You Don't Know Jack (1995 video game)

You Don't Know Jack is a video game released in 1995, and the first release in the You Don't Know Jack video game series.

You Don't Know Jack
Windows cover
Developer(s)Jellyvision
Publisher(s)Berkeley Systems
Platform(s)Windows, Macintosh, PlayStation[1]
Release1995

History

Jellyvision's website has this explanation as to why You Don't Know Jack was made:

"Way back in the early 90s, Jellyvision decided to test the waters of mainstream interactive entertainment by beginning a partnership with Berkeley Systems, of "Flying Toasters" fame. Berkeley Systems asked us if we could apply the concepts of a game show to an adult trivia game. Since no one at Jellyvision at the time actually liked trivia games, we tried to figure out how to make trivia questions fun and engaging to us. When we realized that it was possible to ask about both Shakespeare and Scooby-Doo in the same question, You Don't Know Jack was born."[2]

Reception
Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
CGW[3]
Next Generation[4]
PC Gamer (US)84%[5]
Computer Game Review95/94/94[6]
MacUser[7]
PC Entertainment[8]

Sales of You Don't Know Jack surpassed 250,000 units by May 1996.[9] According to market research firm PC Data, it was the 17th-best-selling computer game in the United States that year.[10]

Reviewing the Macintosh version of the original You Don't Know Jack, a Next Generation critic praised the social nature of the game and the witty presentation. Calling it "An excellent, hip piece of work", he gave it three out of five stars.[4] MacUser named You Don't Know Jack the best strategy game of 1995.[11]

You Don't Know Jack won Computer Gaming World's award for the best "Classics/Puzzles" game of 1995. The editors wrote that "it's great fun watching people whiff on answers at parties", and that "anyone who's ever wanted to see game shows skewered will have a ball with this."[12] It won Computer Game Review's 1995 "Puzzle Game of the Year" award. The editors wrote, "You Don’t Know Jack did more than simply provide a fun way to spend time at the computer. It also broke a lot of conventions including the need for flashy graphics to have an exciting game." You Don't Know Jack also received Computer Game Review's "Best Voiceover Work of the Year" prize.[13]

In 1996, Computer Gaming World declared You Don't Know Jack the 75th-best computer game ever released.[14]

Reception

You Don't Know Jack XL

You Don't Know Jack XL compiles the first You Don't Know Jack volume with an additional Question Pack.

You Don't Know Jack XL won Macworld's 1996 "Best Party Game" award. Steven Levy of the magazine wrote, "When it comes to creating a great party game that works on the computer, many have tried, and most have failed. Finally, fueled by MTV energy and Generation X cultural radar, there's You Don't Know Jack."[15] It also won the 1996 Spotlight Awards for "Best Trivia or Puzzle Game" and "Best Script, Story or Interactive Writing" from the Game Developers Conference.[16] The game received a score of 4.5 out of 5 from MacUser, whose editors named it one of 1996's top 50 CD-ROMs.[17]

gollark: I had absolutely no interaction with the mob farm apart from removing an instance of potatOS on it which somehow got on there.
gollark: I didn't destroy *any* mob farms.
gollark: Well, it seems to be very selectively enforced in *that* case.
gollark: And this is very unreasonable.
gollark: Filtering doesn't actually work, you realise.

References
  1. https://www.mobygames.com/game/you-dont-know-jack
  2. "You Don't Know Jack Information Page". JackboxGames.com. Archived from the original on 2014-01-04. Retrieved 2013-11-22.
  3. Ardai, Charles (February 1996). "Pop Goes the Culture". Computer Gaming World (139): 162.
  4. "You Don't Know Jack". Next Generation. No. 13. Imagine Media. January 1996. p. 168.
  5. Howie, Lisa M. (February 1996). "You Don't Know Jack". PC Gamer US. Archived from the original on February 26, 2000.
  6. Snyder, Frank; Chapman, Ted; Kaiafas, Tasos (December 1995). "Arcane Knowledge". Computer Game Review. Archived from the original on December 21, 1996.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  7. LeVitus, Bob (April 1996). "The Game Room". MacUser. Archived from the original on February 21, 2001.
  8. Paul, Fredric (January 1996). "You Don't Know Jack". PC Entertainment. Archived from the original on October 18, 1996.
  9. Staff (May 1996). "YDKJ goes Prime Time". Computer Game Review. Archived from the original on October 18, 1996.
  10. Staff (February 26, 1997). "1996 PC Best Sellers". Next Generation. Archived from the original on June 6, 1997.
  11. Myslewski, Rik; Editors of MacUser (March 1996). "The Eleventh Annual Editors' Choice Awards". MacUser. 12 (3): 85–91.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  12. Staff (June 1996). "The Computer Gaming World 1996 Premier Awards". Computer Gaming World (143): 55, 56, 58, 60, 62, 64, 66, 67.
  13. Staff (April 1996). "CGR's Year in Review". Computer Game Review. Archived from the original on October 18, 1996.
  14. Staff (November 1996). "150 Best (and 50 Worst) Games of All Time". Computer Gaming World (148): 63–65, 68, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 84, 88, 90, 94, 98.
  15. Levy, Steven (January 1997). "1997 Macintosh Game Hall of Fame". Macworld. Archived from the original on January 8, 2003.
  16. "Spotlight Awards Winners Announced for Best Computer Games of 1996" (Press release). Santa Clara, California: Game Developers Conference. April 28, 1997. Archived from the original on July 3, 2011.
  17. The Editors of MacUser (December 1996). "MacUser's 1996 Top 50 CD-ROMs". Games. Archived from the original on June 5, 2000.
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