Static Zombie

That's pretty cool, but you might be able to get something better for the same price (or less), depending on what about that appeals to you. You can certainly get larger and more flexible lockout buzzer systems (ones that can handle individuals or two teams of 4-5 people each) at that price. Granted, those don't come with the means to display questions on a TV like that.

http://www.decsoftware.com/

They used to call their product "Classroom Jeopardy" but methinks trademark issues reared their head. They also do Tic Tac Dough, Press Your Luck, Millionaire, Weakest Link, and others.

Supports PC gamepads or keyboards to use as lockout buzzers. Seems like it'd be worth a try. For $399 you can buy multiple wireless keyboards or gamepads.

Don

But the software is butt-ugly. It LOOKS like home-brewed rather than professional software. Yuck. That might be adequate for a classroom, but anywhere I'd use it the point would be to convey the feeling of actually being on the game show, insomuch as it's possible to do so without being on the real set. For that you need graphics and sounds that are true to the show.

They point out that they allow you to replace the graphics, sounds, and music with anything you want. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.

I agree, however, that their graphic design leaves much to be desired. You might be able to (with some effort) change the graphics around to scans/captures of the original show, but if the fonts and layout are not up to snuff (which it seems like they're not), then it's still not really going to feel like the original.

However, given that they have a free trial, it seems at least worth downloading and checking out briefly.

For what it's worth, the licensed Classroom Jeopardy gizmo is available for a little less ($369) from a few other vendors.

Actually, it can be had even cheaper. I refer you to Froogle:

http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=classroom+jeopardy

Software issues and price aside, I'm simply fascinated by the idea... can you imagine if every classroom was a competition for knowledge? If a schoolyear was an ongoing campaign, and actually knowing answers was regarded as cool?

Obviously at some point, learning is much more than blurting out the correct answer when prompted. But I still see this a very good step in the right direction.

i disagree. school already stresses memorizing facts over understanding context and meaning. the reasons why european decendants progressed westward across north america is more important than that they made the state fish of washington the steelhead trout.