Do you play any other Pinball Games besides ZEN PINBALL(2)? :o or will ya???

[LumaFan")]

Pinball Arcade, the returning/REVIVING Pro Pinball? or Pinball Hall of Fame:The WILLIAMS Collection? MAYBE EVEN REAL PINBALL MACHINE?

or do you just stick with the "home" My inference 4 some of you!!!!!(zen) I don't know how obvious this will be, but I would be interested to see what you guys would choose based on unbiased decisions.

LOL Whoops forgot to mention my choice of Pinball simulation, and that would be Zen Pinball. I like the idea of reimagining tables and it gives you the feel that you can't get anywhere.

Around where I live there isn't one Pinball place in CA! The only place would be a wannabe Pinball table at Chucky Cheese and yeah LOL!


Also when do you like to play Pinball? Evening? Morning? Night? I like playing around evening, BTW Those soundtracks KICK BUTT LOL! Love listening to the fine piece, turning off everything except the music!

PS-Would like more realistic tables a little less cartoons?

[Freelance]

Sorry, but I don't think Zen is 'the big guns.' I prefer more realistic simulations of pinball so I largely prefer The Pinball Arcade over Zen. I also love the Pro Pinball series. Pinball Pulse: The Ancients Beckon is good too as well the Farsight's older games. All these are great for authentic pinball action.

I play non realistic pinball on occasion but it's not the same thing.

I also play whenever I feel like it.

[melvo24]

This is actually the first pinball simulation i have ever played. Its actually making me wanna go buy a real pinball machine...lol. Too bad i wont find any like the ones in the game. Pinball machines that come with animated characters will be hard to find..

[LumaFan")]

This is actually the first pinball simulation i have ever played. Its actually making me wanna go buy a real pinball machine...lol. Too bad i wont find any like the ones in the game. Pinball machines that come with animated characters will be hard to find..

LOL I would too! If it wasn't 2 MILLION bucks on eBay!

I was looking at some just a couple minutes ago, there was like a Simpsons one for around that price and TAXI table and TONS MORE!

[Freelance]

Wish I could get my own pin as well, but they're a) too expensive, b) too big to place in my home, and c) costs too much to maintain when parts break down and such.

[maink]

i really didn't like the pinball arcade ball physics , just too floaty for me , it looks like the ball is not even part of the game. but i will buy it if it gets a discount or even better free for plus users.
for gaming mostly on the weekends , too tired after work to start a pinball game it demands too much concentration.

[shogun00]

For the poll, I have to go with Zen Pinball 2. I like the augmented reality aspect to it. Not to mention, the fact that I can play the table for a couple of hours straight.

I've played quite a few pinball games (Pro Pinball, Extreme Pinball, Pinball Arcade, Pinball Hall of Fame, Pinball Dreams/Fantasies, VPMAME, etc...) over the years, so no I'm not just limited to Zen.

[iCub]

Flipnic on the PS2 was a wonderful take on pinball; totally removed from reality but packed full of interesting features. Everything from the graphics & presentation to the sound was completely quirky. I think it was by a Japanese studio originally and then tarted up for a western release. The gameplay branched out over numerous connected tables and missions were completed by moving around the game world. When I tried running it on my PS3 it was unplayable sadly, as the flipper lag was terrible. I still hope for a patched PS2 Classics release on PSN but it's very unlikely.

I think it is the influence of Flipnic that makes me like the more fantastical Zen tables; I can't get enough animated figures, special smoke effects and multiple play fields. It seems that with each release they get more imaginative. Long may it continue.


I have also been a fan of Pinball Dreams/Fantasies (Amiga) , True Pinball (PS1), Mile High Pinball (Nokia N-Gage), Kirby Pinball (Gameboy) amongst others.

I am now considering getting Pinball Arcade, but waiting for a few of the many many reported bugs to be ironed out.
The demo released on the US PSN has just been patched so the slowdown has gone and they seem to have improved the lighting. However, I prefer to buy on the European PSN and that version still has problems with flipper lag :-( Hopefully with tomorrow's table update it will be gone.

[tenorhero]

Poll question is odd. If I would play other pinball games it would be an actual real tables. Of course that said I would prefer Pro Pinball over TPA even though I never played it. The physics look really good.

I agree with Maink The physics in Pinball arcade in most of the tables are way too floaty. Just got Creature and Black Knight tonight and it really feels like it's a step down. Funhouse and Bride are pretty close but the other tables the balls are way to floaty. Played some real tables today and the ball physics are off IMO. Although pretty good it's not my cup of tea. on the reverse side Zen's physics has too much weight IMO so somewhere in the middle would be great.


