 |
March, 2000
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
March, 2000
|
| |
|
|
|
|
Exciting Games For The Blind Computer User
Personal Computer Systems is a company which is operated and maintained by blind programmers. P C S is interested in providing fast action, fun, and exciting computerized board and arcade games for the blind community. In our board games, everything is described with all the necessary details as the game is being played and any information such as position or score may be obtained by hitting a key.
In visual arcade games, players aim at objects using graphics or pictures, but in our arcade games we have the player aim by using their ears to hear a tone or a series of beeps to hit a target. Thus, the impossible to play eye hand video game becomes an easy to play ear hand audio game. We believe that the same enjoyment can be achieved by a blind person playing our games as a sighted person gets playing a video game. Playing sounds through a sound card will be used to enhance and blend with the operation of our programs.
Personal Computer Systems now has games playable from Windows or DOS without needing any adaptive equipment. The games are completely audio, all information is spoken by a human, not a synthesizer, played through your computer's speakers.
Each game, Breakout, Pack man, Red Dragon Kick Boxing Challenge, A 2 Z Key Finder and Mobius Mountain, comes on a CD. Additional Games will be added to the list as they are converted from the DOS versions throughout the next year. Games in this format cost $49.00
Coming in 2000: P C S SPACE INVADERS Thump, thump, a flash of audio peeps, chirps and blips alert you that one of the six columns of invaders is directly over head. You hold down the fire button, chupe, chupe, chupe and three enemy ships are destroyed. They move off to the right, thump, thump, thump, thump, and you try to get ahead of them. Again they come into your sights and you let loose with another burst. Chupe, chupe, chupe, the last three of six invaders in the column are vaporized. With no time to waste you move right again to attempt to get a bead on the first column of space invaders. You hear a high tone and before you can react, CA-BOOM, you run into a bomb. Its all over for you, and a tremendous explosion takes out your fortress!
P C S Space Invaders is a game of awareness, concentration and quick reaction. The player will have to listen to the sounds from the PC speaker, where information about the column at the current location is given. The stereo speakers will give the player additional information about the position of the player and the invaders, the remaining columns and how far apart is the first column from the last. Even the occasional UFO will enter the fray from the left or right side, this also will be indicated by the stereo speakers. Then the player will have to blow away thirty six invaders before they reach the planet, and then do it again, again, and again.
This is by far the most audio intents game Personal Computer Systems has made up to date. There are many things going on at once, invaders moving back and forth and down, the player can move right and left faster then the invaders, bombs are falling and missiles are flying. As if that is not enough an occasional UFO enters worth fat bonus points and as the player reduces the columns of invaders they move faster. Our help screen is there to help decipher what the sounds represent. Once the player understands what is going on, how the sounds are relaying information and a short learning curve. The sounds and action become second nature and the player can concentrate on racking up high scores. Are you up to the challenge of this arcade game? Do you have what it takes to save Earth from the hoards of space invaders, threatening your survival? Well if so, try this one. P C S SPACE INVADERS COST $30.00
RAINY DAY GAMES
Bored? Looking for something to do? Well, how about a game of Solitaire, Mine Buster, or Triple yahtzee? Rainy Day Games is a three game pack that contains the games mentioned above. Solitaire is a favorite card game for many people killing a little time waiting for the sun to come back out. Mine Buster gives you a chance to play a speech friendly version of Windows Mine Sweeper. You mark hidden mines by exploring the cells surrounding the mines. Your mind gets a good workout while a passing shower goes by. Triple Yahtzee is a dice game that is fun to play by your self or against a friend during a heavy downpour.
The games Solitaire and Mine Sweeper have been played from back when the first computers started using Windows. Now, our games can be played on DOS and Window machines capable of running DOS. We also through in Triple Yahtzee for something different. These three games are the type of games that all computers should have available so you can fool around and get in trouble just like everyone else!
RAINY DAY GAMES cost $30.
ARTHUR'S QUEST
You are in medieval times. Your quest as Arthur is to find and recover Excalibur, then fight the Dark Lord with it, ridding the land of unrest and conflict. Before you can do all that you must fight the knights that are under the influence of the evil lord. You Build your fighting skills with various types of weapons so that you will be worthy of Excalibur and challenge the Dark Lord and banish him forever. ARTHUR'S QUEST COST $30.
RED DRAGON KICK BOXING CHALLENGE
Hay! You. Yes you! I am talking to you! I hear that you think your pretty tough! Well, do you think you can take me on? Well, I hear you talk the walk. but can you walk the talk? Lets see! Meat me at the Red Dragon Kick Boxing Ring in five minutes and we will go a few rounds and see what you've got!
