The Pinball Arcade first impressions

[shogun00]

I just bought the PS3 version of the game. I'm just going make a list of the pros and cons.

Pros:
* The new lighting gives the game an arcade atmosphere.
* The ball physics have been greatly improved compared to the Pinball Hall of Fame (PHOF) games.
* The game is far less glitchy compared to PHOF, especially in the audio department.
* No more moon balls.
* You can earn an extra ball for beating the Replay.
* Detailed rule sheets.
* I like the table/wizard goals and trophy system.
* PS3/Vita compatibility.

Neutral:
* The nudging has been improved, but it can still be better.
* The User Interface (UI) may get overwhelming in the future. However, both Zen Pinball and Marvel Pinball for the PS3 have similar UIs, so I'm pretty used to it.

Cons:
* The plunger camera is ridiculous. It makes me feel like a noob trying to find the start button on the machine.
* Although the lighting has improved, the game still lacks proper GI Lighting (dimming/fading).
* The ball bounces way too much compared to a real pinball machine.
* The ball bounces the same way off the metal parts as it does with the elastics. This is creating some unnecessary outlane drains, when the ball hits the metal divider between the inlane and outlane.
* No online multiplayer mode.
* Lack of controller options and no operator's menu.
* Each table is set at a different incline. This is making the ball roll much faster in some tables compared to others.

[tenorhero]

Initial thoughts. First time playing TPA. Coming from Zen/Marvel I have to say I wasn't impressed with the ball physics....... at first. It took me a while to get used to how the ball handled and I got frustrated when I would lose my balls to the outlanes. (Nudge is you friend here) once I got used to Nudge the tables felt better and I was completing most of the missions for every table.

Some annoying things:
- it seems the flippers are limp the ball heads down the flipper so fast when you get a chance to pin the ball that trying to shoot at targets on the far sides of the tables hard to pull off.
- Some times the balls feels really floaty
- there should be some restart feature like zen it's annoying that you have to exit then start from the table selection every-time you finish and want to play again.

Pros -
It's great that I will be able to experience many of the classic tables from the big pinball makers- Brings back the nostalgia when I went to visit arcades back in the 80's
The price of the title is great and looking forward to more tables. More tables ASAP

Fav table so far is

1 Theater of Magic. Great balance of missions and how to accomplish them the table feels very good. as the 'history' stated it's a huge fan favorite and they are right.
2. Ripley's very unique table. It was the only 1 that I could keep the ball in play confusing where to shoot targets but then again this is the first (and not the last time) I played TPA
3. Arabian Nights - First table I played this is where I though I made a mistake when I bought this. Then I played it after all the other tables and found it to be very good table once I got used to the ball physics and Nudge being you friend.
4. Black Hole - this table feels really slow. What's great about for me is that you need to be accurate to hit targets. I like games that have that sort of skill requirement.
5. Medieval Madness - What you say? I know that the table isn't out yet but I'm looking forward to it once it's released.


Overall, If you are a fan of pinball, TBA is a must buy. It is quite different from ZEN if you are used to those tables - and that's a good thing. With both companies bringing out tables left and right it's great to be a pinball fan.

[bclewis]

Some annoying things:
...- there should be some restart feature like zen it's annoying that you have to exit then start from the table selection every-time you finish and want to play again.

That's interesting; on Xbox I had the impression that starting the next game on TPA was significantly faster than with FX2, and I have been really appreciating that especially when playing Black Hole.

Are you talking about restarting before you've finished a game (i.e. "rage quitting"?) -- that's something I haven't tried on TPA yet.

[Womble]

Re the UI, the good news is that they will be completely replacing it in a future update.

[tenorhero]

That's interesting; on Xbox I had the impression that starting the next game on TPA was significantly faster than with FX2, and I have been really appreciating that especially when playing Black Hole.

Are you talking about restarting before you've finished a game (i.e. "rage quitting"?) -- that's something I haven't tried on TPA yet.

Not Rage quitting but it seems at least to me that it takes a bit longer to start a new game playing the same table after you finish a full game. It does load faster than Zen games but in all honesty It can be a minor annoyance.

Any way been delving into TPA and I must say that the instructions/rule sheet is so much better in TPA than Zen. I like how it shows where to shoot and which is right loop/orbit. Read through the entire instructions for Theater of Magic and my scores increased just by understanding what to do and where to go. I figured most of the stuff out but some of the interesting aspects of the table I didn't know about until I read the instructions. Kudos to Farsight for doing a great job on that.

[maink]

can you play custom music on the ps3 version ? . they said there was supposed to be a demo on psblog .. but that never happened , im still hesitating in buying .

[shogun00]

can you play custom music on the ps3 version ? . they said there was supposed to be a demo on psblog .. but that never happened , im still hesitating in buying .