I didn't vote on the poll. Of course I would pick Zen 2. I do like playing the old classic tables but the physics seem off to me.

[parathod]

I recently tried some tables on Pinball Arcade for IOS and didn't care for them despite being a fan of the original real tables (Funhouse, Bride of Pinbot). Zen is all I need, but I wish they'd release tables on a quicker basis.

[surf1der]

Poll question is odd. If I would play other pinball games it would be an actual real tables. Of course that said I would prefer Pro Pinball over TPA even though I never played it. The physics look really good.

I agree with Maink The physics in Pinball arcade in most of the tables are way too floaty. Just got Creature and Black Knight tonight and it really feels like it's a step down. Funhouse and Bride are pretty close but the other tables the balls are way to floaty. Played some real tables today and the ball physics are off IMO. Although pretty good it's not my cup of tea. on the reverse side Zen's physics has too much weight IMO so somewhere in the middle would be great.


I didn't vote on the poll. Of course I would pick Zen 2. I do like playing the old classic tables but the physics seem off to me.

The physics feel floaty because you play zp too much! Actually, TPA feels a tad floaty but the physics are more realistic than zp physics. I really like both of them but for different reasons. I have mostly been playing ZP2 recently because it is still fairly new and because of the tourney.

Pro pinball was great. If you have a pc, you can download a free copy of Big Race USA on their kickstarter page.

[LumaFan")]

Pinball Arcade is great, especially on the Vita! Here are some my highly recommended tables to get:
Medieval Madness,Theatre of Magic,Tales of Arabian Nights,Bride of Pin-Bot.

These are all some of the best table worth playing on PA!

[tenorhero]

The physics feel floaty because you play zp too much! Actually, TPA feels a tad floaty but the physics are more realistic than zp physics. I really like both of them but for different reasons. I have mostly been playing ZP2 recently because it is still fairly new and because of the tourney.

Pro pinball was great. If you have a pc, you can download a free copy of Big Race USA on their kickstarter page.

It's more realistic but it's still way too floaty. like i mentioned certain talbes have it spot on. Tables like Funhouse, Bride are really good. Loved Medieval Madness but don't care for the TPA version. I don't recall the real table having the ball pop out of the moat and trickle down the left orbit and while I have my left flipper up it bounces all the way up past the left slingshot and then head to the left outlanes. I can understand a strong shot around the right orbit doing that but not from a soft roll down the left orbit. Some of the newer DLC tables are getting better.

Thanks for info on the download. I downloaded and I pretty much stand to what I mentioned earlier. Pro pinball's physics are really good. If Zen and TPA had pro's physics, then we would be in pinball heaven.

[LumaFan")]

Maybe Farsight and ZEN could team up in a collab. to both make a Table! Would be a cold day in Summer, but that would be waaay too cool!

[Peridot Weapon]

Maybe Farsight and ZEN could team up in a collab. to both make a Table! Would be a cold day in Summer, but that would be waaay too cool!

To fit with their respective themes, Zen would need to create a physical table, then they could each put it in their respective game. Zen because they created it, Farsight because they'd be recreating the actual table.

That'd be worth it just for the factor. Heh.

[am1001]

No love for Visual pinball? I think its good and so many tables.

http://www.vpforums.org/index.php?act=idx

and someone is even working on a stereoscopic version of visual pinball - almost ready for release!

http://www.vpforums.org/index.php?showtopic=6278&st=60

[LumaFan")]

No love for Visual pinball? I think its good and so many tables.

http://www.vpforums.org/index.php?act=idx

and someone is even working on a stereoscopic version of visual pinball - almost ready for release!

http://www.vpforums.org/index.php?showtopic=6278&st=60

LOL, Wow thanks!!!!! Never heard of VP till now!!!!!! Lookin in to it now!

[beastiole]

No love for Visual pinball? I think its good and so many tables.

I was fond of Visual pinball 5 years ago, but since a year, I really prefer Future pinball.

Table (re)creators have made so much progress ...

[tenorhero]

Yeah great job to those that did the work to recreate these but the scrolling is annoying as heck. Hard to get used to. It's fun and all. I'll have to look into family Guy, Iron Man and Batman those are fun tables in real life.

[Rockgamer]

I'm always up for trying out new pinball games, but they have to be really good to keep me playing them constantly. Zen Pinball has definitely managed to do that more than any other pinball game. I like Nintendo's pinball games (Kirby, Mario, Metroid), but since they're structured more like actual video games there's not much to do once you beat them. I tried the Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection, and while the tables were alright I didn't really like the format of the game (the whole arcade setup, having to get credits and everything). The only other game I played almost as much as ZP is Pinball Heroes on PSP. They had some really good tables that were a lot of fun to play, so I hope they bring that series back one day.

