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[BolognaSoup]

Woah I didn't know about Pro Pinball coming back. That is going to be awesome. Was just looking at the Kickstarter page. They really are the cream of the crop. I should break out my PS1 disc.

I mean seriously...

 

[Shaneus]

We also get the remastered Pro Pinball Timeshock! sometime soon I think, that should knock the socks off everything and take the best looking digital pinball table record by a long shot.

Oh definitely, but that's (mostly) only because they're pre-rendering everything. Having said that, they still have a better idea of how lighting should look on a pinball machine than either Zen or FS.

Woah I didn't know about Pro Pinball coming back. That is going to be awesome. Was just looking at the Kickstarter page. They really are the cream of the crop. I should break out my PS1 disc.

I mean seriously...

Do you have an iOS device? Download the lighting demo for Timeshock

 

[plagiarize]

Sounds like it should be pretty soon, but their way of handling discounts have tripped them up. From their Facebook page today:

they told us a three week delay at the worst just over three weeks ago. tomorrow marks when it 'should' have be out, if that older comment on facebook proves correct. it doesn't look like it's going to have been an accurate estimate. i'll believe a given date is the release date, when it's that day, and the game has actually released.

 

[FoxSpirit]

Woah I didn't know about Pro Pinball coming back. That is going to be awesome. Was just looking at the Kickstarter page. They really are the cream of the crop. I should break out my PS1 disc.

I mean seriously...

Yeah, their lighting tech is freakin awesome.

I mean, turning the light down you can start to see the individual bulbs. And the effect of the small bulbs illuminating everything is breathtaking.

 

[twinturbo2]

Stern just announced on Twitter that they're going to do a pin game based on the Ford Mustang. Top Gear USA co-host and professional driver Tanner Foust is doing the voiceover work, but no other details have been confirmed.

http://www.carsandparts.com/Articles/Mustang/News/mustang-pinball

EDIT: The guy who designed the Ford GT is doing the artwork for the game, and there will be "five decades of hits" for music. Still no word who the designer is, though.

 

[BolognaSoup]

Yeah, their lighting tech is freakin awesome.

I mean, turning the light down you can start to see the individual bulbs. And the effect of the small bulbs illuminating everything is breathtaking.

You could have told me that picture was a photo of a real table and I would believe you. I honestly can not really tell that it is not.

I'll check out the iOS demo.

 

[Minsc]

You could have told me that picture was a photo of a real table and I would believe you. I honestly can not really tell that it is not.

I'll check out the iOS demo.

Nicer just to watch the light show from the time warp sequence at 720p. There's a few more stills here too, the second and third images showing the dark table with just a few lights are great.

 

[Shaneus]

Stern just announced on Twitter that they're going to do a pin game based on the Ford Mustang. Top Gear USA co-host and professional driver Tanner Foust is doing the voiceover work, but no other details have been confirmed.

http://www.carsandparts.com/Articles/Mustang/News/mustang-pinball

EDIT: The guy who designed the Ford GT is doing the artwork for the game, and there will be "five decades of hits" for music. Still no word who the designer is, though.

Oh god, that actually sounds pretty fucking good. I hear semi-decent things about Viper Night Driving, so this should be interesting. Does this put the kybosh on a Fast and the Furious pinball that's all but confirmed? Because it'd be death if they had both being designed.

I seriously hope Steve Ritchie is designing it. Given his well-known affinity for fast cars (just look at High Speed and The Getaway) he'd be *perfect* for it. In an interview on Spooky Pinball he said that after WPT (or maybe Elvis?) he cracked the sads at not doing themes he was at least remotely interested in (fair enough, if you don't love what you're doing, your heart won't be in it) and agreed that anything he works on from that point in the future would have to be mutually agreed upon. Mustang would be a no-brainer for him, I'd imagine.

BTW I think it is essentially confirmed that one of the next big tables for 2014 is going to be The Hunger Games. Not exactly a theme that appeals to any home buyer whatsoever, but maybe it's the machine that could make it big again in places like movie theatres and kids fun centres (vs arcades).


