have them clicking in the direction of the accompanying sensor which attaches to your console via a USB port. The sensor itself I found seldom sat comfortably on any flat surface I placed it on but for what it’s worth, it is just one of a few nitpickings I have with the title.

Once you get past the cute, yet over the top introduction with your hosts “the crazy movie voice over guys”, you can get a game going quickly. Firstly you choose the type of game; a short game consists of 3 rounds with 3 categories per round, a long game has 5 categories in 3 rounds. Both games conclude with the Final Cut which much like the board game has all the players watching a clip followed by a set of questions. The other option, the custom game provides a few interesting tweaks to enhance your trivia experience; this includes being able to lose points for incorrect answers, allowing one player to play the game by themselves (by including multipliers for every correct response) and there’s even one extra mode for multiple players, the continuous mode where every question is of the all-play variety which negates the use of buzzing in to respond.

Once you have your game set up, you (and up to 3 others) select from a handful of avatars (sadly not like the ones on your Xbox 360 dashboard) to represent you. From there the movie voice over guys will get you going by starting the round along with a mostly nonsensical exchange while you watch as the couch your avatars are sitting on comes to life and flies away. Anyone who thinks that this doesn’t sound as entertaining as the actual board game should read no further.

Each question block is introduced with a brief montage of sorts with your hosts announcing which category you shall engage in. These categories are broken down into two types; buzz-in and all play. The former allowing the gamer who buzzes in a chance to answer the question on their own, while the all play concludes when the final player has made their response (or if there is no time left). Thanks to over twenty different types of categories to challenge you, there is more than enough to keep multiple game plays fresh and entertaining. On top of this, the categories themselves range from neat to ingeneious. Anagrams has you looking at jumbled letters to uncover a particular actor or movie. Child’s Play has you looking at a cartoonish drawing depicting a scene from a movie. Crosswords involve guessing a movie title as intersecting clues appear. Some of my personal favourite categories include Pixel Perfect which involves guessing a movie scene as shown through an animated clip and Sketches which requires you to guess the name of a movie title through a drawing that literally depicts the movie title.