I haven't really played much real pinball, but I'd be willing to if it was easier to find. I played a real pinball machine at a bowling alley well over ten years ago (so unfortunately I don't remember what it was, especially since I wasn't really into pinball back then), but I don't think I've even seen one since then.

[caper_26]

are the other pinball games besides zen studios, available for PS3?? Are they glitch free?? I find it annoying on how many glitches there are on ZP. I don't play a lot of games for ps3, but have had many other platforms in the past and have yet to see even 1 glitch on a game that I have played let alone the (hundreds?) of glitches on all the ZS based tables.

[caper_26]

for gaming mostly on the weekends , too tired after work to start a pinball game it demands too much concentration.

Thats what multiplayer on the PSN is for! Just join in, and have a bunch of quick games, where, if you lose your ball, you don't turn into the Hulk because you just wasted 4 hours of playing, only to come up short on your all time high score I usually only play online, but since ZP2 came out, I put up a bunch of high scores just to get the 'pro-score' into the top 10. I will be going to back to mostly online shortly, and had a few games last night. the only problem is that when newbies are at the table, I either get booted or everyone leaves.

[Freelance]

are the other pinball games besides zen studios, available for PS3?? Are they glitch free?? I find it annoying on how many glitches there are on ZP. I don't play a lot of games for ps3, but have had many other platforms in the past and have yet to see even 1 glitch on a game that I have played let alone the (hundreds?) of glitches on all the ZS based tables.

Only Pro Pinball in that list isn't on the PS3. The PS3 version of TPA supposedly has bugs but I never seem to encounter any. Are you really getting lots of Zen Pinball glitches? I never seem to see any either so I dunno.

BTW TC, your thread is specifically asking if we play any other games besides Zen Pinball(2) so is there any reason why you put down ZP(2) in the poll? Putting ZP2 in the poll will just skew the results since it is the official ZP forum and therefore everyone's favourite pinball game by default (except for me). It's like going to a 3DS forum and asking people there if they like the 3DS or the Vita more. The majority of people will say the 3DS.

[FourWinds]

I like The Pinball Arcade (even though I'm in England, and so on revision 1.not good).

The 'floaty physics' feel to me quite good; I do think it's looks a bit naff however when the ball is moving slowly, and it's clear that it's not rolling. I think that a pin'ball' needs to roll, or at least look like it might be.

Currently I prefer Zen, but if TPA (FarSight) got it's act together: fixed the bugs, stopped the ball flying through flippers, gave the EU some patches (and some F'ing DLC), made the ball roll; well...I might change my mind if that was all to happen. I don't think it will though; I think FarSight are trying to release tables, and patch too quickly without good enough QA. Either way I'm going to be buying all the tables from both Zen and FS: it's just too good of a gaming deal to miss (I get more fun from a £3 table than a £45 full modern game). Also, like I saw in some other post: if pin heads buy (and therefore support) all they can, it's only going to be good for all of us in the long run.

In answer to the original post: I play mostly at night. I also have an unfortunate habit of wanting to play when I've been drinking; this means I suck, and get angry all the time I loose a ball. The truth is that I'm pretty not good at pinball, but I like it a lot.

[gorcorps]

I play both Zen Pinball 2 and Pinball Arcade on the Vita, and both have their merits. Pinball Arcade came first and because I was itching for some pinball I got it immediately and bought some tables. I never really noticed the "floaty" physics people complain about, but going back to it after Zen Pinball it does feel slower. Almost like the table isn't at the right angle but it's not really a game breaker. The biggest deal for me with TPA is the features they've promised by haven't delivered because they're too busy pumping out more DLC. Also, you can't demo tables on the Vita even though on other devices you can.

