You Don't Know Jack (1995 Video Game)
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''You Don't Know Jack'' is a
video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
released in 1995 by Jellyvision, later
Jackbox Games Jackbox Games, Inc. (formerly Jellyvision Games, Inc.) is an American video game developer based in Chicago, Illinois, best known for the '' You Don't Know Jack'' series of quiz-based party video games and ''The Jackbox Party Pack'' series. Fou ...
, and is the first release in the '' You Don't Know Jack'' video game series.


History

Prior to developing ''You Don't Know Jack'', Learn Television was a company focused on children's educational films. The company had begun experimenting with interactive media experiences for education, including their game ''That's a Fact, Jack!'', a quiz game on young adult literature, which garnered attention from
Berkeley Systems Berkeley Systems was a San Francisco Bay Area software company co-founded in 1987 by Wes Boyd and Joan Blades. It made money early on by performing contract work for the National Institutes of Health, specifically in making modifications to th ...
who later reached out to Learn Television. In an interview, Harry Nathan Gottlieb, the founder of Learn Television which would later be rebranded as Jellyvision Games and then Jackbox Games, shared the following origin story for ''You Don't Know Jack!'':
" gor Gasowski of Berkeley Systems hadseen ''That's a Fact, Jack!'' and asked me, "You know, can you do this kind of same quiz game, but as adult entertainment?" (Not that kind of adult entertainment -- you know, entertainment for adults.) I was not particularly interested in doing it, I'm not somebody who loves trivia games. But he kept bugging me about it, and then I had this conversation with my brother, who was my roommate at the time, his name is Tom Gottlieb. I'm like, "How can we make a trivia game funny?," cause if we could make a trivia game funny than it might be cool to do. Then we had this idea: what if you could combine pop culture and high culture in the same question? What if there was a question about, like, both Shakespeare and ''The Brady Bunch''. We started to come up with some questions for it and that led to this game called ''You Don't Know Jack'', which was a trivia game for adults. But it was ''funny''."
Igor Gasowski would end up serving as the executive producer of the game.


Reception

Sales of ''You Don't Know Jack'' surpassed 250,000 units by May 1996. According to market research firm
PC Data PC Data was an American market research and point of sale tracking firm founded in 1991 and based in Reston, Virginia. Its founder, Ann Stephens, had worked previously as the head researcher for the Software Publishers Association. Initially, th ...
, it was the 17th-best-selling computer game in the United States that year. Reviewing the Macintosh version of the original ''You Don't Know Jack'', a '' Next Generation'' critic praised the social nature of the game and the witty presentation. Calling it "An excellent, hip piece of work", he gave it three out of five stars. ''
MacUser ''MacUser'' was a monthly (formerly biweekly) computer magazine published by Dennis Publishing Ltd. and licensed by Felden in the UK. It ceased publication in 2015. In 1985 Felix Dennis’ Dennis Publishing, the creators of MacUser in the UK, l ...
'' named ''You Don't Know Jack'' the best strategy game of 1995. Less favorably, Ed Lomas of ''
Computer and Video Games ''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') is a British-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot web ...
'' found the title enjoyable, also felt the PC game format was unsuitable for an "after-pub game" like ''You Don't Know Jack'': "there aren't going to be many people who will want to bother setting up their PC after a drinking session." To Lomas, it also did not help the jokes felt labored, "the kind of humour that will only appeal to 35-year-olds who think
Hale and Pace Hale and Pace were an English comedy double-act that performed in clubs and on radio and television in the United Kingdom in the 1980s and 1990s. The duo was made up of Gareth Hale and Norman Pace, with the ''Hale and Pace'' television show ...
are funny". ''You Don't Know Jack'' won ''
Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American Video game journalism, computer game magazine that was published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 199 ...
''s award for the best "Classics/Puzzles" game of 1995. The editors wrote that "it's great fun watching people whiff on answers at parties", and that "anyone who's ever wanted to see game shows skewered will have a ball with this." It won ''
Computer Game Review ''Computer Game Review'' was a print monthly magazine covering both computer gaming and video gaming. The magazine was started in 1991. Also known as ''Computer Game Review and 16-Bit Entertainment'', and then later as ''Computer Game Review and ...
''s 1995 "Puzzle Game of the Year" award. The editors wrote, "''You Don’t Know Jack'' did more than simply provide a fun way to spend time at the computer. It also broke a lot of conventions including the need for flashy graphics to have an exciting game." ''You Don't Know Jack'' also received ''Computer Game Review''s "Best Voiceover Work of the Year" prize. In 1996, ''
Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American Video game journalism, computer game magazine that was published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 199 ...
'' declared ''You Don't Know Jack'' the 75th-best computer game ever released.


''You Don't Know Jack XL''

''You Don't Know Jack XL'' compiles the first ''You Don't Know Jack'' volume with an additional Question Pack. ''You Don't Know Jack XL'' won ''Macworld''s 1996 "Best Party Game" award.
Steven Levy Steven Levy (born 1951) is an American journalist and editor at large for '' Wired'' who has written extensively for publications on computers, technology, cryptography, the internet, cybersecurity, and privacy. He is the author of the 1984 boo ...
of the magazine wrote, "When it comes to creating a great party game that works on the computer, many have tried, and most have failed. Finally, fueled by
MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
energy and
Generation X Generation X (often shortened to Gen X) is the Demography, demographic Cohort (statistics), cohort following the Baby Boomers and preceding Millennials. Researchers and popular media often use the mid-1960s as its starting birth years and the ...
cultural radar, there's ''You Don't Know Jack''." It also won the 1996
Spotlight Awards The Spotlight Awards was hosted annually by the Game Developers Conference (GDC) from 1997 to 1999. Its focus was on the video and computer game industry. GDC now hosts another video game award ceremony called Game Developers Choice Awards since ...
for "Best Trivia or Puzzle Game" and "Best Script, Story or Interactive Writing" from the
Game Developers Conference The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual conference for video game developers. The event includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows like the Game Developers Choice Award for Game of the Year, Game Developers Choice Awards and ...
. The game received a score of 4.5 out of 5 from ''
MacUser ''MacUser'' was a monthly (formerly biweekly) computer magazine published by Dennis Publishing Ltd. and licensed by Felden in the UK. It ceased publication in 2015. In 1985 Felix Dennis’ Dennis Publishing, the creators of MacUser in the UK, l ...
'', whose editors named it one of 1996's top 50 CD-ROMs.


References

{{You Don't Know Jack 1995 video games Berkeley Systems games Classic Mac OS games PlayStation (console) games Video games developed in the United States Windows games You Don't Know Jack (franchise)