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| By Dean Austin Host: The answer is... A casual games site that has over 10 million registered members and can be accessed by your Internet Explorer browser running in Mac OS X. Contestant: What is The Station at Sony.com? Host: Correct! |
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 Sports Jeopardy! is among the variety of quiz games to choose from. |
Admit it. You’ve watched Jeopardy! and felt like Bill Murray knowing what will happen before it does in the movie Groundhog Day. “I could do that,” you say to yourself
smugly. But short of auditioning for the real thing, how can you ever prove
it?
“The answer, it turns out, is Sony Online Entertainment’s (SOE) casual gaming flagship, The Station, which features not only Jeopardy!, but also Wheel of Fortune and a variety of puzzle, classic card, and casino games. New games arrive all the time, such as the puzzle titles Confetti, Classic Scrambles, Super Mine Scramble, and Super Space Scramble.
Best of all, they’re free to play. See our “Games Going Live with Mac Support” section for the list. “
You can choose from a host of characters for
your personalized avatar.
your personalized avatar.
“After the release of Mac OS X, we felt that it was important that we make
our games cross-platform,” says Station producer Dallas Dickinson. “As a
lifelong Mac user, I am ecstatic about bringing our games onto this new
platform, [and] SOE is committed to supporting the Mac.”
To get started at The Station, all you need to do is follow a simple and painless registration process and you’ll have instant access to the different games, which feature intuitive interfaces. A handy Lobby allows you to meet up with other players from around the world who are ready for friendly competition. Before you play a game, you get to choose your own Avatar, or character who will represent you to the other players; it will be customized for the specific game that you are playing.
The Station uses intuitive and easy-to-read menus.
Great Minds Think Alike
At The Station, you can meet others similarly convinced of their superiority in your favorite game, such as Jeopardy!, which is available in six versions: Classic, Showbiz, College, Techno-Files, Sports, and Rock & Roll. (Wheel of Fortune showcases Classic, College, and Soap Opera versions of its game.)
As you play, though, you discover that there’s a lot more to Jeopardy! than simply correctly answering the questions. A lightning-quick read of a question is followed by four choices, all of which usually make sense. Did we mention you have two other live opponents ready to buzz in with the answer too? It’s all well and good to know that “Goodnight Saigon” was on Billy Joel’s album “Nylon Curtain,” but if you don’t get in first with the buzzer, it doesn’t matter.
Then there’s the strategy behind which questions to pick, depending on whether you are ahead or behind. Do you go for the tougher questions that are worth more money, or stick with the easier questions that net smaller pay-outs? If time is running out and you’re down by a couple thousand dollars, you may need to take some risks. Check out some sample questions.
Browser Check Make sure you are using Internet Explorer 4.5 or higher; you will not be able to play in other browsers. Once the correct browser is loaded, check to ensure Java is enabled in your browser by going to the following menus: Explorer—>Preferences—>Web Browser—>Java. If “Enable Java” is not checked, please do so. |
The Competition is Fierce
The three levels of Jeopardy! play — Beginner, Intermediate, and Expert — allow you to pick an appropriate level of competition, but be forewarned, the Billy Joel question above was in the Rock & Roll Intermediate level. If you don’t know which eight-time NFL Pro Bowler lost his job to Dick Butkus, this may not be the time to try the Expert mode of Sports Jeopardy!. These games are challenging, and that, coupled with the ability to play live against other people from around the world, is one of the sources of their immense appeal.
Play Wheel of Fortune in a variety of topics
— like “soaps.”
— like “soaps.”
A word of warning: you haven’t really played Jeopardy! until you play the Sports version against two New Yorkers, and the category Broadway Joe is followed by Damn Yankees. That will be sure to separate those who think they’ll ace the game from those who will ace the game.
Even college versions are available for challenging fun.
“We’re excited to give Mac users the opportunity to compete against the best in Jeopardy! Online,” says Dickinson.
So now there is no excuse. Crown yourself in Checkers, buy a vowel from Pat, and let Alex know you’ll take Beisbol for $200. The Mac OS X train has arrived at The Station.
Hot Interview: Sony’s Station.com producer outlines Mac support.
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Learn what games are available, and try out some sample trivia questions.    
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