Yeah, I'm kind of excited for a Mustang-themed pin. I think Stern will find they have more success with themes that while they may be appealing to a wide audience don't necessarily need to be faddy themes related to things like movies. They should look at doing some really good (as in, not phoned-in) toy-themed ones. Probably not Lego, but along the lines of Ben 10, another Ninja Turtles (based on the current cartoon) or even your Adventure Time/Adult Swim-ish ones (holy shit, imagine an Archer pinball!).

Edit: Holy fucking fuck, an Archer pinball would be incredible. Simple artwork (no Gottlieb-esque photo playfields/backboxes!) and a funny, dark-humoured theme that could be filled with wisecrack callouts.

 

[twinturbo2]

A Hunger Games pinball? How... would that even remotely work?

A Fast and the Furious pinball would have been interesting, but the death of Paul Walker may put the kibosh on such a project.

 

[Minsc]

A Hunger Games pinball? How... would that even remotely work?

A Fast and the Furious pinball would have been interesting, but the death of Paul Walker may put the kibosh on such a project.

Trigger the competition, win rounds vs opponents by hitting targets (shoot arrows - the pinball - at targets), etc. Run ramps to escape. Not the best theming, but it could work I guess. They'll have ample sound effects from the new movies, so that's covered.

 

[ascii42]

A Hunger Games pinball? How... would that even remotely work?

There are multiple ways I think they could approach it. The first thing I suppose is whether it is specifically based on Katniss's story or just a general hunger games. If it was just the general one, the main task would be to kill the other 23 combatants. If they do Katniss's story, they'd probably include various imagery and references to specific challenges that Katniss had to overcome.

 

[Shaneus]

A Hunger Games pinball? How... would that even remotely work?

A Fast and the Furious pinball would have been interesting, but the death of Paul Walker may put the kibosh on such a project.

Pretty sure the F&F machine is a lock. As in, designed and at least whitewooded. I'm not sure how it would've worked as a machine (because almost all modes would involve you "competing" against someone, I'd imagine = not enough variety) but I'm sure it at least would've been fast.

Not sure on how Hunger Games would work, I've never seen the movie nor read the books. But it just doesn't make sense to me, even Gary Stern has said how much of a percentage their home market is (it's stupidly massive... was it around 70% or something?) and I can't see anyone who could afford (both monetarily and space-wise) a pinball machine would want one. Teenage girls just aren't into pinball.v

There are multiple ways I think they could approach it. The first thing I suppose is whether it is specifically based on Katniss's story or just a general hunger games. If it was just the general one, the main task would be to kill the other 23 combatants. If they do Katniss's story, they'd probably include various imagery and references to specific challenges that Katniss had to overcome.

So basically, (almost) everything Stern has done movie license-wise up to this. No imagination, just shoehorn various story elements into game modes and call it a day. Fuck. Bet it's true, though.

The Mustang license... that has me intrigued. I see it being about as popular as Harley-Davidson was... as Nate on C2C said, "A bunch of executives thinking 'Man, this is a GREAT idea. Pubs and roadhouses everywhere will have them, we'll make a mint!" without thinking that majority of pinball players really don't go for the bogan motor-racing/petrol head themes.

But again, if Steve Ritchie is on it, so will I be (and since Star Trek, nothing's been announced about what he's working on, compared to all the other big designers at Stern who are all pretty much locked into things like FF and HG).

Does anyone have a cap of the tweet?
Edit: Never mind, found it. No actual game footage :/


Edit #2: Holy shit, someone on Pinside called it 8 months ago! If it's been designed since then... maybe not Ritchie?

 

[twinturbo2]

Pinball News is speculating that Mustang is being designed by John Trudeau.

 

[Shaneus]

I'm not a massive fan of Trudeau, and the only car/driving-themed game he's done is Victory... so we'll see how this pans out.

Didn't he do a layout for Heighway before heading to Stern? I'm more curious to see how that turns out (unless it was someone else, but I'm sure someone did something there before heading to Stern).