Your hands are sweating as the trainer wraps them. You try to concentrate as the gloves go on, but the excitement of the event is beginning to mount. This is the day you have been training for the past year. All of the hard work is about to be put to the limit in the most physically and mentally draining test of your life. As you walk down the runway the cheers from the crowd makes your adrenaline run through your body like a train through a corn field. By the time you reach the ropes, you can feel yourself float out of your body and look down on your opponent. This is it. There is no turning back and you are up to the challenge. The moment of truth has finally come. The bell rings!
We have produced a real time kick boxing game for you fast action lovers. The game uses the six pack key group, the arrow key group, and your stereo speakers to play the game. There are twelve ranked kick boxers for you to fight. You can even make the computer fight itself.
Listen for your opponent to throw a punch to your head or body, or to kick out at you. The yell coming from your left, right, or center stereo sound will tell you which direction the attack is from. The type of yell he makes tells you what he is aiming for. You try to block his blow, by hitting the correct key.
Attacking the opponent is easy by using the three top keys on the six pack group, INSERT, HOME, AND PAGE UP to throw a punch to the opponent's head. The three lower keys DEL, END, AND PAGE DOWN throws a blow to the body. You Kick using the left and right arrow keys. You move towards and back from your opponent by using the up and down arrow keys. That is all the keys you need, but it takes lots of practice to beat the champ!
So, get those fingers limbered up, put in your mouth piece, and lets go a few rounds!
RED DRAGON KICK BOXING CHALLENGE COST $30.00
Star Trek The Battle Begins.
David Greenwood takes us from beneath the oceans in lone wolf, into the heavens with his new game star trek the battle begins. You command four Federation Star Fleet star ships. The frontiers were always a problem, but now three old nemesis joined forces. The Federation must take on the Tholians, Klingons and Romulans; all the members of the evil alliance at once. You are the best the Federation has, and if it is going to survive, you will have to be the one to come through. Your star ships contain the latest technology the Federation has. The ships are equipped with the most powerful phasers, the latest photon torpedoes, and a secret super powerful tri-lithium matter anti-matter mine.
The navigational and targeting computers are loaded with the newest software. These last four star ships have the most powerful and stable dilithium matrix warp core drives around today. They can provide instant warp speed and protect the ship with a force shield unmatched by any of your enemies. You have the best tools, but will it be enough?
STAR TREK cost $30.00
PACK MAN
You are the rolly-poli Pack Man, a glutton for fruit. All you do is travel around searching and Eating all that can be found. Oh, yes, and don't let the ghost get you. Play Pack Man from a new prospective. You are Pack Man himself moving around a simple maze at ground level. This means unlike the original game where all the ghosts are known to the player at all times, here ghosts are only visible when they are in front of you. Then a decision must be made, to turn and run, charge the ghost hoping to get super power to dispel the ghost back home, or to charge the ghost hoping to get past. If none of these work then the ghost will take one life, and send you back to the starting block. Use up your last life, and it is all over! Try this real time arcade game and see if you have the quickness needed to win big!
PACK MAN cost $30.00
LONE WOLF
Do you have nerves of steel? Should you stand firm firing torpedoes at a troop transport, or dive and try to make for safety, while a destroyer is bearing down, and firing at the submarine? Well, Lone Wolf allows you to take command of a world war two sub. Now, feel the tension when you try to get your sub into a firing solution. If the destroyer gets a sniff of the sub, it will be on top of you before the torpedo is launched.
Lone Wolf is an advance computer submarine simulation. You will need to have good skills using a compass, working with large numbers, and knowing where you are at all times. This game is for a person with quick reactions, sharp decision making, and can keep track of many events happening at once. P C S Is happy to introduce David Greenwood's challenging submarine simulation. He has created a super game that will send you to the bottom visiting with Davy Jones many times. So, put your May west on and have fun trying to sink ships and stay dry, and happy hunting!
LONE WOLF cost $30.00
A TO Z
Does your little one want to work on your computer too? Well, now your youngster can use the machine just like you! A TO Z will teach your beginner where the letter and number keys are found on the keyboard. When a key is hit the game can be set to play a letter or number and a corresponding sound. The game can be played in several ways. There are three settings text only, text and sound, or sound only. There are also short Follow the Leader games, which will have your child trying to repeat the computers prompts. This game is definitely geared for the novice, and will be fun while also teaching them the keyboard layout. Best of all, while the future computer whiz begins learning how to manipulate the machine, the computer is safe! Only the ESCAPE key will allow them to exit the game, making it difficult to hit keys which will upset the computer as in your word processor. So now you can let the little hacker loose with A2Z while you sit back and read your book.
