Beatles Trivial Pursuit

I guess my first topic will be Beatles Trivial Pursuit. It seems to be a hot topic right now! I've heard good things. I've heard bad things...but I've been playing the game fairly regularly for nearly a month now, so I'm definitely a fan of it!

I've heard people say that the rules are confusing. I've heard that the questions should have been easier, especially to accommodate more casual fans. I've heard that the six categories should have been different. Here are my thoughts:

I've never had any problem with the rules. I found it to be quite easy to figure out...there's not that many differences, I don't think. The bonus track adds a new dynamic, including a one-on-one challenge feature and an opportunity to move a successful player away from where they're going in order to promote fairness! Someone I know pointed out something to me, though...you can completely leave that bit out if you'd like and it doesn't interfere at all with the game! If you don't like it, you can avoid it.

As far as the difficulty of the trivia is concerned, I was afraid it would be too easy [until I heard Bruce Spizer was writing 'em]! I am absolutely THRILLED that it's hard, including the really far-out and obscure facts! I don't mind getting questions wrong and learning new things. If I already knew every single thing, I don't know how fun it would be after playing it for several years. At that point, it would just be the luck of the roll...but this game will endure forever because there is so much difficult material and learning involved. It's fun to get every question right, of course, but it's more fun to grow and learn.

Also, I'm not a casual fan! I don't think it should accommodate casual fans, especially because I've seen casual fans also enjoy the game! They may not get many answers right, but they learn A LOT and have a great time playing! Rather than lowering the difficulty and bumming out the REAL fans, I think they made the right decision in making the casual fans raise their level of passion to meet the hardcore fanatics. That's how you're going to gain more fans, you know!

I will agree that the levels of difficulty are strange at times. There have been some "easy" questions that have completely stumped me. There have been some "hard" questions that have been a complete breeze! I guess it all depends on each fanatic's area(s) of interest. Hmm...

The categories are interesting to me. My favorite is definitely orange...the movies! I am a visual person, so answering detailed questions about the films is actually easier than answering detailed questions about lyrics, even though I've known every word of every song inside and out all of my life! I also think that the "On Their Own" questions are important too because my love for those lads does not end at their break-up! I'm very thrilled they've got that category, even though it's not "The Beatles."

The importance of the "Songs" category is obvious...though they were much more than a band, they were indeed a band. The music is crucial. I also like the history category, though I hate "history" as a general subject. Whereas the historical significance of wars and old conquerors doesn't thrill me at all, the background and back-stories of the lads and their music is very significant!

The pink category is just as important as the purple one to me. If you know enough about the songs, you obviously have played them a lot...so naturally, you should know about the albums and the singles! These are the formats in which they were given to us and the formats in which many fans still prefer to hear them. I will admit that it's my worst subject, though. It's hard to keep the differences between the U.S. and the U.K. straight, I cannot lie!

The Beatles In America is a bit weird to me. Although their invasion of America is perhaps the most important thing that ever happened to them, I do wonder about all of the non-American fans. I'm sure they also recognize the importance of America for their career, but I'm not sure how much of the details are available to them. If I don't even know what hotels they stayed at in which cities on which tours, how are non-Americans going to be able to even GUESS!? They might not have even heard of all of these cities. There's a lot of obscure stuff in this category...but, like I said, America was perhaps the most important part of their entire career. I'm not necessarily saying it didn't deserve to be a category...just one that surprised me.

I guess that's all I've got to say for now. What do you all think of it? A "Merry Goo Year" to you all...