Bow down to the Quiz Wiz
As a young, inquisitive kid, I had a penchant for soaking up facts like a sponge, and anything that involved games and quizzes had a special place in my heart. One item that had me intrigued was the "Quiz Wiz." I can vividly recall my desire to have one, even though, alas, I never did get my hands on it. Instead, I ended up with a substantial set of Funk & Wagnall Encyclopedia that proved to be a loyal companion throughout my high school years.
The Quiz Wiz, released in 1979 by Coleco, was a portable electronic quiz game that operated on a single 9V battery. Its interface was delightfully straightforward: a numeric keypad, four letter keys, and buttons labeled "Answer" and "Clear" to input your responses. There was also a "Yes" or "No" indicator to let you know if your answers hit the mark or veered off course.
What made the Quiz Wiz even more captivating was the way it served up questions. It relied on a combination of books and cartridges, which you plugged into your trusty Quiz Wiz. With each new book or cartridge, you embarked on a fresh quiz adventure. The starter package came equipped with one such companion, aptly named "1001 Questions." But the real charm lay in the fact that Coleco continued to release a host of additional quizzes, each catering to different interests and areas of knowledge.
The array of quizzes on offer was, in a word, impressive. Among the titles that caught my eye was “Monsters, Vampires, Witches, and Ghosts.” These were the kind of quizzes that could ignite the imagination of an eager young mind. I often found myself daydreaming about diving into these captivating realms of knowledge, all courtesy of the Quiz Wiz.
While I might not have had the pleasure of owning a Quiz Wiz, I can't help but feel a sense of nostalgia for this charming piece of electronic gaming history. It's a reminder of a time when learning and play could blend seamlessly, sparking curiosity and excitement in young minds like mine.
1001 Questions
The World of Sports
Movies and TV
People and Places
Trivia
Music and Books
Math Mania
The Book of Lists
Greatest Sports Legends
Super Heroes
Disaster! When Nature Strikes Back
The Ocean – Mankind’s Last Frontier
Energy – The Fuel of Life
How Things Work- Aerosols to Zippers
NBA Teams
NFL
MLB
Guiness Book of World – Volume 1
Guiness Book of World – Volume 2
Sherlock Holmes & Other Famous Mysteries
Greatest Sports Legends – Volume II
Monsters, Vampires, Witches and Ghosts
Words – Used, Misused and Confused
Super Trivia – Movies and TV
Rock N Roll – Doo Wop to Disco
The Bible – The Old and New Testaments
Soap Opera Digest
Ripley’s Believe it or Not
Celebrity Trivia
Fascinating Facts about Animals
The advertising campaign was memorable. Here is one of the original commercials for the game.
In the nineties, Tiger Electronics revived the Quiz Wiz. The technology looked slightly updated, but overall it looked to be the same gaming system. Naturally since it was the nineties, the advertising, which featuring “The Wise Guy” was a just a little but more “extreme.”