A TO Z cost $30.00
MIND PUZZLES
P. BLANK. S. WHAT IS YOUR GUESS? C. CORRECT! THE WORD IS P C S.
P C S is re-introducing some oldies but goodies for the new age! Hangman, Scrambled word, Guess the Word, and follow the leader have not been played until you have played our version. Do you think playing games which teach spelling and develop your memory are boring? Well get MIND PUZZLES and see if you can survive a game of Hangman! P C S has put together a suite of games designed to make playing easier and more fun then ever! These games will be a challenge for all ages. Find out if your memory is as sharp as you think it is by playing a game of Follow the leader. Some things are timeless and these oldies were around a hundred years ago played by children scratching out letters in the dirt. We are proud to present these favorites enhanced for the computer in time for your enjoyment before the twenty first century.
MIND PUZZLES cost thirty dollars.
HAZE MAZE
Hear your footsteps as you navigate through a maze. Listen closely can you hear the sound of your footsteps change when the ground beneath you goes from stone to wood? Oh! what is that? Hear the echo off to the left, where the passage splits. Oh! wow, did you hear the sound of the footsteps become flat when a wall appeared ahead. Cool! The only way to get a better feel for a maze is to walk it yourself.
P C S takes you one step farther in audio game experience. As you walk through a maze we made it sound as if you are really there. While you walk through the maze, you will hear the sound of footsteps differ as the ground beneath you changes. You will also be able to hear the sounds of echoing footsteps off to the sides when the area next to you is free of obstructions. When you hit a wall, the sound of the type of wall being bumped will be heard. Just before you walk into a wall, if you're listening closely, you will hear the sound of your footsteps flatten out with no echo, warning of a wall ahead. A wind chime becomes slightly louder as you work your way closer to the exit and complete the maze. The game uses stereo sounds to indicate paths to the left or right.
Haze Maze cost thirty dollars.
COPS
An alarm goes off, and you know that somewhere in the county criminals have struck. Your duty is to find and catch them. In this new game by P C S, you play the roll of a police officer in a police car restricted to movement only on roads, parks, and parking lots. The objective is simple, all you have to do is catch the suspects before they escape by crossing the Middlesex county line. This is usually a nice, quiet, suburban place to live and work, but lately a criminal element has moved in. When the alarm goes off and the dispatcher gives you the approximate location of the hooligans, it is time for you to fight the traffic and use your memory of the street layout to cut the thieves off and apprehend them. The streets of Middlesex are laid out in a way to help you know where you are, and how you might travel in order to get to where the suspects are. The North/South streets are in alphabetical order named after states. With Alaska being farthest West. The East/West streets are sequentially numbered, with First Avenue furthest North. There are also many landmarks for you to become acquainted with, and a subway system in the county that the gangsters can use. So, make sure you do not lose them in there. Just because you have a siren, don't think you won't have cars, trucks, kids, or many other obstacles getting in the way. Using the siren will help you get through traffic quicker, but if the crooks hear you they will move faster. One other small matter, the bad guys are not restricted to roads like you. Well it is all up to you now to sweep the county clean of trash, so, go out there and get them before they get away!
Cops cost thirty dollars.
Breakout
SMASH! POW! CRUNCH! Is your hand/ear coordination up to demolishing wall after wall of objects? Breakout brings back the nostalgia of early video gaming days but adds today's challenges.
Twenty two years ago Atari released the original Breakout video game for their 2600 home game machine. P C S has taken the Breakout concept and adapted it for game players who are visually impaired. You shoot a ball with increasing speed into layers of walls with over 130 real sounds.
Breakout contains four game variations, bust through, clear the wall, squeeze play and stretch to breaking where you can break glass, smash cups, pop balloons and try to beat your highest score. Who ever said life was fair never played Breakout!
Breakout cost thirty dollars.
Card Club
Ivan wrote some good ones! Smell the aroma of pepperoni pizza, hear the cards being shuffled. A cloud of cheap cigar smoke drifts over you. Your mother always told you to stay out of places like this! The card club ain't so bad! Where else could you find a collection of shady characters to play a game of Hearts, Norwegian Whist, Widow Whist, or Crazy Eights? The gang at the club house is sharp and always ready to play. Can you beat them? Well come on in, grab a slice of pizza, and try your luck. A word to the wise. The higher a monkey climbs, the more you see of his behind.
Card club cost thirty dollars.
