Buzz!: The Music Quiz is the first in the Buzz! series of video games created by Sleepydog and Relentless Software and published by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe’s XDev for the PlayStation 2. In the game, players answer questions asked by the quizmaster (also called Buzz) using the four Buzz! remote controls. The game was part of Sony’s “Fire It Up” campaign, which also includes the EyeToy and SingStar systems.
Hosted by the computer animated, ever-smiling Buzz and his assistant Rose, the game creates the illusion that the players are in an actual quiz show, complete with buzzers, theme songs and canned audience clapping/laughter. Jason Donovan is the voice of Buzz in the UK and Australia. Different voice-actors are used across Europe for Buzz and Rose.
Players can choose from 16 different contestants to suit that persons personal music taste. These include a pop diva (Gina), a rocker (Phil), a punk, an Elvis (Pelvis) and a disco dude (Stevie). These characters resemble famous pop musicians such as Gwen Stefani, Liam Gallagher and Geri Halliwell and Bob Marley.
There are over 1,000 music clips, all of which are international chart-toppers from the 1950s through to 2005 and over 5,000 questions to test a players knowledge, either by playing solo in a fast paced single-player mode or with friends/family in the multi-player game. None of the music clips are original recordings.
Players can also choose to play in short bursts, or over a longer period. All wins and losses can be saved to Memory cards for players to refer to at a later date.