Also, all the top designers should stop working for a company that only produces licensed games. I'm fucking over them.

 

[twinturbo2]

Also, all the top designers should stop working for a company that only produces licensed games. I'm fucking over them.

How else are they going to sell?

 

[The Technomancer]

Woah I didn't know about Pro Pinball coming back. That is going to be awesome. Was just looking at the Kickstarter page. They really are the cream of the crop. I should break out my PS1 disc.

I mean seriously...

Goddamn

That looks almost real

 

[plagiarize]

Shaneus, I just saw your post on Pinballarcadefans talking about a hoped for December 17th or 24th release...

I'm not going to do another overly melodramatic post about how Farsight are specifically doing this to fuck with me again, but damn it feels that way at times.

I leave for England on the 18th until the 24th. I'm not going to fly with my PS4 and try to hijack my parents TV on the off chance that the game actually ever comes out. Ho hum.

 

[AcridMeat]

I'm not going to fly with my PS4 and try to hijack my parents TV on the off chance that the game actually ever comes out. Ho hum.

Time to get a Vita in the meantime.

 

[Vyse24]

It's official! Kicking off Season 3 is Fish Tales!

 

[Shaneus]

How else are they going to sell?

You mean, like Medieval Madness?

Edit: FUCK YES! Single table?

Also, why taunt us with PS4 screenshots when the game isn't out on PS4 yet and PC version doesn't have that lighting? Bastards.

Shaneus, I just saw your post on Pinballarcadefans talking about a hoped for December 17th or 24th release...

I'm not going to do another overly melodramatic post about how Farsight are specifically doing this to fuck with me again, but damn it feels that way at times.

I leave for England on the 18th until the 24th. I'm not going to fly with my PS4 and try to hijack my parents TV on the off chance that the game actually ever comes out. Ho hum.

I don't remember that post, but given how hard it is to get a PS4 here in Australia, I don't think I'm concerned. I should put my efforts towards nagging FS until they release the updated lighting model for PC.

 

[Minsc]

Also, why taunt us with PS4 screenshots when the game isn't out on PS4 yet and PC version doesn't have that lighting? Bastards.

Damn, if they're going to use PS4 shots, at least they could not compress them to hell and leave them at 1080p, they looked like the usual 360 shots to me at first.

Edit: There's original screens too, nevermind. Screen 1, Screen 2, Screen 3, Screen 4.

Fish Tales being table pack 21 potentially makes Season 3 better than Season 2 already, rest of the tables are going to have to suck a lot for Season 2 to come out ahead.

 

[BigWeather]

On Facebook FS stated they were PC Steam shots.

 

[Minsc]

I just saw that mentioned at pinballarcade forums. PC shots then, not PS4, guess that's why the lighting didn't scream PS4 to me right away.

Someone else said Farsight is expecting Season 3 to top Season 1 from a facebook comment, and be the strongest season in TPA. Perhaps it will be the final one too? Going out with a bang then... also was mentioned they're moving staff off TPA in favor of other projects, guess they can't keep afloat with just pinball.

 

[twinturbo2]

I sure hope Season 3 isn't the final season. There's still much left to digitize.

 

[Shaneus]

I just saw that mentioned at pinballarcade forums. PC shots then, not PS4, guess that's why the lighting didn't scream PS4 to me right away.

They looked like PS4 from the smaller ones (to me), but the bigger ones are definitely the older lighting on PC.

Someone else said Farsight is expecting Season 3 to top Season 1 from a facebook comment, and be the strongest season in TPA. Perhaps it will be the final one too? Going out with a bang then... also was mentioned they're moving staff off TPA in favor of other projects, guess they can't keep afloat with just pinball.

What? There's no way it'll be the final one. Maybe it's just the final one for TPA v1.0? From what I can tell, there's really nothing for FS to fall back on once this is done. Plus, there are far, FAR too many tables for them to still work on. They've covered only a small fraction of Williams/Bally from the 80s/90s, not to mention all the hidden gem Gottlieb titles (TX Sector, damnit!) as well.
My guess is that it could be the final season for V1.0. My theory would be that it'll wind up a similar format to the Rock Band series... you buy a song and can play it on future "platforms", but with certain songs only working on newer releases with newer features.

