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Nothing different from 2003/2004 versions!!!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 58 / 61
Date: April 27, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Whoever is responsible for making the decision to constantly repackage the same game and charging higher dollars for it should be slapped, given a scalding hot coffee enema then taken outside and made to dance naked so we can all laugh!

These Hoyle games get worse every year. No major improvements, no major AI upgrades, no changes to the interface really...just new titles like 2005 or 3D !!! Can anyone say, SCAM???

Every year they take the same old tired games and relabel them as 2004 version or the 2005 VERSION!!!! Oooooooooooooo, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh, ohhhhhhhh !!!!!

Yes, these games work. Yes they are fun to play. But why spend $30-40 dollars because they changed the background from blue to gray, or added a few new computer characters? It just doesn't make sense.

Meanwhile, you get ripped off and they increase the profit margin! Go to the discount rack and buy the 2003 or 2004 version for $10 and save yourself tons of money. More importantly...send them an e-mail and express the fact that you don't like getting ripped off!

Wow, is this bad!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 40 / 44
Date: April 17, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Having purchased almost every Hoyle product out there, I have to say this one is a major disapointment! It's awkward, baddly planned, and honestly, a MAJOR step back in the Hoyle Casino series. I had such high expectations for this game, and with it being months late from the "release date" I thought they would of worked out the bugs and the game play.. I was wrong. It's sad, I throughly liked this series, but will think twice before purchasing another title in this series. If you have the 2003/2004 version of Hoyle Casino, stick with it. This will be a major dissapointment!

Avoid this garbage

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 25 / 26
Date: October 26, 2005
Author: Amazon User

There is no question about it. This is the worst casino video game on the market. The reason stems from the change in ownership of the Hoyle Franchise from Sierra to Encore. Anyone who has ever bought an Encore Software casino game can testify to the fact that they are ALWAYS riddled with mathematical errors and unplayable bugs. This version is no different than anything Encore produced in the past. It is my understanding that Sierra began development of this game but Encore finished it. I bought it in the hopes that Sierra had put enough of their programming expertise into the game, but unfortunately, the game is trash. There are terrible unplayable bugs throughout the game and the game plays out in such poor quality. I tried to remedy the problem with the downloadable patch, but when that didn't work properly I uninstalled the game and threw it in the trash! Avoid this game and avoid all Encore casino products. Buy the versions of Hoyle under the name "Sierra".

A giant step backward

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 17 / 19
Date: June 20, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Long Story Short: if you own Hoyle Casino 2003 or 2004, keep them. You'll be glad you did.

Long Story Long:

The Good: This program has lots of "eye candy" and sounds to keep you entertained. Some new games have been added, most notable is The Texas Hold 'Em, Money Wheel, and Expanded Tournament play.

The Bad: This program has major flaws in it, some too esoteric to mention.

Interface is good looking, but poorly executed. Chips and other markers are slow to appear on game layouts, (Particularly on Craps)
Some in-game announcements are flat wrong (The Pass line is NOT always paid on every single win.)
You can't easily change games in Vacation Play mode. You must click through three screens to do this.

The interface in many games has gone from highly immersive to superficial (Craps, Blackjack) or poorly executed. (In money wheel, they put the layout over where the wheel shows the winning numbers.)

Game play can be mindnumbingly slow, even on a fast PC.

Not much good to say here, but if you like 3d rendering, (think Grand Theft Auto Vice City) this could be a good buy.

ALL of these CDs are DEFECTIVE

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 12 / 14
Date: May 28, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Whenever I tried to install the game I get a cyclic redundancy check error on the poker.dff file, and the installation would stop. I tried to install using both the DVD and CD-rom drives of my Emachines T3256, and I would get the same error no matter which drive I used.

I contacted Encore's tech support, and they told me to send the CD to them for a replacement under their 90-day warrenty. I did so. When I got the replacement disk and tried to install it, I got the same cyclic redunancy check error on the same poker.dff file, so it won't install.

Encore's tech support now says it is because their copy protection does not work with "old" CR-rom drives. My computer is only about 6 months old, so it can hardly be considered "old." I have about a 100 other games, and I have never run into this kind of installation problem.

I will never ever buy Encore Software games again, and I urge all of you reading this to do the same. The Gamestop store where I bought this does not give refunds for open software, so I am out $29.99.

A strong casino game compendium

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: November 15, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Firstly I'm going to say that the people who are giving this 1 star because they feel it is a rehash, or because they can't get it to run on their computer are not really reviewing the actual product for sale here, but more their disappointment in other areas. I didn't have any Hoyle Casino games prior to this, so why should I rate it poorly just because other people did have previous versions? That's not judging the game on it's own merits, just critising the publishers. Similarly if I bought a DVD that didn't work on my DVD player I wouldn't class the film as rubbish. Same applies here. Contrary to some, there *are* a few more differences from earlier versions to make this a worthwhile title, but read below....

I confess I had little interest in casino games before I bought this. I was really looking for something that had poker or blackjack, and browsing on Amazon this game was cheap. (My interest in a computer card game was actually inspired by Windows Soliatire and Hearts of all things!)

