Get the Maestro demo off Worthplaying (20mb)

Typical, task-oriented computer games abound, where development hours and budget are invested in short-term, short lived special effects, where the player is herded, according to the whim of the programmer, from one stage-managed story strand to the next. Where the grand 'experience' is whittled down to a PC-oriented fair-ground ride over coded 'tracks', where graphics and sound are pushed in your face, leaving you gasping for air and where game difficulty or 'learning curve' is the gameplay.

Like a bad restaurant, too many games drag you to your seat, throw an over-crowded menu at you senses, stand next to you while you hurriedly finish your meal and then kick you out the door before you've even digested what you came in for in the first place.

"Technology has now advanced far enough for Maestro to exist," Mike Oldfield.

Maestro is a refreshing alternative. A free form world where you can enter as a player, an observer, a user…or just a friend. Come to Maestro to learn, to listen, to discover secrets, to talk, to wander aimlessly, to meditate, to sit and watch or just to 'be'.

Here is a small selection of the wide array of features available from the world of Maestro:

• As well as classic excepts from the legendary Tubular Bells album, you can also hear new and exclusive music specially produced by Mike Oldfield for the Maestro experience.
• Instant messenger communication - converse with other Maestro uses, make new friends from all over the world, and see each other in the game as Avatars.
• When you are not participating in Maestro, leave the world running all night as an active screensaver or as a Windows background to your day-to-day tasks. Let the music of Maestro envelop you.
• Maestro is a free-form environment taking a flight simulation approach to world navigation through all dimensions - including inter-dimensions.
• Run Maestro from any independent server and forge exploratory groups from your own friends and family.
• Meet and talk to Mike Oldfield, live and online, who will be taking part within the world of Maestro itself.
• As Mike himself reveals, there are some extra special surprises, "Within this world, you can become the Maestro. You will then be able to enter a special area." containing exclusive music, specially produced by Mike Oldfield and unavailable elsewhere. "You can then grant access to this area to others, if you wish."
  

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