Suck

for 2 July 1996. Updated every TUESDAY.



	*Wink Martindale meets ETrade**
	... on the Web!

	Online investing promises to be the 21st
	century equivalent of Lotto...
	digisquares.com adds the zingy game-show
	format to net.stock speculation - the sum
	is pure fun!

	If the future of networked media hinges on
	the illusion of interactive community,
	the value leader for the medium is
	clearly games. Already, the Ids, Bungies,
	Segas, and Imagination Networks of the
	world are dredging the talent pool in
	anticipation for this space-age
	opportunity. But while they're puzzling
	out methods to conquer latency times and
	turn the Web into a
	rocket-launcher-enhanced virtual
	bloodbath, the true value of traditional
	game programming shouldn't be overlooked.
	The old standards, those beacons of
	hilarity, hope, and histrionics - gems
	like the Price is Right and Wheel of
	Fortune - are the oracles of our
	programming projections. The unique
	digisquares.com insight is that, on the
	Web, the common currency is not Buick
	Skylarks, it's securities!



	The gaming elements of digisquares.com
	will be everything legions of webheads are
	yearning for: a challenge suited to their
	particular knowledge, new media
	celebrities, networking opportunities par
	excellence, and the peerless prospect of
	aggressively building their investment
	portfolios while having a wonderful
	entertainment experience. Our pilot
	vehicle appropriates the brilliance of
	Hollywood Squares, drawing on borderline
	net.personalities for humor, and
	substituting the tic-tac-toe playing
	board for a bit mask grid. The game can
	be accessed and played anytime, as
	questions and celebrity answers (all
	related to the net and net stock
	valuations) are assembled in advance to
	game play. Special events would include
	high-profile CEOs wagering portions of
	their own stakes, feature segments which
	allow participants to bet against
	emerging IPOs (a la The Price is Right),
	and gala year-end finales with grand
	prizes including ownership of an entire
	company. Departing contestants receive
	more humble prizes, such as signed,
	vintage 2400-baud modems of the networked
	stars and, possibly, shares in the
	Digital Hollywood Squares Company itself.

	The production cycle for the first season
	would not be dissimilar to that of a
	middling-grade CD-ROM project. A vast
	database of questions and answers would
	entail a 30-60 day round of filming.
	Concurrently, the limp performance of
	net-based tech stocks could be
	capitalized upon by purchasing large
	blocks of securities during
	digisquares.com's development stages, and
	using the few that perform exceptionally
	well to fund late production and
	continuing implementation. Exclusive
	contracts with obscure figures such as
	Cliff Stoll, Stephen Levy, and R.U.
	Sirius could be had for ridiculously low
	amounts. Similarly, the digisquares.com
	host could be someone whose current
	career might be characterized as
	"off-peak" - Adam Curry comes highly
	recommended.

courtesy of The Duke of URL