Scissors cuts paper

Hadn't stopped by the granddaddy of the oldies boards Game Show Forum in a while.

Amid the usual parsing of ancient trivia about ancient shows, there was a thread called "Room for Improvement." This thread was mostly about old game shows - hey, it's GSF - and how they might have been improved. One possibly tongue-in-cheek suggestion: Friend or Foe/Golden Balls/Any show with the Prisoner's Dilemma gimmick: ditch the "Split/Steal" mechanic. Replace with Rock-Paper-Scissors. Both parties split the pot if the throw is a draw; otherwise resolve as normal.

I dunno how this would have worked on TV game shows, but competitive rock-paper-scissors actually exists on GameIQ.com. They have matches and tournaments and general RPS fun and games.

If you want to see what hardcore RPS looks like, try this video. The players are serious gamers, at least when it comes to chess. Robert Hess is a genuine article grandmaster, and Danny Rensch is an equally genuine international master (the second highest rank after GM).

They go at each other in round after round of RPS, with plenty of trash talk and general nonsense. It's as entertaining as your average game show, anyway. Then they actually play a little chess on chess.com. Hess gets his revenge in the more complicated game.

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