All of you probably dreamed of spending the night in an
obscenely expensive hotel room, filled with tasteful decorations, amazing room
service and a superb view. Some of you probably even have the money for it, but
most of us don’t. The following list will probably be a good start if you ever
win the lottery or you don't mind selling your house so that you can spend a few days
feeling like a king or queen.
The Ritz-Carlton, Moscow, Russia
If you are traveling to beautiful Moscow and you want to
check in a high end hotel, the lovely Ritz Carlton will probably suit your
taste. Situated on Tverskaya Street 3, you can check out the hotel while you
are on a stroll through the Red Square. The most expensive suite is about $18,000
per night but the view is certainly worth it as the 2550 square feet room
features floor to ceiling windows facing the Kremlin, Red Square, St. Basil's
Cathedral and Christ the Savior Cathedral. Besides that, you get everything you
would expect in a high end hotel and more: a grand piano and dining area, a
library, an office room and a boardroom. The bathrooms come with opulent marble
baths with separate rain showers and a private sauna. The room is definitely
designed to accommodate even the pickiest customers with its non-allergenic
foam pillows and access to the Club Lounge with five daily food and beverage
presentations.
If you don’t want a suite, you can definitely go for the
most luxurious room, the 680 square feet executive room with a really calming Japanese
garden atrium view. The spacious studio suite partly separates the bed area
from the elegant seating area and it’s decorated with fine woods and fabrics.
Even the marble baths are outstanding. If you are looking for a place to work
in peace, this amazing room will certainly suit your needs.
Hotel Cala di Volpe, Sardinia, Italy
The Hotel Cala di Volpe in Sardinia definitely looks like it
has been snatched from a renascence painter’s dream. Located in breathtaking part
of Sardinia and featuring a combination of beautiful pastel accents and hand
crafted Sardinian furnishings, this hotel is a work of art. It has 907 sea view
rooms and 17 suites, but one of them truly stands out in a refreshing and unique
way, the Presidential Suite. The $18,500 suite has three bedrooms, a solarium a
fitness area and a luxurious private swimming pool, making it perfect for a
sophisticated escape to the country.
The President Wilson hotel, Geneva, Switzerland
The President Wilson hotel in Geneva is no doubt an
astonishing hotel if you want to visit the city in great style. The hotel is
located 8 km from the Geneva International Airport, 1 km from Cornavin Station
and close to the main international organizations, the banking districts and
luxury stores. You can definitely benefit from a unique stay at this hotel if
you opt for the lovely President Wilson suite, a suite meant for rich business
men and famous movie stars. The suite will cost about $30,000 a night and
features 12 rooms and 12 bathrooms in its wide 18,083 feet. It’s also one of
the first suites in Europe to feature a Bang & Olufsen BeoVision 4-103 flat
screen and audio installation for an amazing experience. It has a Fitness
center, a private elevator, a Steinway grand piano and a private terrace.
Burj al Arab, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Designed to become a symbol of Dubai, the Burj Al Arab isn’t
just an expensive hotel, but one of the most recognizable and impressive
buildings in the world, one that takes luxury to an almost Kafkaesque level.
The royal suite has more than 8,000 square feet and is
decorated with the most opulent materials available. It also comes with its own
cinema, a 24/7 butler and at a cost, it offers its helicopter of fleet of Rolls
Royce’s to make sure you arrive wherever you need to be in style. Amazing
service like this doesn’t come cheap and the Royal suite at the Burj will set
you back $18.000 a night.
Four Seasons New York, New York, USA
The Four Season is one of the world’s most impressive
hotels, offering a perfect balance between high end design, and views that look
taken out of a movie.
The Ty Warren penthouse suite is the jewel of the Four
Season offering a 800 feet, 360 degrees view of New York’s amazing skyline. It
has an on call butler and some of the best service available on the planet. It
also offers a spa with fantastic views of Manhattan, and a library with a grand
piano. The 4300 square feet of sheer opulence cost $34,000 dollars a night.
Due to the game crash of 1983 and the disappointment and loss of trust from gamers, video game producers had to come up with some really spectacular products. In order to make up for what happened when the market was saturated with terrible games, huge improvements were made with most new releases; producers managed to make them appear smoother and also implemented new gameplay elements.
The year 1983 was a good one as some of the biggest classic cult games were released. With the release of the Adam home computer by Coleco and the Aqarius by Mattel Electronics, more and more companies wanted to offer clients this new form of entertainment. However, some failed due to design errors while others due to the fact that they weren’t reaching enough users. However, games for arcade and PCs were still made and the gameplay was better and better.
1. Mario Bros.
Nintendo definitely made a hit when they published the arcade game Mario Bros. and who isn't familiar with this amazing release? If you are a gamer, you know you’ve played it at one point of your life, or at least you played some version of it.
Mario Bros. is the original arcade game that got so popular it became a franchise. The game was developed by Shigeru Miyamoto and features an Italian-American plumber named Mario who has to defeat various creatures that come from the sewers of New York. The game also features his brother Luigi as a playable character.
How do you play it ?
The gameplay focuses on killing the pests in the sewers of New York by using simple controls. The two brothers investigate the sewers and the player needs to defeat all the enemies in each game phase to go to the next. They win points by defeating multiple enemies and can also play bonus rounds to get even more points. Mario Bros. is known for having an interesting way of killing enemies - they are kicked over after they have been flipped on their back.
How do you win?
As the game progresses, the difficulty is increased; for example fireballs may bounce around the screen and players have to go from phase to phase and get the highest score they can.
