I just finished playing Xbox Live’s edition of 1 vs 100 Beta.

I’ve had my Xbox 360 offline for a while. I get some games, beat them, rack up a disgusting amount of gamer points and sneak up on Daribus with my fattened Gamerscore. The only reason I plugged the network back in was I was afraid someone hacked my Live account, which wouldn’t be the first time.

The first thing that popped up was an update. An update which probably had something to do with the 1 vs 100 game but I can’t be sure.

Then the spotlight said something about 1 vs 100, which I’d heard of but then again I don’t watch much TV – just very specific shows. Perhaps it’s not as popular in Canada as in the US.

It took me a while to figure out that the game is played within a certain timeframe on certain days, exactly like a television game show. In fact, this game represents a fresh approach to online gaming. It’s a Massively Multiplayer Online Game Show. This beta is exclusively Canadian, featuring Canadian trivia (and yes, it includes an inordinate number of hockey related questions). The finished version or “Season One” will launch in North America and Europe sometime between now and June 21, 2009 (Game details page claims Spring 2009).

I played with my whole family and it was oddly entertaining for everyone. I’d experienced similar gameplay before from titles like Scene It!, but the scale of this game was obvious from the 7000 other players I was competing against.

According to xbox.com’s 1 vs 100 Game Details page, there are prizes to be had which includes a laptop and an Xbox 360 (which seems odd since theoretically you must already own one to compete…).

The different versions of 1 vs 100 are 1 vs 100 Live and 1 vs 100 Extended Play. 1 vs 100 Live is a two-hour game with a live host in which players may be selected for high-profile roles like the Mob and The One. 1 vs 100 Extended Play is a fast-paced, half-hour show—the more you play, the better your chances of being picked as the Mob or The One in 1 vs 100 Live!

Could this be the start of a new genre of games? I smell a MMOGS Jeopardy in the works.

More details available here: http://www.xbox.com/en-CA/live/1vs100/