Have You Played... Sharkey's 3D Pool? Rock Paper Shotgun Support us Join our newsletter Visit our store Sign in / Create account If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Have You Played... Sharkey's 3D Pool? Where's Jacques Derrida been hiding all these years? Feature by Ollie Toms Guides Editor Published on Oct. 11, 2022 9 comments Have You Played? is an endless stream of game retrospectives. One a day, every day, perhaps for all time. Oh my word, I'd forgotten about Sharkey's 3D Pool. What a grand old game. Apparently it was quite technically impressive for its time, as one of the very first 3D pool or snooker games. I wouldn't have known anything about that as an eight-year-old playing games after school. Much like I knew absolutely nothing about how to play pool well. I mainly just liked the noise it made when a ball was potted. Whether it was my ball or my opponent's ball: that was just extraneous detail. Looking up Sharkey's 3D Pool in order to write this post, I discovered something that was remarkable to me, and probably uninteresting to you, but this is my post goshdarnit. See, the game had 7 AI player characters, each of which had a name, a portrait, a difficulty level, and maybe even a playing style - though I'm fuzzy on that part. Sharkey was obviously the best: he could clear the table in a single run if the mood struck. But there were also the timeless personalities of Wild-Shot Willy, Slashin' Sally, Fast Fanny, and Slick Nickie. Those names were hours of fun for eight-year-old Ollie. One name that seemed by contrast to be extremely ordinary was Jac Derida. And only now, looking back, do I realise that this name is presumably a reference to Jacques Derrida, a philosopher and academic whose indecipherable works I studied at university. What the fuck is he doing in Sharkey's 3D Pool? The master of post-structuralist deconstruction, Différance, and phallogocentrism, shooting pool in Sharkey's club? Am I missing something here? Is this like Lost? Are all these names actually obscure references to famous thinkers? Is Wild-Shot Willy some world-famous theologian I've never heard about? Sorry. That little detail just blew my mind momentarily. Anyway, Sharkey's 3D Pool. Good game, eh? You can still play it even today, if you fancy reliving your childhood like I did. More Features What are we all playing this weekend? Well? Alice O'Connor an hour ago 22 You're probably better than me at One Many Nobody You go on without… uh, you? Sin Vega 17 hours ago Have You Played... Star Trek Online? Boldly going where no PC has gone before CJ Wheeler 17 hours ago 27 Supporter podcast - The Nate Files episode 13: dry bones Bad science is also FUN science! Alice Bell 18 hours ago Latest Articles What are we all playing this weekend? Well? Alice O'Connor an hour ago 22 Past Wordle answers Here's an archive of previous Wordle words Ollie Toms 2 hours ago 1 Wordle answer today (Saturday 15 October) Hints and the answer to today's Wordle word Rebecca Jones 9 hours ago Overwatch 2 hero tier list Which are the best heroes in Overwatch 2? Ollie Toms 16 hours ago Supporters Only You're probably better than me at One Many Nobody You go on without… uh, you? Sin Vega 17 hours ago Supporter podcast - The Nate Files episode 13: dry bones Bad science is also FUN science! Alice Bell 18 hours ago Japanese dating show Love Wagon has surprising parallels with Yakuza and Persona My new obsession Ed Thorn 2 days ago If you're hankering after Bayonetta 3, Valkyrie Elysium might be a good substitute It's not out on PC until next month, but the console demo has been a surprise charmer Katharine Castle 1 week ago 4 We've been talking, and we think that you should wear clothes Total coincidence, but we sell some clothes Buy RPS stuff here