Page 223 - Demo

Executives boasted that it was %u2018the biggest Australian entertainment export since Crocodile Dundee%u2019.221This Christmas holidays, when families gather round to play classic board games like Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit, Pictionary and even Cluedo, it%u2019s doubtful that Nightmare will get pulled out of the drawer in a hurry. But there was a time when this Australian game was the hottest in the world, and tipped to be one of the most successful board games of all time.It all started when former Simon Townsend%u2019s Wonder World! reporters Brett Clements and Phillip Tanner came up with an idea for a board game that used a video to move the game along. They pitched the idea to Village Roadshow, a%u00a0deal was done, and a year after its release, they had sold a staggering 100,000 games in Australia alone.In the video, a scary gentleman called the Gatekeeper shouts at the players, who cannot stop or pause the tape as they roll the dice and make their way around the board, all while being frightened by an actor who would probably have asked for a higher fee if he%u2019d known how successful the game would be.YEAR 1991DESIGNERS Phillip Tanner and Brett ClementsMANUFACTURER J.W. Spear & SonsThe game tapped into the early world of %u2018interactive%u2019, and by 1993 it had sold 2 million units worldwide. Executives boasted that it was %u2018the biggest Australian entertainment export since Crocodile Dundee%u2019.At the height of Nightmare mania, the game had been released in multiple languages, made%u00a0 the jump to DVD, and even boasted Nightmare Nightclub nights, where fans of the board game danced together and talked about not having a life.In short, it was a highly successful and very clever fad %u2013 one that petered out by the mid1990s. Despite hopes of a movie, all that was left%u00a0 were the memories of Aussie families screaming %u2018Yes, my Gatekeeper!%u2019 at the old colour telly while the VHS tape whirred, in desperate need of some tracking.