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Friends of mine created a popular video game that was run on live TV around the world ("Hugo the TV Troll"). The first version was made for the Amiga. They did

Friends of mine created a popular video game that was run on live TV around the world ("Hugo the TV Troll"). The first version was made for the Amiga. They didn't want the networks to know this because it would not have been accepted as a tv-quality signal, so they got a big flight case on wheels, put the Amiga in there, put a lock and break-out panel on the back, saying that this was a corporate secrecy measure. Networks bought it :-)

ekianjo 5y ago
Yeah I remember that program. When I saw it it immediately felt like that was something that was probably running on an Amiga, glad to see a confirmation.
myth_drannon 5y ago
I used to watch it in the 90's on Israeli TV!
- fsloth 5y ago
  I watched it in Finnish TV too! I never realized what a global phenomena it apparently was :D https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_(game_show) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_(game_show)
- pmarin 5y ago
  It also became popular here in Spain.
chiph 5y ago
I never saw the program, but it's a pretty cool concept, using a phone as a controller for live broadcast game-play. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3MSE8Kde9w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3MSE8Kde9w
- joezydeco 5y ago
  Go back a generation before that and check out TV POWWWW. Yes, this was pretty hi-tech for 1979: https://retrobitch.wordpress.com/2017/06/16/tv-poww-the-earliest-televised-video-game-competition-from-the-70s/ https://retrobitch.wordpress.com/2017/06/16/tv-poww-the-earl...
the_af 5y ago
I remember Hugo! It was shown on TV for young kids here in Argentina, so I wasn't its target audience (and never really paid attention to it). I never would have guessed it ran on an Amiga!
Grustaf 5y ago
I remember when I first heard the rumour that Hugo was made on the Amiga, very cool. Looks like you're Danish, but I always thought it was Swedish?
- kristiandupont 5y ago
  It was Danish indeed :-)
agumonkey 5y ago
Holy ... This thing was a cultural smash at the time.
unixhero 5y ago
I just want to say Hugo the TV troll was so much fun to watch in the early 90s as a kid. I used to always wonder why all the people who dialled into the talk show to play the game sucked so much at the game itself, but I am sure this was because of a massive input lag. Later I got the game for my PC and played it with my younger cousins and they loved it to bits as well. There was something so playable about it and the graphics were magical to the watch for young minds. Awesome story you have about the origins of the game :) Cheers.
- kristiandupont 5y ago
  Yes, latency. I joined some of the same people later in a spawned-off company that created a similar concept called The Nelly Nut Show (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0346350/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0346350/). We had serious issues selling to the US because there was a required delay of 7 seconds on live shows so that any cursing could be bleeped out. Silly Americans :-D
rasz 5y ago
There was similar concept/copycat game running on Polish TV in late nineties. Between 24 and 6 a premium number letting you call in and waste money playing some fishing? or submarine? game with random prizes.
marcodiego 5y ago
There was also a "Clube do Hugo" in Brazil! Never would have guessed it ran on an Amiga, by that time PC's were already commonplace. Brazil is a Huge country, but I think most telephone lines at the time were analog, so the delay was likely small enough to allow it.
harel 5y ago
I used to love Hugo! Always called the station as a kid hoping I get to play with my phone keypad.
bitwize 5y ago
When the Video Toaster came out, many production companies had committed to the Mac platform, and pressured NewTek into releasing a Video Toaster for Mac product. Such a product did come out, in the form of a box that plugged into the Mac's SCSI port with a "special keyboard" for "special commands". The box was, of course, a Toaster-equipped Amiga 2000 with its badge covered by a Video Toaster badge, and the "special keyboard" was the Amiga's keyboard.
pjmlp 5y ago
I can tell you it was quite popular in Portugal, keeping kids busy during the afternoon.

ekianjo 5y ago

Yeah I remember that program. When I saw it it immediately felt like that was something that was probably running on an Amiga, glad to see a confirmation.

myth_drannon 5y ago

I used to watch it in the 90's on Israeli TV!

fsloth 5y ago
I watched it in Finnish TV too! I never realized what a global phenomena it apparently was :D https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_(game_show) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_(game_show)
pmarin 5y ago
It also became popular here in Spain.

chiph 5y ago

I never saw the program, but it's a pretty cool concept, using a phone as a controller for live broadcast game-play. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3MSE8Kde9w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3MSE8Kde9w

joezydeco 5y ago
Go back a generation before that and check out TV POWWWW. Yes, this was pretty hi-tech for 1979: https://retrobitch.wordpress.com/2017/06/16/tv-poww-the-earliest-televised-video-game-competition-from-the-70s/ https://retrobitch.wordpress.com/2017/06/16/tv-poww-the-earl...

the_af 5y ago

I remember Hugo! It was shown on TV for young kids here in Argentina, so I wasn't its target audience (and never really paid attention to it). I never would have guessed it ran on an Amiga!

Grustaf 5y ago

I remember when I first heard the rumour that Hugo was made on the Amiga, very cool. Looks like you're Danish, but I always thought it was Swedish?

kristiandupont 5y ago
It was Danish indeed :-)

agumonkey 5y ago

Holy ... This thing was a cultural smash at the time.

unixhero 5y ago

I just want to say Hugo the TV troll was so much fun to watch in the early 90s as a kid. I used to always wonder why all the people who dialled into the talk show to play the game sucked so much at the game itself, but I am sure this was because of a massive input lag. Later I got the game for my PC and played it with my younger cousins and they loved it to bits as well. There was something so playable about it and the graphics were magical to the watch for young minds. Awesome story you have about the origins of the game :) Cheers.

kristiandupont 5y ago
Yes, latency. I joined some of the same people later in a spawned-off company that created a similar concept called The Nelly Nut Show (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0346350/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0346350/). We had serious issues selling to the US because there was a required delay of 7 seconds on live shows so that any cursing could be bleeped out. Silly Americans :-D

rasz 5y ago

There was similar concept/copycat game running on Polish TV in late nineties. Between 24 and 6 a premium number letting you call in and waste money playing some fishing? or submarine? game with random prizes.

marcodiego 5y ago

There was also a "Clube do Hugo" in Brazil! Never would have guessed it ran on an Amiga, by that time PC's were already commonplace. Brazil is a Huge country, but I think most telephone lines at the time were analog, so the delay was likely small enough to allow it.

harel 5y ago

I used to love Hugo! Always called the station as a kid hoping I get to play with my phone keypad.

bitwize 5y ago

When the Video Toaster came out, many production companies had committed to the Mac platform, and pressured NewTek into releasing a Video Toaster for Mac product. Such a product did come out, in the form of a box that plugged into the Mac's SCSI port with a "special keyboard" for "special commands". The box was, of course, a Toaster-equipped Amiga 2000 with its badge covered by a Video Toaster badge, and the "special keyboard" was the Amiga's keyboard.

pjmlp 5y ago

I can tell you it was quite popular in Portugal, keeping kids busy during the afternoon.