 

[meppi]

I sure hope Season 3 isn't the final season. There's still much left to digitize.

I'm hoping the same. Would be such a shame to see this series end.

Still have to find the name of an old pinball game from the early 90s I think.
All I remember is that it was space themed if I'm not mistaken, and you had extra buttons next to the flipper buttons that were able to hold the ball at certain spots on the play field with magnets.
Played this game for years, yet I have no idea what it was.

 

[Shaneus]

I'm hoping the same. Would be such a shame to see this series end.

Still have to find the name of an old pinball game from the early 90s I think.
All I remember is that it was space themed if I'm not mistaken, and you had extra buttons next to the flipper buttons that were able to hold the ball at certain spots on the play field with magnets.
Played this game for years, yet I have no idea what it was.

Do you remember if it had a DMD or was alpha-numeric (like Bride of Pinbot, Funhouse etc.)?

 

[meppi]

Do you remember if it had a DMD or was alpha-numeric (like Bride of Pinbot, Funhouse etc.)?

Pretty positive it had to be alpha-numeric as we never had a pinball at the bar with any fancy graphics on the screen.

It was quite a while ago though. I grew up in a little pub for the first 16 years of my life.
I think we had pinball machines from when I was 10 or so till 14 maybe when they replaced it with a bingo game.
So my best guess would be between 1986 and 1990. So it must have been a late 80's game instead of a 90's one, unless my memory is playing tricks on me.

 

[Vyse24]

I'm hoping the same. Would be such a shame to see this series end.

Still have to find the name of an old pinball game from the early 90s I think.
All I remember is that it was space themed if I'm not mistaken, and you had extra buttons next to the flipper buttons that were able to hold the ball at certain spots on the play field with magnets.
Played this game for years, yet I have no idea what it was.

You mean like the Magnasaves in Black Knight? If so, it might be Solar Fire: http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=2238

 

[OrangeOak]

Sorry if already answered but why there are no friends on my leaderboards in Steam version?I know that at least one friend of mine is playing arabian nights but when I switch to friends leaderboards there is only "ME".

 

[meppi]

You mean like the Magnasaves in Black Knight? If so, it might be Solar Fire: http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=2238

Holy crap! That's the one!

The date completely threw me off since it was made in 1981.
Just called my mom up to see if she remembered at around what age I started playing the pinball and arcade machines and it does match up. Think we got it in 1981 or 1982 at the latest. So I was 5 or 6.
I know that I was playing arcade machines even earlier as I remember playing a ton of Space Invaders with the cellophane overlay on top of the black and white screen. And that was in the late 70s.

Looks like I have a new favourite to look forward to being added to TPA.

Funny part is that Mark from ClassicGameRoom reviewed this table, yet I hadn't seen it before! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XxR4AX7Ysk
Seeing the table with all the lights on brings back so many memories.
And the sound! My God!

 

[RadarScope1]

I remember Fish Tales fondly. It was the first and maybe only pinball game I "got" back in the day and knew what I was doing. Or at least it felt like it. Did it have a pretty simple rule set? Looking forward to this one.

 

[OrangeOak]

So I searched and found out that there is really no option to have your friends on leaderboards.What a joke it is.First I had xbox version without tables, now I have PC version with broken leaderboards.

 

[Minsc]

So I searched and found out that there is really no option to have your friends on leaderboards.What a joke it is.First I had xbox version without tables, now I have PC version with broken leaderboards.

That was my impression as well, but the PC version is still very new, and I'd expect them to fix/improve stuff a little more. As with everything else, give it time, a good 4-6 months and hopefully they address it. They were patching the PC version twice a week for a little while, but things have slowed down as the focus has shifted to the PS4 I imagine. Once that is out, they'll return to implementing DX11 and other stuff in the PC version.

