Think you know your tech stuff?
That you’re well-read in science fiction?
Then San Diego-based Sony Online Entertainment Inc. wants to test you with a recent addition to its online gaming site, The Station (www.station.com).
It’s a technology and science fiction-themed version of the “Jeopardy!” game, which borrows its format from the television show.
The Station offers several online versions of Jeopardy! They cover topics from sports to rock ‘n’ roll. Technophiles should look for the one called Techno-Files.
There they will run across categories like Fictional Computers, Send in the Clones, and You Can Be an Astronaut.
In line with the “Jeopardy!” format, online players receive an answer, then try to beat the clock in choosing the correct question.
For example, a player might face a statement like “Astronauts have gone to the Sonny Carter Training Facility where this ‘zero-G’ condition is simulated.” A player will then get four possible questions:
– What is weightlessness?
– What is craft landing?
– What is Mach 3?
– What is exposure to ultrahigh frequency sound waves?
Games on the site range from single-player to multiple-player.
While Jeopardy! Online Techno Files is free, Sony’s Station also offers games by subscription. Its EverQuest role-playing game costs $9.89 per month. Sony Online claims more than 330,000 EverQuest players.
Players are asked to give some demographic information before they play games on The Station, and they see advertising as they stay on the site.
Sony Online officials say The Station serves more than 1 million unique users daily.