My friends' dad built them a kick-ass tree house, and that served as the Ewok village. In the winter, my friends and I would build snow forts and pretend we were on Hoth (I was always Han Solo). There's no separating it in my mind from Christmases, birthdays, summers and winters growing up. It represents absolutely everything good, fun and magical about my childhood. It's now legendary in this boy's family how the last action figure he needed, Anakin Skywalker, stopped being produced and carried in stores, and how this boy went for about ten years (until he got into college) trying to track one down and finally bought it from someone on his dorm floor for a bag of beer nuggets (don't ask.it's a Northern Illinois University thing). But years later, he would get what to this day goes down as one of the best gifts he's ever received: another box full of action figures, ten of the final twelve he needed to complete his collection. He was too young to fully appreciate how special that gift would be. He does remember the first "Star Wars" themed gift he got.a shoebox full of action figures from the original set. He doesn't remember first seeing the movie, but he also doesn't remember life before it. If you just want to play the games, stick with Hoyle Casino.A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.There was a boy who was only two years old when the original "Star Wars" film was released. If your Vegas yens are satisfied by excellent "being there" realism, then Golden Nugget is the gambling sim you've been looking for. Though this entire segment seems more an afterthought than the centerpiece of the game, it will confirm the belief that Adam West is truly a bizarre actor. In the adventure, you're treated to film clips of the ex-caped-crusader telling you about the suspicious personalities fellow poker contestants. There's even an interactive mystery adventure included in the game starring the original Batman, Adam West. But Golden Nugget's bells and whistles - contestants calling out bets, cut-sequences of spinning roulette wheels and tumbling dice - only detract from the simplicity of the individual games, eventually becoming more of a disruption than a diversion. Of course, if you're into more straightforward playing, you can always turn your opponents' comments - and arms - off.Īs a gambling simulation, Golden Nugget is a notable accomplishment because of the hyper-realistic atmosphere it creates. Subtle additions - such as the adjacent gamblers' arms reaching over the table to place bets, the dealer's reprimanding reminders that "these are not your chips" or "that bet has to be a multiple of six dollars" all contribute to a fairly realistic casino atmosphere. Select a set number of chips to be used for each bet placed, and you're set. At the click of a mouse button, a little tray rises from the bottom of your screen displaying your chip collection. Ambient noises, such as croupiers calling out bets, people murmuring, and slot machines chiming, crowd the air.īut you're not here to take in the ambiance - you're here to gamble. In Golden Nugget, you'll find almost every game you'd find on a real parlor floor. Tables include Blackjack, Poker, Craps, Pai Gow, Baccarat, Slot Machines, Video Poker, Keno, and even the Big Spin. Much like Hoyle Casino, Golden Nugget lets you explore the parlor floor frame-by-frame until you come to a table that inspires you to throw down your hard-earned bucks. But Virgin Interactive's latest place-bet, Golden Nugget, comes close to giving the excellent Sierra title a run for its money. Lately, the finest parlor sim in terms of game selection and clear graphics has been Hoyle Casino. All provide stimulating gambling entertainment without the risk of losing your shirt - but what makes one of them different from the next? Answer: interface. Dozens of these casino simulations are introduced every year - Sierra's Hoyle Casino and Casino Deluxe, and Masque's Casino Pak are just a few recent examples. If, however, you're itching to gamble on a regular basis, then partaking of some innocent money-wasting in a desktop parlor game may be a more healthy alternative. If you've been to Vegas like I've been to Vegas, then you know that a single weekend of unlimited booze and money flying out the window like ticker tape can be enough for a whole year.
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