P C S Car Racing Circuit
Feel the sweat run down your back while you try to control your super charged computer down the straight away towards the next critical turn. Will you make it or will it be curtains? You can race your car against opponents on five different tracks. You use your ear and hand skills to successfully navigate a turn. The function keys are used as a dash board to find out how fast you are going, and other important info about the race. You are being challenged by twenty five of the world's best drivers and if you beat the record score, your name is saved.
P C S Car racing circuit cost thirty dollars.
Panzers In North Africa
Have you ever wondered what the difference between tanks were during World War Two? Which great military power would you fight for? Command a world war two tank, and fight your way to victory. This game allows you to battle enemy tanks from the great desert campaigns fought in the north African theater. In this game you will move your tank into battle, choose to fire smoke to obscure a more powerful tank, or blast away with armor piercing rounds. The game will warn you of trouble, such as being in range of your enemy's main gun, running low on ammo, or if enemy forces are moving beyond your visibility.
Panzers In North Africa cost thirty dollars.
World Series Baseball Special Edition
It is the bottom of the fifth. The other team scored 2 runs and there are 2 outs. Do you make a change or stay with the veteran for one more batter? Hear the sounds of the ball park as you manage your team to victory or defeat in the world series. In collaboration with Harry Hollingsworth, we have added fifty real sounds to his 1997 version of World Series Baseball.
World Series Baseball Special Edition cost thirty five dollars.
Fox And Hounds
The dogs have the scent, and you hear them coming closer as you track the fox. Will you get it before it scoffs off with lunch? Use the arrow keys to steer your horse and chase the fox at Middlesex Downs.
Fox and Hounds cost thirty dollars.
Shooting Range
The tension mounts. You need to make a hit on this last shot to break the range record. Hear the gun go off and the clay bird break when your shot smashes into it. Sometimes you might even get a whiff of cordite come wafting out of your floppy drive. At the skeet range you can shoot at clay birds. The rifle range you can shoot at a target trying to hit the bulls eye. the pistol range you can shoot at a steel human silhouette target, or at the junk yard you can shoot a weapon at over thirty objects.
Shooting Range cost thirty dollars.
Tenpin Bowling
Will you make the strike? Or are you going to choke and miss? Feel the tension grow as the game goes on. Hear the ball roll down the lane, hit the pins, and the crowd respond as it watches you play. A blind person can throw a ball down a lane with the purpose of knocking down ten pins that are positioned at the end of the lane.
Tenpin Bowling cost thirty dollars.
Mobius Mountain
Can you beat Augie to the top of Mobius Mountain? Augie thinks he is a pretty smart cookie. Watch out for the rock slides and pits, and answer math problems correctly at a ladder, and make giant leaps to the top. This math adventure game was written for children and follows the format of the shoots and ladders board game.
Mobius can be played by one to four people. There are seven skill levels so children of any age will be able to play and succeed at the game. These levels range from addition and subtraction problems of two single digit numbers to multiplication and division problems of two double digit numbers. At the end of the game each player will get a report of how well they did in solving the math problems.
Mobius Mountain cost twenty dollars.
Monopoly
Can you become the big tycoon and replace Trump at Atlantic City? Or are you going to wander around the cardboard city panhandling your way back into the game. Monopoly was written for the blind and follows all of the conventional rules of the Parker Brother's board game. It has options that allow for very detailed descriptions, location of properties and tokens, and distribution of the players money.
Monopoly cost thirty dollars.
Any Night Football
In this text based football game you become the coach and send in the plays. Feel the same frustrations that the million dollar coaches experience when the quarterback changes your play. Any Night Football is simple to play, and the teams are historically reflected in the game. It includes 28 teams and their stats.
Any night football cost thirty dollars.
Audyssey
P C S is distributing Michael Feir's magazine Audyssey; a publication on computer games accessible to the blind. It is a bi-monthly released on Compuserve that we will make available on 3.5 Inch IBM format disks. Each issue will contain the full text of the electronic edition plus some of the share ware or free ware games talked about in the issue.
one year disk subscription to Audyssey cost ten dollars.
We at P C S are always looking for new ideas for programs, and if you have a new idea we will give it some consideration. If we make a program which you suggested you will receive the program free. Demos of our games are available from P C S for fifty cents each. Please add two dollars shipping per order.
You can contact P C S in any format at
PERSONAL Computer Systems
551 Compton Ave.
Perth Amboy NJ. 08861
Phone (732) 826-1917
E-mail pvlasak@monmouth.comWeb site: www.webspan.net/~scrivani
Coming soon, our own P C S Games web site: www.pcsgames.com