Microsoft's Pinball Arcade
Seven Tables That Make Pinball History
The first thing I thought about when I chose to review this package concerned whether this program had any educational value. I determined that this had no real educational purpose. But, you know what? I thought and thought, and I still came up with no educational purpose.
But, wait a minute. It does indeed have an educational purpose in the classroom. Special education teachers, mild moderate, can use this as a reward for good behavior. If your department has a behavioral reward tier system - you can give the learner the privilege of playing Pinball Arcade.
We at Bonnabel High School in Kenner use a three-tier reward system that gives the kid the privilege of watching a movie once a week. Pinball Arcade opens up another possibility. Now, they can play this!
In addition, the children that are very well-behaved in your classroom can also be rewarded with extra time on the computer playing Pinball Arcade. Even if your administration says no to class time; there's always lunch and after-school.
Microsoft gives you the option of several different install options. From partial to full installs, the user can make the choice depending on hard drive space. The full install needs no CD in the drive. Wow!
As for as the program itself, I was amazed at the graphics. It's close to real 3D. I remember some shareware pinball games and this Lincoln Continental makes the DOS version look like a Model T. You have seven different tables to choose from. There are: Baffle Ball, Humpty Dumpty, Knock Out, Slick Chick, Spirit of 76, Haunted House and Cue Ball Wizard.
It's fast paced. The angles of viewing are incredible. The games are terrific. And, it's not too expensive.
Nice selection for classroom rewards....