I'm not sure about custom music. I really don't pay attention to that type of feature.

As for the demo, just wait for a week or two. It'll be added eventually.

When I bought the game, it gave me the demo and the unlock code.

[blue]

Currently no option for custom music in the PS3 version.

Cons:
* Each table is set at a different incline. This is making the ball roll much faster in some tables compared to others.

Interesting. This is one of my favorite features of Pinball Arcade. FarSight did a great job making the tables feel distinct. It's obvious they were made by different developers during different eras (or in the case of Theatre of Magic and Arabian Nights, that they were both designed by Popadiuk).

Hopefully Zen will begin to focus on diversity. Most of their tables feel like they were created by the same five developers: equal flipper distance, same pitch, similar ramp placement, same voice actors, recycled melodies, bad DMD clipart, etc. Even when they copy the designs of popular tables, the end result is lacking.

it seems the flippers are limp the ball heads down the flipper so fast when you get a chance to pin the ball that trying to shoot at targets on the far sides of the tables hard to pull off.
- Some times the balls feels really floaty

That's how real pinball works. Zen doesn't accurately model gravity, inertia, or friction. It's much harder to shoot from the end of the flipper on physical tables.

[Oskari14]

I'm seriously disappointed. When their Ps3 version was released, they unveil that europe version hasn't been approved yet by SCEE and the game comes out in may.

This just feels like they doesn't care about the Europe release at all. Now we see how Zen makes all the releases better than Farsight.

[Womble]

Not sure, but it may well be Sony's fault.

Their regional segmentation doesn't seem to help developers or consumers.

It's amazing just how comprehensively Sony has blown this generation. Bad choices at every stage.

[X DrLobo]

It's amazing just how comprehensively Sony has blown this generation. Bad choices at every stage.

Shhhhhh ! a fanboy could hear you !!!!! as far as i know the ps3 is just good for playing blu rays ... oh and sengoku basara sometimes .... ok heavy rain wasn't too bad either

[M33]

Well, I'm happy with Pinball Arcade's first tables, but I'm not too fussy.

[maink]

i haven't bought the game yet. it is not normal that good pinball players says that this game is total crap , i will wait for a demo , if no demo i will wait for price drop , and no custom soundtracks.

[Womble]

It's definitely not "total crap".

In many ways, it's an excellent product. The core emulation is very solid, the frame-rate is good and the physics are more than passable.

And it really does show just how lacking the PHOF was in terms of physics. (And in my opinion, borderline unplayable.)

But, it's also clear that the entire TPA product range needs more work.

FarSight have obviously gone for a strategy of quantity over quality. In pushing the game on to every platform they could, as quickly as possible, they've done a fairly poor job of optimising and polishing the game for each platform.

And, they've made some very poor decisions in the process. e.g. mandating 1080p ("a management decision"), using a tablet-style UI for consoles and computers alike, not investing in suitable design and art, and having a mismatch in quality between versions.

Right now, TPA doesn't approach Zen's output in terms of quality and attention to detail.

However, FarSight appear to be aware of these issues, and more importantly, willing to tackle them.


And really, for $10? It's a no-brainer if you like pinball.

[BPestZ]

My first impression

First of all I am a huge fan of Zen's pinball philosophy and Pinball FX 2. I feel that having second pinball title of quality is of benefit to them and I wish them well.

PA has in these 4 opening tables made me a fan. I just downloaded it for the Xbox360 in the past hour or so and I played each table once and came here to post. I understand the conflicting reports and I largely agree with both sides in so far as I have personally experienced. The physics for PA feel spot on for me in my first impression run of 30 minutes for all four tables. I have played real pinball tables in my youth and PA seems to have focused less on overarching pinball table ideology due to not having even half the creative licensing requirements table wise as PBFx2. Farsight has the potential to grow the video pinball niche Zen has made larger with a modern retro-pinball emulator in making a title with a different philosophy. I am not going to talk much about the UI as I do largely agree with what has been stated in this thread. I also know nothing of glitches in the tables themselves and yes the leaderboards feel unwieldly. Each table was fun, no favorite yet. PA is difficult where PBFX2 is not and this is why I made my comments about fence sitting on the pros and cons listed above. Because I feel if both games have valid design goals and different, valid philosophies Farsight and Zen will be able to preserve a pinball playing population larger than either could alone because neither game's pro's or con's reflect as poorly on the other game.

I am looking forward to the next release of DLC for PBFX2 and I am very pleased to have The Pinball Arcade to waste my time away with until The Avengers, Hulk, Thanos n Civil War hit . Zen, thanks so much for the promise of the stand alone Doctor Strange table I hope it gets made.