So Overhyped! (The Cube)

Member Name: DocDan3

Product:	The Cube
Date:	31/08/09 (51 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Unique, Modern Feel, Large Cash Prizes, Still A Light Informal & Jokey Atmosphere

Disadvantages: So Overhyped, Nothing Too Special, Advertising Made It Sound More Exciting Than It Is

The Cube is a new television gameshow hosted by Philip Schofield on ITV 1. It follows the X Factor on Saturdays and was on last Saturday at 9.15pm. It was advertised a lot and it was made out to look really good with enormous physical challenges due to the filming showing players struggling through a slow frame rate video. It looked as if they were facing immense pressure or winds or something, whereas the gameshow in reality consists of simple games in a Perspex cube.

You can apply to play on The Cube in order to win cash prizes. The prizes are as follows: £1000, £2000, £10,000, £20,000, £100,000, £250,000. After each game, you earn the next cash prize but the games get increasingly hard too and you only have 9 lives to complete the games. From the beginning you have a 'simplify' to use, which simplifies the game to make it easier. After the first game and winning £1000, you can use a 'trial run', which enables the player to try the game but if they complete it, it doesn't count and if they fail, they don't lose a life.

Games are quite simple. Here's a short list of a few that I can remember:

1. Walking in a straight line diagonally across the cube from one end to the other without going over the lines. The player who did this took tiny steps, which was stupid as there was more room for error. As soon as I saw it, it was obvious to just quickly walk straight to the other side.

2. Placing a ball in one end of a long slanted tube and catching it when it comes out the other end without touching the tube. You need quick reactions and a good catching ability. The man in the end decided to hit the ball in the air when it came out so he could catch it easier.

3. Counting squares on a floor in a given time limit. It sounds easy but the player mis-counted several times and used the 'simplify' to get a longer time limit.

Throughout the gameshow, Philip Schofield plays along with the players when he makes it out to sound so weirdly challenging once the player steps in the cube. There is this whole thing about how it's considerably harder when you're by yourself in the cube and it's 'not as easy as it looks' once in there. This stupid point is rubbed in the whole time, and as a viewer I don't really care, and the way it's constantly repeated as if the cube has some sort of mystical powers is a bit annoying. The gameshow has a very modern feel to it and a girl in a mask demonstrates each game. They say that 'state-of-the-art filming techniques illustrate the intense pressure they feel as each test unfolds', which is just ridiculous and makes it sound much more exciting than it is. The only 'techniques' they use are slowing down the camera frame rate to watch the precise moments of each challenge. It's not as great as it sounds but it's a unique gameshow and quite fun to watch once or twice.

Thanks for reading,

Dan ©

Summary: An original yet overhyped gameshow