 

[OrangeOak]

That was my impression as well, but the PC version is still very new, and I'd expect them to fix/improve stuff a little more. As with everything else, give it time, a good 4-6 months and hopefully they address it. They were patching the PC version twice a week for a little while, but things have slowed down as the focus has shifted to the PS4 I imagine. Once that is out, they'll return to implementing DX11 and other stuff in the PC version.

Let's hope that you are right and they will update PC version.I also hope that they will add Steam friends leaderboards support and no facebook friends.
IMO leaderboards are pretty important thing in this kind of game and it should be they priority.
I still love this game though and I am addicted to it.

 

[Shaneus]

Friend just bought a Star Trek LE. Here in Australia, that's $10.5k. Have to admit, little jelly... though if I had access to that sort of money, even via a loan, I'd put it toward two or three classic machines in good nick than one big one. Hope it holds it's value for him!

(Yes, I will visit and yes, I will offer impressions! Chances are though, with it being a Stern I'll just stick with playing rockin' Rollergames )

 

[plagiarize]

You mean, like Medieval Madness?

Edit: FUCK YES! Single table?

Also, why taunt us with PS4 screenshots when the game isn't out on PS4 yet and PC version doesn't have that lighting? Bastards.


I don't remember that post, but given how hard it is to get a PS4 here in Australia, I don't think I'm concerned. I should put my efforts towards nagging FS until they release the updated lighting model for PC.

So now the game is officially slated for 'December' I've basically accepted that I'll get to play this after I get back from England on the 2nd of January. That's fine. I'll be buying it via Web PSN as soon as I can so it'll be all downloaded and ready for me should I want a quick go after getting in from the airport.

I know we're not getting season 2 at launch on PS4, which makes them using PS4 screens for Fish Tales even weirder. Are they going to jump right to Season 3 and then get Season 2 over later? I'm good either way. I don't have anything from Season 2 yet on any platform.

 

[Minsc]

So now the game is officially slated for 'December' I've basically accepted that I'll get to play this after I get back from England on the 2nd of January. That's fine. I'll be buying it via Web PSN as soon as I can so it'll be all downloaded and ready for me should I want a quick go after getting in from the airport.

I know we're not getting season 2 at launch on PS4, which makes them using PS4 screens for Fish Tales even weirder. Are they going to jump right to Season 3 and then get Season 2 over later? I'm good either way. I don't have anything from Season 2 yet on any platform.

Fish Tales screens were PC... Season 2 will be first on PS4 before season 3 tables, but there will be a bit of a gap between the launch with Season 1 and release of Season 2 iirc.

 

[Minsc]

Look like Steam version is getting the cabinet support for free down the road, before it was sounding like they wanted to charge for the mode (since they have to program in additional support for running in cabinets ("dmd support, plus mechanical plunger, and maybe a shaker, maybe ledwiz" from that thread). Don't know if anyone here has a pinball cabinet though, but good news if so!

 

[Shaneus]

Nice. On a similar note, I was looking at the Pro Pinball/Timeshock KS the other day and *that* is getting full cab support (*with* DMD!) as well. Surprising, and awesome. I bet they'll turn heads when it plays better than any of the TPA titles.

 

[plagiarize]

Look like Steam version is getting the cabinet support for free down the road, before it was sounding like they wanted to charge for the mode (since they have to program in additional support for running in cabinets ("dmd support, plus mechanical plunger, and maybe a shaker, maybe ledwiz" from that thread). Don't know if anyone here has a pinball cabinet though, but good news if so!

I mentioned maybe getting one to my wife. She shot it down pretty fast and she almost never shoots anything I want to down. Ho hum.

 

[Bebpo]

Umm, pardon my ignorance, but what's a pinball cabinet? I mean with an arcade CAB and mame or something it makes sense because it's just like playing the games. But is a pinball CAB like a giant vertical screen laying flat with a plunger and two flipper buttons on the side and you watch the screen? That just seems...strange to me for some reason.

 

[Shaneus]

I mentioned maybe getting one to my wife. She shot it down pretty fast and she almost never shoots anything I want to down. Ho hum.