Here's my breakdown of the two:

The Pinball Arcade
Pros
+Very good recreations of favorite tables
+Easier to stomach 5.99 2-packs vs. 9.99 4-packs if you're focused on certain tables
+Decent selection of newer and classic tables
+More goals & trophys to shoot for per table (5 standard then 5 wizard goals)

Cons
-Slower "floaty" game
-Has had the challenge and tournament options there since the beginning, but still say "this mode will be active when more tables are released". Several DLC packs later it's still a broken promise.
-The older tables generally have terrible sound effects (as was the case during the time period) and aren't very fun (opinion). So I'm usually spending 5.99 for a 2-pack when I never touch the 2nd table after the first playthrough.
-No demos on the Vita version DLC (but I could get some demos via the Android version?)
-Pretty awful interface


Zen Pinball 2
Pros
+Original tables that take advantage of being video based and not a real table
+Closer to "realistic" ball physics
+Licensed tables make the missions seem more entertaining
+Despite having to buy 4-packs in some cases, none of the tables have been bad. I'll play all of them again even if there's some I like less than others.
+Good voice acting and sound effects makes original tables fun to play AND hear
+Very polished interface in comparison.
+Demos for everything give a decent sense of if I'll like it or not. (Though I wish the score limits were a tad higher. On some I reach the limit before being able to start a mission and really get a feel for a table.)

Cons
-Sometimes hard to stomach a 4-pack of tables when I only want 1 or 2.
-Only 2 goals per table limits replayability other than simple high score seeking
-Despite all the awesome stuff built into the tables, sticking with a monochromatic dot matrix score display seems like a HUGE missed opportunity. Yes it makes it seem more like a real pinball machine, but I like all the stuff that you can do simply because it ISN'T a real pinball machine.

Overall ZP2 is pretty much superior in all aspects. TPA is still worth having for the few tables you might really enjoy. For me, having Monster Bash on my Vita is absolutely worth the money.

[devilmosh]

I enjoy bouncing between Zen 2 and Pinball Arcade for the variations, but I definitely prefer the feel of Zen. As for others I enjoy on the PS3, I like Pinballistik though they seem to have dropped it after three tables, and PAIN has a fun pinball mode with a few tables.

[chiralfox]

I voted for Pinball Arcade, because I prefer the design of real pinball machines over the Zen designs. That said, they're both excellent games. Zen is more stable and has fewer bugs. The new physics are nice. But the gameplay isn't anywhere nearly as exhilarating as a real pin. Part of what makes real pin designs so exciting is the level of risk and reward in each shot, at least in the more well-balanced games.

In my opinion then, Pinball Arcade has better pins to play, but it also has its share of problems. There are bugs, some merely silly or annoying, some game-breaking (had Ripley unable to locate the ball 80 million and 5 super jackpots in), and some that seem ridiculous but are actually part of the original ROM (Cirqus Voltaire, I'm looking at you).

I think the physics in each respective game fits the playstyle. Zen feels comfortable and is relatively easy to control. Pinball Arcade can be a little more unpredictable at times, and has the physics tuned to punish bad shots a fair amount of the time. Still not as a fast as a real machine, but it can still be enough to make recovery difficult. I enjoy the nuances of both (I have almost all of the tables for both games), but would love to see more accurate flipper physics. Can't have everything though.

However, real pins trump video pinball. And truth be told, when out playing live, I find myself enjoying EMs immensely over SS games as of late. Some people might find them boring, but the challenge of a single ball and no ramps or toys is actually very compelling.

[ER777]

I play both Zen's games and the FarSight's games (including PHoF) on the PS3. Right now I prefer Zen 2 over The Pinball Arcade but if TPA gets its gameplay issues worked out it could take over the lead for me. Its never going to be a choice of one or the other for me, I'm always going to play both as long as the devs continue to support them. If Creat supported Pinballistik I would give that a shot too, but it seems they've abandoned it. Based on the comments in this thread I might need to try a couple of these PC titles too, although I really prefer console gaming.

Its been a long time since I played a lot of physical pinball, just because tables (especially ones in good shape) are hard to find these days in my area. I used to play a decent amount back in the 90's when I worked in an Arcade for a while (back when Arcades still actually had pinball machines in them).

[blacpain]

I was fond of Visual pinball 5 years ago, but since a year, I really prefer Future pinball.

Table (re)creators have made so much progress ...

oh my gosh - terminator pinball !!! i used to play this and others classics in the days in the arcades. thats why i sneaked on Pinball Williams Collection, too (oh i see im the only one in here till yet).

[clydebink]

I play Zen and Pinball Arcade most of the time. Every once in a while I'll search the iphone app store for pinball games. Most of them are really bad, but they often have interesting concepts. There's one where you defend the drain from zombies. One has a obese boss that walks around the playfield (doesn't work well). Hyper Pinball was horrible beyond belief, the flippers are tethered together.
Sometimes I get lucky: all of the Nena Innovation tables are worth playing. They understand some design principles and follow through well. I'm interested in playing the Da Vinci themed table by the developer that did War Pinball, but I haven't enjoyed any of that developer's previous tables. Blows my mind that there isn't an Angry Birds table.
Looking at failed attempts to innovate on pinball makes me appreciate Zen's ability to do it well.