The obvious difference this has is that the casino is modelled in proper 3D. However this doesn't mean that you can walk about the casino in the way you can with say a first person shooter game. There are some "canned" sequences; for example if you want to play Carribean Stud Poker, you'll click on it's icon and the view will change to a "fly by" view sweeping through the casion to settle on the Caribbean Stud Poker table. The only control you really have over the 3D is to choose between one of four preset views. However despite the limitations here, there is a sort of "doll's house" appeal in watching the animated computer people amble about the casino, and you'll soon start to notice little things about the casino that you didn't notice before; there's a bar, a statistics screen that people walk up to and read, aquariums etc. All in all the casino is quite richly detailed. After a while of course you'll probably see all there is to see graphically, but it's for a while it's fun to notice details here and there. There are about 9 other talking characters in the casino who will either join you at table games or play against you in poker, and all are well animated and voice acted well. Some are fairly normal, a few are stereotypes (gruff retired oilman, ditzy cheerleader etc) and one or two are just annoying (well that's realistic I suppose) There is also some background muzak, replete with zylophones, double bass and saxophone, which although I would normally steer well clear of, it actually works to give soem ambience.

I have since played Hoyle Casino 2003 and there are a few differences in the games. It's a case of 1 step forward and 1 step back I think. Contrary to the blurb there is no horse racing or Keno in Casino 3D. And there is actually fewer slot machines in Casino 3D than in Casion 2003. On the plus side though there are more video slot machines, and as these tend to be more interesting (IMO) than the mechanical slots it's an acceptable trade off I think. There is also a money wheel, but this is badly desgined as the betting layout almsot totally obscures the peg at the top. Surely the fun of the money wheel is watching whewre the peg will stop at? A missed oppurtunity.

However if your idea of a casino is the glamourous and slightly dangerous world of James Bond, where you'll face an opponent over baccarat with a beautiful woman at your side, you'll be disappointed. Hoyle's Casino 3D portrays the more tacky, Vegas style of gambling. A good example are the slot machines. Names like Ruby River, Cold Cash, Sugar Daddy. And one of the video slots is called Mummy Money, with symbols portraying enough ancient Egyptian cliches to make a real Egyptologist weep tears of frustration.

The highlight of the game for me is probably the poker against the simulated computer people. Although there are video poker machines I found them a poor substitute for "real" poker (if that makes sense) There are many different varities of poker (Draw, 7 card Stud, Texas Hold' Em, Omaha Hold 'em as well as the low-high variations) and bluffing does actually work against your opponents!

Perhaps the main criticism of casino games I have is that ultimately, almost all are games of chance, with little decision making. Sometimes I think many want that, after a hard day you don't always want to tax your brain with anything demanding. Place some chips on the roulette table, hold your breath and wait for the result. It's fun. After a couple of weeks of playing this though, I did find the relative lack of deciosn making of most of the games did make me yearn for something a bit more brainpower intensive. Maybe a bit akin to feasting on chocolate and getting a sugar rush it's great for a while, but there's only so much you can take. And although it's true that if you lose a lot of money, you won't get hurt because the money isn't real, it's just computer code, the opposite is true too, you can spend hours an hours gambling to gain back your money, but at the end of the day you're hard earned winnings are still just computer code.

Overall I found this to be a fun product, with attractive graphics and a slick interface.

Zero Stars

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: May 31, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Graphics are cool, but that's about it. Tons of usability issues with betting in BlackJack. Texas Hold'em; can't customize much at all. This software isn't worth the bits used.

Skip it.

THE WORST

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 9 / 11
Date: April 30, 2005
Author: Amazon User

It isn't worth 1 star. This software package is a heaping pile of steaming poo-poo!

HOYLE CASINO 3D

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 9 / 11
Date: May 11, 2005
Author: Amazon User

SEEING THAT I NEVER GOT THE GAME TO WORK IN MY COMPUTER. I WAITED AND WAITED FOR THIS "NEW" VERSION 3D TO COME OUT, THEN TO FIND OUT THAT IT DOESN'T WORK IN MY COMPUTER. EVEN THOUGH MY COMPUTER IS A BRAND NEW TOP OF THE LINE DELL. I TRIED TWO OF THEM ON MY COMPUTER NEITHER ONE WORKED. THANK GOODNESS AMAZON WAS KIND ENOUGH TO REFUND ME MY MONEY EVEN AFTER THE SECOND ATTEMPT TO LOAD THIS GAME. BUT FROM WHAT I AM READING ABOUT IT, I AM PROBABLY BETTER OFF THAT IT DIDN'T WORK!

What a GREAT game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: July 31, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I am not sure if we are talking about the same game here...

Yes, the game had some bugs when it was released, most of them have been addressed in a patch.

Hoyle Casino 3D is a huge step forward compared to previous versions, the beautifully rendered 3D environment and the attention to detail make it hands down the best casino simulation that I have ever seen!

I've played previous Hoyle versions, Phantomefx, Golden Nugget, Masque, Microsoft, High Rollers for the PS2 and so on: *nothing* comes even close in realism and fun!

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