The Legend - Buck Hysen

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Sky play

For those of you who love sport (especially football) but do not yet have access to Sky Sports, you really are missing out on some great television coverage.

Sky sports have already revolutionized how the viewer watches sport over the past 10 years. The introduction of Monday night football a few years ago, in which ex Everton and Aston Villa striker Andy Gray scrutinizes every goal, mistake and fine piece of skill from the weekend before, has given the television football viewer a different perspective of how to look at the game.

Then came the introduction of sky sports active, which once again led the way in modern technology, and allowed the viewer to interact with the match (whether it be football, rugby or cricket) he or she was watching.

Allowing the viewer to view the squads, league tables, form guide and general stats at the touch of a button was already a nice feature, but also allowing the viewer to change camera angles, view one player at a time and also check highlights of the match put sky sports head and shoulders above any other channel in terms of a viewers interaction with sport. Whilst also giving the viewer much more control over how and how much the viewer wanted to watch (i.e. if you don't want to sit and watch a certain match you can switch the channel on after 85 minutes and just watch the highlights, without waiting for them to show it).

I've been a sky sports subscriber since the very start and have been hugely impressed with most of the ideas that the channel has introduced over the years, but in this guide I want to talk about their latest idea, and also what I feel is one of their very best ideas. sky play.

Sky play is a fantastic new game which allows the viewer to become a part of the Premiership match he or she is watching. Obviously there is no way that you can effect what is happening on the pitch. But the game very much allows you to take part in what is happening in front of you.

Once onto the Sky Sports channel you activate Sky play by pressing the red button on your Sky remote control, and then pressing to play Sky play.
From there you can either go straight into the game, view the terms and conditions or take a look at the rules.

Below is a guide as to what you need to do to take part in Sky play.

Read the rules
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If you have never played the game before it is advisable to read the rules. You may think you are a football expert and that you don't need to do this simple task. But believe me there is a lot to this game and reading the rules will seriously advance your chances of winning a prize.

The Prizes
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There are 50 cash prizes up for grabs (More if the 50th placed viewers have the same score). The viewer who totals the most points during the course of a match picks up a healthy £3,000. Not bad for 90 minutes work.
The next 49 placed viewers pick up £50.
Some of you may think this is not much of a prize, but I have taken part in 3 games so far, and although I have yet to win a prize I have got my score into the top 100 on 2 occasions, so winning something looks likely at some point in the future. (AMENDED: I have now won 3 x £50 prizes since writing this)

Before the match kicks off
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The game opens for viewers to play approximately 30 minutes before kick off. If you have never played the game before this gives you plenty of time to view the rules and terms and conditions. (Something I would recommend to first timers)

Once you have done this you are advised to make sure your phone line is connected to your Sky box (This needs to be connected for your score to be registered after the final whistle).

At this point let me just say that there is a slight contradiction in the rules to the game. I had been told by a friend, before I took part in my first Sky play game that I needed to be connected to my phone line throughout the 90 minutes of the match. Although I had been told that the cost of the game was only £1.50 in total, the rules clearly state that the cost to play was £1.50 a minute.
This, as you can guess put me off the game in a big way, I was expecting a huge phone charge after 90 minutes and wasn't keen on taking part at first, although another section of the rules states that you do not need to stay connected to your phone line and that the cost of the game cannot go higher that £1.50.

Once you are sure you want to take part in the game, it's time to proceed.

Pre match predictions
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Before the game even kicks off and once you have entered the game screen you are presented with four options (2 of these allow you to view the rules and terms and conditions again at any time)

The top option is the SCOREBOARD, this screen basically tells you what has happened during the game and what predictions you have made. (This screen is not needed until at least half time).

The 2nd option is for your pre match PREDICTIONS.
Before the match starts you are given a number of things to make a prediction on. These include time of first goal, time of first corner, score at half time, first player booked and first player to score.

From these choices you can make your predictions by following the on screen prompts (I won't go into detail here as it is extremely easy to use).

Once these predictions are made you can go back and view them, check your predictions from the scoreboard option or change your predictions.
Whilst you are waiting for the match to start, a small bar appears every so often which informs you how long you have left to complete your predictions.

Once you have done all this, there is nothing left to do until the match starts. So just sit back and relax.

The match
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This is by far the most exciting and interesting part of the game, and believe me if you want a good score you really need to be on your toes and fully concentrated on the game in front of you.

From the moment you enter Sky play a small bar appears at the top of the screen with three sections. Your score, and two hot shot sections.
Once the game kicks off you are given 15 red hot shots per half. And 2 green hot shots.
The red hot shots are to be used whenever you think something is going to happen in front of goal.
To execute a red hot shot you press the red button on your sky controller whenever you think a shot at goal or a corner is going to happen. Once you have pressed the red button, a goal or corner has to happen within 10 seconds (A small decreasing bar informs you of the time). You receive points for a goal, a shot at goal or a corner kick (You will score more points for pressing the red button 9 or 10 seconds before one of these incidents, than if you were to press it just 1 or 2 seconds before the incident).

The green hot shots are to be used sparingly, and better to use when one team is dominating the play (Having a lot of shots on goal or corners). To activate a green hot shot you press the green button on your sky controller and once pressed it activates a green hot shot for 5 minutes.
During this time you will receive double points for any score that you get.

If this isn't enough to think about, you also have the option of scoring more points from free kicks on the edge of the area, penalties and fouls.
When one of these incidents occurs in the match, a small box appears on screen giving you 3 options to choose from.
So if a free kick happens on the edge of the box you will get a choice of 1. Save, 2. Miss/Block or 3. Goal.
You have to make this decision before the box disappears. Which could be 10 seconds or could only be 3 or 4 seconds (Depending on how quick the kick is taken).

These extra features all add to a terrific game, and ensures that you have to be totally focused on what is happening to gain a good score (So no nipping off to the toilet, you will have to hold it in)

Whilst you are making your decisions during the game, your score is constantly updated as and when you score points. Meaning that you always know how you are doing.
At half time you once again get a number of other predictions to make (Similar to the start of the game). Then it's time to try and score as many points as you can during the second half.

One thing I should mention is that you need to stay tuned to Sky Sports, and in fact stay in the game screen for the entire match. This is a slight problem to the game if you have a nagging wife who wants to switch over and watch Coronation Street. As switching channels or closing the game screen wipes off your score. Although it does warn you off this before changing channel or exiting the game.

Once the match has ended your score is totaled up and you are told whether you have made it onto the scoreboard (Of 100 viewers).
Should you be successful in making the top 50 then you are sent your prize within 28 days. Although the top 100 viewers scores are shown in the high scores list.

This truly is a fine game. I find myself shouting at the TV when I press the red button, thinking a shot on target is coming, only to see the ball fly yards over the bar.
Sky Play really gets the viewer involved in the action and I would recommend anyone who remotely likes football to have a go at this.
Even if you don't win, it is a lot of fun, and can even be fun during a 0-0 bore draw.

Try Sky Play, you'll love it.