Game Wave

What’s the Story?

Zapit Games is entering the market of interactive DVD games by offering a new twist to family game playing: a new DVD gaming system called GAME WAVE. The Game Wave system is a DVD player with four unique remotes and comes packaged with the software trivia game 4 Degrees: The Arc of Trivia, Vol. 1; families can purchase two additional remotes ($28), and Zapit Games has released four additional games to play on the Game Wave system, each retailing for $28. With the Game Wave system, family members can compete head-to-head. For example, when playing 4 Degrees: The Arc of Trivia, Vol. 1, all players compete to answer the same question; the system registers how quickly a player answers.

Is It Any Good?

In addition to being a DVD gaming system, the Game Wave is a regular DVD player. Because the system costs $110, it will appeal most to families looking to pick up a first or second DVD player. We found that the "Open/Close" button on this system was less responsive than typical DVD players; families purchasing the Game Wave will need to be patient and may have to push the button multiple times to insert DVDs into the system.

Twenty years ago families would congregate around a board game to play trivia games. Nowadays, with kids weaned on technology, board games seem tame. Game Wave's combination of music, videos, narration, and multimedia breathes life into trivia games in a way that this new generation can embrace.