It may not have been the first netgame, but it was definitely the most popular and one of the longest-lasting netgames of all time. In October of 1995, Net Price Is Right premiered on alt.tv.game-shows, a brain child of Jay Lewis and Randy Amasia. It would be a few years before the web page brought graphical design to the text-based show.
Hosted by Jay Lewis and announced on a regular basis by Doug Morris, Net Price Is Right took the excitment and fun of the classic Mark Goodson TV show and kicked it up several notches. There were bigger prizes and bigger winners. To give an example, the first-ever winner, Joe Capitano, won over $105,000 in prizes, including a Lincoln Continental.
Even our own Chris Wolvie won over $116,000, including a Hong Kong trip and a BMW...not too mention the ridicule of Jay for his long speeches.
But it wasn't just about the prizes. It was about the fun that was had by everyone associated with it. Jay can tell you that it was as much fun to run the game as it was for others to play it.
It also showed off people's creativity by introducing brand-new NPIR-only pricing games like "Cash Cards", "Stamp Out" and "This Way & That". Also, games were rarely "retired" on NPIR; even games like "Give or Keep" and "Bump" got airplay.
After ten years and sixty shows, Jay decided to retire from the hosting business and Episode 60 was the last one, giving away over half-a-million dollars in cash and prizes. In all, over 15 million cyber-dollars were given away over the ten-year span.
Now, we commemorate and celebrate this wonderful game...and give the host a chance to play it himself for a change. (NOTE: Jay, I hope I make you proud.)