Virtual Pool
The "Virtual Pool" franchise is a series of 3D, first-person sports simulation video games featuring computer simulations of various cue sports (billiards games), including several kinds of Pool as well as (in later releases) Snooker, Carom Billiards and Pub Pool.
Overview
The principal selling point of the "Virtual Pool" series games is that they were designed and tested not only by programmers, but also by physicists and professional players. By the release of Virtual Pool 3, the simulation was so accurate that the game prominently boasts "Guaranteed to improve your actual pool play or your money back" on the front of the box.[1][2] The series garnered pool industry endorsements, including professional players Mike Sigel and Jeanette "the Black Widow" Lee, and equipment manufacturers like Viking Cues, Imperial International, Schön Custom Cues, Creative Innovations, and Joss Cues.[1]
The graphics capabilities vary from game to game and platform to platform, but overall the 3D realism of the various simulated environments (pool halls, etc.) is on par with the graphics in other rendered games (first-person shooters, etc.) of each game's time period. The games' use of that perspective, to shoot balls instead of bullets, rather than falling back on a typical but unrealistic overhead view from the ceiling, contributed strongly to the success of the series.[3]
The complexity of the games increased over time, from Virtual Pool' straightforward offering of four different game types, to Virtual Pool 4's smorgasbord of 18 pool games on championship and bar tables, Snooker, English Billiards, 4 different carom games, and 4 pub pool 8-ball games. Other gradual improvements include more venues, more computerized opponents, equipment upgrade purchases, ability to customize tables (pocket width, etc.), video tutorials 2 career play modes, and a trick shot library. Online capability includes pool rooms with multiple players and spectators, tournaments, ladders, social network with player profiles, friends, statistics, and shot uploads.
Releases in the series
The releases in the series include:
- 1995: Virtual Pool – 4 games, all pool
- 1997: Virtual Pool 2 – 9 games, all pool
- 1998: Virtual Pool 64 (Nintendo 64 only; based on VP2) – 11 games, all pool
- 1999: Virtual Pool Hall (VP2 with new features)
- 2000: Virtual Pool 3 – 21 games, in 3 disciplines
- 2006: Virtual Pool: Tournament Edition (Xbox only[4])
- 2012: Virtual Pool 4 - Offline single player, career play, trick shots and pool tutorial
- 2014: Virtual Pool 4 - Online multi-player, tournaments, challenge play, social network
References
- ^ a b Virtual Pool 3. Beverly Hills, CA: Interplay Entertainment. 2000. Box cover; Instruction Manual.
{{cite book}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Unknown parameter|nopp=ignored (|no-pp=suggested) (help) - ^ "Bits & Bytes: The Enter*Active File". Billboard. July 1995. p. 66.
{{cite magazine}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ 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) - ^ "XB Virtual Pool Tournament Edition". Amazon.com. Seattle, WA: Amazon.com Inc. 2006. Retrieved February 2, 2010.