Split Decision (pricing game)
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Split Decision was a pricing game on the American television game show, The Price Is Right. Lasting from November 9, 1995 to January 16, 1997, it was played for a car and a three-digit prize, worth between $300 and $999.
[edit] Gameplay
The contestant is shown a string of eight digits; five of them belonged in the price of a car, the others in the price of the three-digit item. The digits were placed in the correct order, but not necessarily adjacent to each other.
It was up to the contestant to determine where the digits belonged within a 20-second time limit. He/she did this by moving three number markers to the bottom row of the game board to form a three-digit price. For example, the initial digit string is "16523490;" the contestant moves the 5, 2, and 4 markers to the lower row, forming prices of $16,390 for the car and $524 for the three-digit item.
Upon each guess, the contestant pressed a button to stop the clock. One of two things then happened:
- If the player's prices were correct, he/she won both the car and the smaller prize.
- If the answers were wrong, he/she used the remaining time to make another guess. This process repeated until arriving at the correct answer or until time expired; if the contestant's answers were still wrong at this point, both prizes were lost.
[edit] Rule changes
- Split Decision's clock was removed from the game for a handful of playings during 1996. The contestant was simply given three chances to guess the correct prices. The game reverted to its original format before the game was retired.
[edit] Trivia
The game show community has frequently made Split Decision the butt of jokes because of a disastrous playing in 1996, where two of the numbers fell off the markers. Contrary to popular opinion, this only happened one time.
[edit] Retirement
Split Decision's confusing rules and overall gameplay led to its retirement.