Maybe build a mini one? I don't see any reason why you couldn't use an old monitor or two you have kicking around (one for the DMD/backbox, another for the playfield), a few buttons and a USB controller to modify. And a little bit of woodwork.
If I wind up getting another monitor in the near future, it's probably what I'll wind up doing. Nothing flash, but something that could sit on a benchtop or even lap would be pretty neat I'd think.

Umm, pardon my ignorance, but what's a pinball cabinet? I mean with an arcade CAB and mame or something it makes sense because it's just like playing the games. But is a pinball CAB like a giant vertical screen laying flat with a plunger and two flipper buttons on the side and you watch the screen? That just seems...strange to me for some reason.

It's actually pretty cool if you play one that has all the right viewing angles set and has good responsiveness, but IMO they're such a waste of money compared to a real table. People don't realise how much enjoyment they'll get out of having the one if they just pick right, so they want something with lots of games. I still love my High Speed and on the surface it's pretty damn shallow compared to everything that came after it.

 

[Minsc]

Umm, pardon my ignorance, but what's a pinball cabinet? I mean with an arcade CAB and mame or something it makes sense because it's just like playing the games. But is a pinball CAB like a giant vertical screen laying flat with a plunger and two flipper buttons on the side and you watch the screen? That just seems...strange to me for some reason.

Try this I guess (just go to around 1:20 and watch the last 20 seconds), I don't know if that's the best video to show it off, but you get the whole package, and apparently having a cab with ledwiz can really simulate an actual table rather well, since you'll never get all those fancy strobe effects the tables had on a normal screen.

 

[plagiarize]

Maybe build a mini one? I don't see any reason why you couldn't use an old monitor or two you have kicking around (one for the DMD/backbox, another for the playfield), a few buttons and a USB controller to modify. And a little bit of woodwork.
If I wind up getting another monitor in the near future, it's probably what I'll wind up doing. Nothing flash, but something that could sit on a benchtop or even lap would be pretty neat I'd think.


It's actually pretty cool if you play one that has all the right viewing angles set and has good responsiveness, but IMO they're such a waste of money compared to a real table. People don't realise how much enjoyment they'll get out of having the one if they just pick right, so they want something with lots of games. I still love my High Speed and on the surface it's pretty damn shallow compared to everything that came after it.

I kind of want something full sized, like a VirtuaPin. Her issue is one of space rather than cost. I'd love a real machine, but I'm not too handy, and the repair and restoration (and knowing that I wouldn't stop at one) keep me from wanting one too much... but a VirtuaPin...

*sigh*

 

[Shaneus]

I kind of want something full sized, like a VirtuaPin. Her issue is one of space rather than cost. I'd love a real machine, but I'm not too handy, and the repair and restoration (and knowing that I wouldn't stop at one) keep me from wanting one too much... but a VirtuaPin...

*sigh*

Know what I think? Wait for Oculus to get released and get big. Because then you could get away with buying (or making) something like this:

or this:

But instead, you really just should buy a physical machine

Spoiler

Scary thing is, you're totally right about not owning just one. I literally don't have room for any more in my 1BR unit yet I can't stop thinking about getting another machine, despite playing this one constantly and still loving the hell out of it.

 

[Vyse24]

Hey Pinball Arcade fans! It's time for the Pinball Arcade 12 Days of Christmas here on Facebook! Starting tomorrow, stay tuned every day for the next 12 days for exciting Pinball Arcade updates!

Addams Family Kickstarter, Fish Tales to be on sale, and Wii U release date would be my guesses for 3 of the 12.

 

[BigWeather]

Cool, looking forward to hearing stuff during their 12 days of Christmas (ignoring, of course, that the 12 Days of Christmas are not the 12 days prior to Christmas, but rather after =)).

 

[Gunstarheroes]

Hoping for something Xbox-related, even if its Xbox One.

 

[Jucksalbe]

I'm confused, Videogamesplus just sent out a newsletter that they have the PS4 version in stock. Is this a bundle of the first few tables? I didn't know this was supposed to get a retail release.