I went to Anime Name That Tune on Sunday. The people running this event have been running it for several years now. Why do they keep running it with the
current ruleset? For those who haven't been to this event, here is the ruleset:
- 4 players chosen per round
- 10 tunes per round
- Tunes play for 10 seconds on first playing, a correct answer is 3 points during this time
- No correct responses will cause a tune to play for 30 seconds (including the first 10). A correct answer is 1 point during this time.
- Players may only guess once during each playing. No stocking up guesses.
- The audience gets to guess if no contestant answers correctly
With the exception of one tune (Pita-Ten), people either got it in the first five seconds or they didn't get it at all, even with the 30 second playing time on the second try. The execution of the game itself wasn't smooth. After each playing, the host would keep asking if anyone had any guesses, wasting valuable time. He would also recap the scores after every other question even though there was a scoreboard. It was like a FOX game show at its finest.
The people playing the tunes did not have a set list prepared. They would choose the tunes on-the-fly. Among the tunes chosen:
- Forbidden Love OP (this is an 18+ hentai title!)
- ef - the first tale OP (this is an 18+ game which has only been fansubbed. The song playing guy incorrectly claimed it was from ef - a tale of memories, which also has only been fansubbed)
- K-On ED (this hasn't been R1 licensed)
What?! This was totally unfair to the contestants, most of which who appeared to be under 18. Also, I never knew that Anime North was indirectly promoting an illegal activity like fansubbing (aside from the panel). Vic Mignogna would be steaming. There was only one mainstream song, and that was from Inuyasha. Now, rewarding someone for watching niche material is fine and all, but when they make up a large chunk of your tunes, no one is going to be happy. The organizers clearly failed to see this. We got almost no tunes that play on YTV, which is the only source of anime for many young people. The organizers, being middle-aged, clearly did not know their target demographic.
Overall, they got in two rounds, so 8 people participated and 20 tunes were played in one hour. That is a ridiculously slow pace of 3 minutes per tune. 8 people, out of an audience of nearly 100. My priority if running this game would be to get in as many players as possible. The only way that would work is to run a "speed" version of the game. My ruleset proposal:
- 6 players chosen per round (the Eggspert buzzer system supports 6 for cheap)
- 20 tunes per round
- Tunes play for 5 (or 10) seconds, a correct answer is 2 points. Incorrect answers are -1 point.
- No second playing
- Request that nobody claps/makes noise until the round is over, like in Jeopardy
- All tune sets prepared beforehand
- Each round has a specific category (openings only, endings only, BGM only, year 2005, all mecha, eroge adaptations, etc.)
With the talk in between, the time for a tune, and possible incorrect answers, each tune would only take up 15 seconds at most. Logistics (name entry, callup, rule overview) would take up to 15 minutes, but after that, you'd be able to have 180 (90 with 10 sec) tunes played in 45 minutes, and 45 players called up. If there was a full house, reducing rounds to 15 tunes to get up to 72 people in would be viable. Almost everyone would participate, so more people would be happy. It would be fast and intense.
An even better idea to involve people is having... TEAM Anime Name Tune. 3 people to a buzzer means that 18 people get called up per round. In that case, rounds or tunes could be even longer. Why hasn't this been tried? Sure, the prizes would be bad, but most people just want a chance to hit the buzzer.
I am so appalled by the current state of the game that I will volunteer myself to run the "speed" version for next year. I am a huge fan of the concept of Name That Tune, and believe that this event can be much better that it currently is. Maybe the people running Anime Name That Tune can respond to this criticism. Thank you for your time.
- 4 players chosen per round
- 10 tunes per round
- Tunes play for 10 seconds on first playing, a correct answer is 3 points during this time
- No correct responses will cause a tune to play for 30 seconds (including the first 10). A correct answer is 1 point during this time.
- Players may only guess once during each playing. No stocking up guesses.
- The audience gets to guess if no contestant answers correctly
With the exception of one tune (Pita-Ten), people either got it in the first five seconds or they didn't get it at all, even with the 30 second playing time on the second try. The execution of the game itself wasn't smooth. After each playing, the host would keep asking if anyone had any guesses, wasting valuable time. He would also recap the scores after every other question even though there was a scoreboard. It was like a FOX game show at its finest.
The people playing the tunes did not have a set list prepared. They would choose the tunes on-the-fly. Among the tunes chosen:
- Forbidden Love OP (this is an 18+ hentai title!)
- ef - the first tale OP (this is an 18+ game which has only been fansubbed. The song playing guy incorrectly claimed it was from ef - a tale of memories, which also has only been fansubbed)
- K-On ED (this hasn't been R1 licensed)
What?! This was totally unfair to the contestants, most of which who appeared to be under 18. Also, I never knew that Anime North was indirectly promoting an illegal activity like fansubbing (aside from the panel). Vic Mignogna would be steaming. There was only one mainstream song, and that was from Inuyasha. Now, rewarding someone for watching niche material is fine and all, but when they make up a large chunk of your tunes, no one is going to be happy. The organizers clearly failed to see this. We got almost no tunes that play on YTV, which is the only source of anime for many young people. The organizers, being middle-aged, clearly did not know their target demographic.
Overall, they got in two rounds, so 8 people participated and 20 tunes were played in one hour. That is a ridiculously slow pace of 3 minutes per tune. 8 people, out of an audience of nearly 100. My priority if running this game would be to get in as many players as possible. The only way that would work is to run a "speed" version of the game. My ruleset proposal:
- 6 players chosen per round (the Eggspert buzzer system supports 6 for cheap)
- 20 tunes per round
- Tunes play for 5 (or 10) seconds, a correct answer is 2 points. Incorrect answers are -1 point.
- No second playing
- Request that nobody claps/makes noise until the round is over, like in Jeopardy
- All tune sets prepared beforehand
- Each round has a specific category (openings only, endings only, BGM only, year 2005, all mecha, eroge adaptations, etc.)
With the talk in between, the time for a tune, and possible incorrect answers, each tune would only take up 15 seconds at most. Logistics (name entry, callup, rule overview) would take up to 15 minutes, but after that, you'd be able to have 180 (90 with 10 sec) tunes played in 45 minutes, and 45 players called up. If there was a full house, reducing rounds to 15 tunes to get up to 72 people in would be viable. Almost everyone would participate, so more people would be happy. It would be fast and intense.
An even better idea to involve people is having... TEAM Anime Name Tune. 3 people to a buzzer means that 18 people get called up per round. In that case, rounds or tunes could be even longer. Why hasn't this been tried? Sure, the prizes would be bad, but most people just want a chance to hit the buzzer.
I am so appalled by the current state of the game that I will volunteer myself to run the "speed" version for next year. I am a huge fan of the concept of Name That Tune, and believe that this event can be much better that it currently is. Maybe the people running Anime Name That Tune can respond to this criticism. Thank you for your time.
