Deal Or No Deal Computer Views

General Goods

Deal or No Deal is a video game based upon the television show Deal or No Deal. It has been released for the PC, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Wii and is available as a DVD TV game. There are two different versions available; one is the United States version and the other is the United Kingdom version.

Deal or No Deal presents a bit of a conundrum. Yes, it's a fairly accurate PC-game rendition of the uberpopular NBC game show starring Mr. St. Elsewhere himself, Howie Mandel, and yes, it is a budget-priced game. Fans of the game show are likely to squeal with delight at the prospect of being able to play their favorite game at home--but before you run out and drop a twin on this one, stop and think. Think to yourself, why? Why pay for a Deal or No Deal game, when dozens of free flash games with the same formula exist (on NBC's Web site, at that)? Is it for the cheap, lousy minigames included? Is it for the promise of multiplayer action? Is it because you're hopelessly in love with Howie Mandel's soul patch? Ponder these questions as we delve deeper into the enigma that is the value of owning Deal or No Deal.

But is that enough to make Deal or No Deal worth paying for? Hardly. Sure, it's amusing for the first one or two plays, and maybe there's a bit of devious amusement to be had with the custom prize mode, but the fact remains that the necessity of owning a Deal or No Deal game just isn't there. There isn't even that level of trivial skill involved that you tend to get with most game show games, because there's no trivial knowledge required. There's no skill required at all! You're just picking random numbers and hoping for the best. It's all well and good to watch on TV when there's real money involved, and there's nothing wrong with playing something like this for free on the Internet. But actually going to the trouble of paying for a fake-money version of it? That's a poor deal any way you slice it.