Virtual Pool (video game)
| Virtual Pool | |
|---|---|
 Cover art | |
| Developer(s) | Celeris |
| Publisher(s) | Interplay Entertainment |
| Platform(s) | MS-DOS, Macintosh, PlayStation, Windows |
| Release | MS-DOS and Windows 1995 Macintosh
|
| Genre(s) | Sports simulation – pool |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, two-player |
Virtual Pool (retroactively renamed Virtual Pool 1 after the release of sequels)[1] is a 3D, first-person sports simulation video game released by Interplay Entertainment in Template:Vgy. It is the first of the "Virtual Pool" franchise of computer simulations of pool (pocket billiards) games developed by Celeris.
Overview
Virtual Pool is an accurate simulation of straight pool, eight-ball, nine-ball, and rotation pool.[2] The game is viewed in first-person 3D perspective, in contrast to most earlier pool games which featured a fixed overhead view.[3]
The game's publishers, Interplay, offered a full refund for buyers of the game who did not see an improvement in their pool abilities within 45 days of purchase and returned the CD-ROM to the company.[4]
Virtual Pool has revolutionary features that allow players to actually 'walk' around the table to check out their next shot, take a closer look, back away, look left or right and then line-up the shot like they would in a real game with a real table. This title also allows players to take an overhead view from above, something unavailable in a real pool game. Taking game tips from World Champion pool player "Machine Gun" Lou Butera is guaranteed to improve the player's game. "Machine Gun" Lou will teach players over 30 famous trick shots the player can practice on their computer screen and then implement on a real table.
Reception
PC Gamer US named Virtual Pool the "Best Sports Game" of 1995. The editors wrote, "For weeks after its release, the sounds of pool balls clacking together and dropping into the pockets was about all we heard in the PC Gamer office, and Virtual Pool is still a big hit around here."[5]
- Entertainment Weekly: "With its first-person perspective and true-to-life physics, Virtual Pool is one of the rare simulations that may actually improve your real game."[6]
Virtual Pool was named the 57th best computer game ever by PC Gamer UK in 1997.[7]
Re-release
Some time after the release of the sequel Virtual Pool 2, both games were re-packaged as a two-in-one CD-ROM jewel case edition (i.e., a bargain bin version without a box), called the Virtual Pool 1 / Virtual Pool 2 Bundle[1]
Trivia
- Pre-release versions of the 1995 PC version of Virtual Pool got leaked. The authorized production version of the game has the code marking ICD-120-0 through ICD-120-5 on each disc. The stolen version CD code is ICD-059-0. According to IPC the stolen version was "being offered for sale at some swap meets, computer fairs and small retail shops" and "contain a defective software program which will not operate properly."
References
- ^ a b "Virtual Pool 1 / Virtual Pool 2 Bundle (Jewel Case)". Amazon.com. Seattle, WA: Amazon.com Inc. Retrieved February 2, 2010.
- ^ Desjardins, Dawn (1998). CD-ROMs in Print 1998. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. p. 940. ISBN 0-7876-1059-3.
- ^ Newman, Jeff (December 1995). "Bosses Bound and Gagged, Now Let the Games Begin". Network Computing. 6 (16): 32.
{{cite journal}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ "Bits & Bytes: The Enter*Active File". Billboard. July 1995. p. 66.
{{cite magazine}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ Editors of PC Gamer (March 1996). "The Year's Best Games". PC Gamer US. 3 (3): 64, 65, 67, 68, 71, 73–75.
{{cite journal}}:|author=has generic name (help) - ^ "Virtual Pool Review]". Entertainment Weekly. June 2, 1995.
- ^ Flynn, James; Owen, Steve; Pierce, Matthew; Davis, Jonathan; Longhurst, Richard (July 1997). "The PC Gamer Top 100". PC Gamer UK (45): 51–83.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)