[Geddon]

Although I dig all the Zen tables I love Medieval Madness on pinball arcade.

The constant dopamine feedback from Medieval Madness is just so perfect. All of the zen tables are so sedate in comparison. (to varying degrees)

Play a game of MM and then play any zen table. Makes the zen tables feel so blah. Zen tables are still fun, just not very exciting gameplay when compared to MM.

I guess a lot of the real pinball tables had much harder hitting sound effects to reward the player. Zen rewards players with score aplenty but not as much with awesome sound effects. They really add to the experience.

Also I wish zen could bring a star wars themed table or something along the lines of the pinball 2000 machines. Zen just needs to make their tables get more in your face! lol

[Casio]

Play both Pinball Arcade and Zen 2. Each have their differences both good games.

[Piccalilli]

I play both ZP2 and TPA, and I love them both for what they each bring to the table. TPA gives me the chance to experience classic tables, many of which were around in my childhood (though I missed out on almost all of them... only played a few games of real pinball in my life). Zen gives me the chance to play tables that couldn't exist outside of the videogame medium. Because they don't need to be quarter drainers to turn a profit in an arcade, Zen can concentrate on fun gameplay and bringing pinball to a whole new group of potential fans. Arcade gaming evolved into many different forms of games after moving to consoles and computers. I'd much rather see different branches of virtual pinball evolve successfully in videogames than see the genre become stifled.

[RabidShark]

ya cant vote i have Zen 2, Future pinball, pinball arcade, and soon to be in my list Pro Pinball bottom line if your into pinball you will and should have them all

"LONG LIVE PINBALL"

[Trollwart]

They're all pretty good. The floaty-ness of PBA was annoying at first, but it is what those machines are like. I think Zen has the most potential...I think the warring philosophy between realism and fantasy is good (one of the better threads from a while back)...in fact, I think they should push even harder in each direction.
I like the Gamprom tables as well, cool board ideas and some clever concepts...I guess that's just phone and pad based, though...

[Rafie]

Honestly I partake in all of them. I won't just choose one if I had to. Although I do like Zen the best out of all, I still enjoy other pinball platforms.

[Thirdrail]

I would play a lot more of Pinball Arcade if they'd just get their game together. The camera modes are awful, the basic menu system and interface feels like something from 1985, you can't reassign things like which touch screen you're using, or button controls, and it's just all around so clunky and unpolished (switching between portrait and landscape mode only working before games, for example, compared to how ZP2 does it effortlessly at any time), it drives me away again every time I boot it up. Not to mention practically every update they have then forces you to wait for two more updates so they can fix whatever they just broke with the first one.

It just feels like Farsight has become a cell phone game company that dabbles in real game systems, when it should really be the other way around. It's too bad, considering how long it took them to finally get a playable engine, that they then turned around tossed all quality control out the window. It drives me crazy, because they've really got a lot of cool tables, and I'd love to get more new tables for any pinball game that aren't just octopus-esque rampfests, which seems to be the only thing Zen is still interested in producing these days.

[RabidShark]

I would play a lot more of Pinball Arcade if they'd just get their game together. The camera modes are awful, the basic menu system and interface feels like something from 1985, you can't reassign things like which touch screen you're using, or button controls, and it's just all around so clunky and unpolished (switching between portrait and landscape mode only working before games, for example, compared to how ZP2 does it effortlessly at any time), it drives me away again every time I boot it up. Not to mention practically every update they have then forces you to wait for two more updates so they can fix whatever they just broke with the first one.

It just feels like Farsight has become a cell phone game company that dabbles in real game systems, when it should really be the other way around. It's too bad, considering how long it took them to finally get a playable engine, that they then turned around tossed all quality control out the window. It drives me crazy, because they've really got a lot of cool tables, and I'd love to get more new tables for any pinball game that aren't just octopus-esque rampfests, which seems to be the only thing Zen is still interested in producing these days.

i have to agree with you a little on this i am hoping that the pc version will be much better it drives me away at times as well, flipper lag drives me crazy.. medieval madness has several problems like ball through flipper bug and the right side wire ramp does not slow down the ball at all when dropping on the playfield also ball feels like rockets at times i am hoping future updates will fix this stuff and the problem is i love pinball arcade its a difficult situation

Edit: look at these videos this guy put up this is what we have to deal with at the moment :P Multiball Glitch still remains
http://pinballarcadefans.com/showthr...ck-Hole-Glitch

also a valid conversation here and video proof
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6C3qxPqKwY