Scene It? For the Whole Family

Published November 8, 2007

Remember gathering around the family room with Mom, Dad, brothers and sisters for a spirited game of Monopoly, Clue, LIFE, or any number of other classic board games? It was a traditional, universally accepted, easily understood and usually uproarious good time for all involved, and while there are many Xbox 360® games that can bring family and friends together no matter their gaming background, Scene It?® Lights, Camera, Action may soon top the list.

These Big Button Pads are fun.

This movie-based trivia game has taken the Internet and living rooms across the nation by storm, and now Xbox 360 owners can finally get their hands on it in the form of their own custom adaptation that plays to the strengths of the console.

Whether with friends in a dorm room or with Mom, Dad and Grandma at home, anyone can pick up a Big Button Pad controller and immediately feel at home.

Big Button
The four Big Button Pad controllers that come bundled with Scene It? accomplish two important goals. First, the simplified controller design eliminates any confusion for non-gamers while still allowing you to navigate the menus with the same functionality as a standard controller (the "big button" also doubles as a D-pad). Secondly, it allows the game to adopt a gameshow structure where players can "buzz in" with the big button, or answer questions on the fly with A, B, X, and Y, depending on the situation.

Trivia Structure
Scene It? provides two distinct modes of play with up to four players in either of the available modes, Play Now and Party Play. Play Now offers the more competitive mode, where contestants' answers are blocked from view of the other players, and a narrator helpfully guides you through the various categories. Play Now also includes the popular "buzz in" questions, where a quick tap of the big button grants the fastest player first crack at answering a question.

An easy one to get you started.

By contrast, Party Play is a bit more relaxed, laid back, and streamlined. The narrator takes a backseat during Party Play, allowing for faster access to the question categories and each player's answer is highlighted on-screen as it is selected.

Category Time
Where other trivia games use a simplified question and answer format, Scene It? takes full advantage of its interactive, movie-inspired format to bring to life several unique ways to pose questions to the players.

• Clip Study: In this category, players are required to study a movie clip of one to two minutes in length, and answer a series of related questions following the clip. For example, you might be asked the names of the actors involved, to identify a prop in the background, the director of the movie or even simply to name the film in question.
• Invisibles: The game asks you to identify a movie based on a picture where crucial items, such as the actors, have been removed from the frame.
• Child's Play: A series of hand-drawn pictures depicts a famous film sequence, such as Cary Grant fleeing the plane in North by Northwest, and requires you to identify the movie.
• Quotables: The players are given the beginning of a famous film quote along with a related picture, and asked to finish the line based on the available options.
• Puzzle Picture: A jumbled and incomplete picture is slowly filled in as each player attempts to identify the actor.

Recognize this?

No matter the category, points are awarded based on the correct answer and how quickly each correct answer was given. The gulf between an immediate correct answer and one placed just before the timer goes off is measured in the hundreds of points, so speed matters. 

Ample Replay
The common concern for replay value among trivia gamers is the depth of available questions and categories, but with nearly two thousand questions and over twenty distinct categories, Scene It? is brimming with content right out of the box. The game tracks every question as it is asked, ensuring that repeat questions are few and far between. There's also some obvious potential for downloadable expansion packs courtesy of Xbox LIVE® Marketplace, so there's no need to concern yourself over replayability.

Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action has all the makings of a blockbuster casual game experience. Whether with friends in a dorm room or with Mom, Dad and Grandma at home, anyone can pick up a Big Button Pad controller and immediately feel at home. Get your thumbs ready.

Article by Ryan Treit