Why was it so popular?
Well, it was popular because it had an interesting character and the gameplay was very entertaining, engaging and colorful. Also,
the game was released on PC later, in a time where PC games were not very interesting. Soon, it became one of the most famous video games, with lots of sequels and more enhancements.
Can I still play it?
You can play Super Mario Bros., the game released for PC here.
2. Dragon's Lair
Dragon’s Lair was another awesome Arcade game that was released on laserdisk and it was extremely popular shortly after its release. It is considered to be a historical game and it is on display at Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C..
How do you play it ?
The story is pretty straightforward: you are a knight and you have to rescue a princess. Princess Daphne was locked in a tower by an evil wizard so it’s your quest to rescue her. You battle monsters but since this game was on a laserdisc and contained mostly animated cutscenes, the player had to execute the action by selecting a direction or pressing the sword button with correct timing. So instead of controlling their movements, the player controlled the reflexes with videos playing for correct or incorrect choices.
How do you win?
Well, you had to make sure that you choose the correct movements and you had good reflexes. This made some players extremely frustrated and since the internet didn’t exist to provide walkthroughs, they had to rely on trial and error until they got it right.
Why was it so popular?
Although some critics considered that the gameplay of Dragon’s Lair was “woody” and made it boring and frustrating, others praised the game for its amazing graphics.
Can I still play it?
The game is available for mobile but you can also play it here.
3. Intellivision World Series Baseball
The Intellivision World Series Baseball was a baseball game and the first video game to use multiple camera
angles and also featured play-by-play announcers. The cool thing about this game was also the fact that you were allowed to save during the game.
How do you play it?
The game was played by two players, the first player made a series of movements and then the game switched to the second player who had to do the same thing according to the first player's movements.
How do you win?
Well, obviously, you have to make your team win.
Why was it so popular?
Well, the game used multiple angles which made it much more dynamic; also, you were able to save games, which was another great thing back in the day.
This may have been the first integrated video game - Eddie had designed the animated players to be black or white depending on the real players they were based on. When the names were changed to those of the programmers, he left the skin colors as they were. At least one programmer, though, came to Eddie and asked for "his" skin color to be changed, not wanting to be black in the game.
We’ve talked about Ultima, but Ultima III brought a new type of gameplay we are so familiar with today.
There were so many improvements to this game that made it extremely cool. For example, it had amazing graphics for its type and it was the first RPG to feature animated characters. Also, you were allowed to play with 4 characters at once, rather than just one, so you had a party - a term so familiar today. Other interesting features: separate battle screen where you had to use tactics in order to kill your opponents, you were able to avoid opponents on the map and you had 11 classes to choose from ( Fighter, Paladin, Cleric, Wizard, Ranger, Thief, Barbarian, Lark, Illusionist, Druid, and Alchemist) with 5 races each.
The game is set on earth and it is set in Sosaria where the player has to destroy Exodus, a creation of Minax and Mondain.
How do you play it ?
The game was just like a rudimentary RPG and you had different stats that needed to be added to your character in order to use certain skills (intelligence was required by spells, strength by melee, etc). The party had to explore the map and kill monsters in dungeons or outside.
Food was another important element in the game as it was helping the party gain energy to walk around the world. There were certain commands that the player used and made the game even more interesting (such as steal or bribe). The player was able to choose many methods of walking, for example on foot, horseback or by using a boat.
How do you win?
Each character had to be leveled to 25 in order to beat the game. Once you obtained the necessary experience, you had to talk to “Lord British” to level up. Also the player had to get all marks and all prayer cards.
Why was it so popular?
The game had a nice 3D appearance and that made it stand out among other games in that time. Also, there were chests, traps and other things that made the game very satisfying.
Not many people heard of M.U.L.E. but it was the first multiplayer video game, created by Ozark Softscape.
It was published by Electronic Arts and it is a game that incorporates aspects that simulate economics. The game is set on planet Irata.
How do you play it ?
The game can be compared with a basic version of StarCraft. The main purpose is to gather resources, grow and survive.
How do you win?
Players get to choose their race, which brings advantages or disadvantages, but in order to win they have to cooperate with other players but also compete with each other. The central point of the game is the acquisition and use of M.U.L.E. (Multiple Use Labor Element) . Players can scheme and trade with each other. There are also certain random events that happen such as other creatures attacking, sunspot activity, theft from space pirates and meteorites falling.
Why was it so popular?
It was new, dynamic and it was a multiplayer game. Also, it contained interesting elements and players were able to use multiple strategies to win it.
Interesting fact: The game was considered lost until 2012 when an original disk was found.
Can I still play it?
You can enjoy this amazing game and learn more about it here.
6. Pinball Construction Set
Pinball Construction Set was one of the first games that featured the first example of the "builder" (or "construction set") computer and video game genre. It was first released for Apple II and Atari 800 but later ported on other platforms because it became very popular.
How do you play it ?
Users constructed their own virtual pinball machine by dropping controls on a table. They used various elements such as: bumpers, flippers, spinners, etc. Certain attributes such as gravity and the physics model were easily modifiable. The cool thing about the game was the fact that users got to save their tables and trade them with others.
How do you win?
You were supposed to create the coolest table, it was a creation game.
Why was it so popular?
It was very popular because it introduced a new concept: making your own game. Also it featured an easy gameplay which made it sell over 300,000 copies.
Can I still play it?
You can find out more about the game and Pinball games here.
