I LOVE to play pinball arcade. Very fun! It has a much different feel than Pinball FX 2, if you own that, the flipper and ball action will feel much different. More of a feel of a real pinball machine. It took me a few weeks to get totally used to it and now the differences don't bother me. So if you do purchase the game give it some time to get the feel for it and th adjustment will happen. The graphics and sound are good, most of the tables I have (I have pack one only) feel just like they did when I played the real thing years ago. I enjoy nearly all the tables in pack one except for 3 or 4 of them. My personal favorite, Attack from Mars, is awesome, I feel like I'm back at my old arcade hangout, putting ten bucks of quarters in to the machine LOL. If you love pinball or are just getting into it I highly recommend Pinball Arcade pack one.

When I first started to play Pinball Arcade, I felt it was sub-standard to Pinball FX. However, as I got to play more of the tables from all of the initial seasons 1,2 and 3, I found many of the tables were brilliant and played almost like the real thing. I can actually remember a couple of the tables contained within this series from my days as a student. There's a wide variety of table types and apart from a couple that I found difficult to keep the pinballs in play, most were a pleasure to play. The graphics may be slightly rougher than Pinball FX, but I think that's because the developer has tried to capture the original feel of the tables rather than create totally new digital only tables[ it works. I have found the high score achievements in the main were very easy to acquire. As for pledging money towards development of more tables for future seasons. if you buy the seasons on Steam, you pay for all future tables that are to be added to that season, so beware when backing the tables via Kickstarter. I've backed four or five tables via Kickstarter, not realizing they were part of the same Pinball Arcade set as the Steam version, which I purchased earlier this year when they were released, so I've wasted a good $100 which could have been spent buying at least a couple of the Pro season packs. I mentioned this to the developers, who have been really good about it and offered extra's, or the option to gift the tables I've backed that i already purchased via Steam. One positive that the FX tables have over the arcade version is that you can buy most of the tables seperately, which means you can build up your collection slowly; very useful if you are strapped for cash. That said, overall I think the season packs that you get for the Pinball Arcade version are much better value for money. Once all of season 4's tables are added there will be over 50 tables to play. The first of season 4 has already been added, i.e. 'Phantom of the Opera', the last of Season three was added recently i.e. 'Bram Stokers Dracula'. Don't be scared off by the price of these season packs, when you consider how many tqables are contained within each pack you'll realise that they are excellent value for money; moreso if you buy them in a sale later this year. Season 4 will probably be excluded from the sales, at least until it's got it's full complement of tables, (10 in all). The main difference between the season packs and the Pro packs is that you get lots of extra's such as selectable balls, backgrounds etc. You may be able to purchase these balls as packs via the basic version of the game, but i can't say for certain as I purchased the Pro versions. I did have to buy one of the ball packs, but it was dirt cheap (£0.69). Check out some videos of game play: [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnmQEgO5Zag]

I have found the high score achievements in the main were very easy to acquire. As for pledging money towards development of more tables for future seasons. if you buy the seasons on Steam, you pay for all future tables that are to be added to that season, so beware when backing the tables via Kickstarter. I've backed four or five tables via Kickstarter, not realizing they were part of the same Pinball Arcade set as the Steam version, which I purchased earlier this year when they were released, so I've wasted a good $100 which could have been spent buying at least a couple of the Pro season packs.

I mentioned this to the developers, who have been really good about it and offered extra's, or the option to gift the tables I've backed that i already purchased via Steam.

One positive that the FX tables have over the arcade version is that you can buy most of the tables seperately, which means you can build up your collection slowly; very useful if you are strapped for cash. That said, overall I think the season packs that you get for the Pinball Arcade version are much better value for money.


Once all of season 4's tables are added there will be over 50 tables to play. The first of season 4 has already been added, i.e. 'Phantom of the Opera', the last of Season three was added recently i.e. 'Bram Stokers Dracula'. Don't be scared off by the price of these season packs, when you consider how many tqables are contained within each pack you'll realise that they are excellent value for money; moreso if you buy them in a sale later this year. Season 4 will probably be excluded from the sales, at least until it's got it's full complement of tables, (10 in all). The main difference between the season packs and the Pro packs is that you get lots of extra's such as selectable balls, backgrounds etc. You may be able to purchase these balls as packs via the basic version of the game, but i can't say for certain as I purchased the Pro versions. I did have to buy one of the ball packs, but it was dirt cheap (£0.69).


Check out some videos of game play:


[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnmQEgO5Zag]Bram Stokers Dracula
Junk Yard
Phantom of the Opera
Diner
Fun House
Harley Davidson 3rd Edition
Attack from Mars
Terminator 2
Black Knight 2000
High Roller Casino
Cue Ball wizard
Fish Tales
Cirqus Voltaire
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Flight 2000
Taxi
Cactus Canyon
Medieval Madness
Pin*Bot

Pinball simulator that has the licenses to many of the best pinball tables of all time. Must own for any pinball enthusiast casual or hardcore.

I played the hell out of the Williams HOF version on my PSP and I had a lot of experience on the real Funhouse so I know how good the simulation of the actual pinball truly is. This is as good as it gets without going out there and finding a real one and it gets pretty damn close indeed.

Yes I've only played this for X amount of minutes - I've seen others troll this on reviews. However this is a very special game you can't pass up at $14.99

Think of it this way you get the best of both worlds. Pinball Hall Of Fame Gotlieb Collection and Pinball Hall Of Fame Williams Collection from the PS2 system with some added tables that you may have heard of before. There are about 21 tables total from what I counted and all faithfully play to the original tables. However depending on your system , if you think you meet the system requirements - Be ready for slowdown at certain momemnts of the game if your system resolution is very very high. If your on a machine that barely go over the system requirements, do Windowed full screen mode at the highest screen res you can do, this will turn off V Sync and provide a more smooth experience at the cost of minor screen tearing.

I applaud Farsight Studios for bringing these games to the PC and this sale was killer but I was ultimately was dissapointed at the price point which may scare lots of people off due to its $30 price tag per pack. $4.99 is too expensive for individual tables that only give access to 2 tables most. That and the fact that you cant purchase these individual packs online through the Steam store it must be done online.

Perhaps this is a review. It is what it is.

As a small child I spent much of my time at the beach resorts of Myrtle Beach & Surfside Beach, both (then) small towns in South Carolina, USA. Their beachfront pavillions were filled with 10-cent wonders at a time when children of any age could wander freely, alone. I remember the feeling of a pocket full of parent's pennies, waiting to to be magically converted to dimes for 4-in-a-strip sepia photos, flattened friendship tokens, skeeball to be turned into tickets (never really understanding why banked shots worked best), shooting galleries with actual pellets, and most magical of all, pinball. And spending those dimes with the feeling of a slight sunburn in a time when we still had ozone, but didn't yet have sunscreen. And going home when the pennies, and most of the magic, were gone, fingertips smelling like stale tobacco, having spent the last dimes on snowcones.

A week ago these memories were undescribable, and quit vague. Then I acquired Pinball Arcade, and all these memories became so very, very real. And memories about becoming a teenager, meeting girls (or wishing to), learning to drive, going to the prom. Going to bars for the first time, usually alone. But even when alone, pinball was there to comfort me when I was unable to talk to girls. Pinball as a way to meet other guys like me that may have never been my friends otherwise. Yes, these VERY tables, over several decades.

So I thank Pinball Arcade for reminding me of the pain, and the absolute joy, of childhood, adolesence, and growing into adulthood in a way that nothing else on Earth could have reminded me. Thank you for the pinball, and for allowing me to express myself in this pseudo-review.

I am a fan of Virtual Pinball (and continue to use it), but I still find "The Pinball Arcade" essential.

Pros
1) The Pinball Arcade gives me a legitimate way to license the tables. Free demo versions that allow one to play up to the first high score are also available for each table.
2) Like Virtual Pinball, The Pinball Arcade's tables are recreations from real tables that I grew up with. They are not impossible virtual creations that are made much easier in order to expand pinball appeal to a larger audience. If that is 'your bag', check out Pinball FX2.
3) Although much of this subjective, The Pinball Arcade's implementation feels more polished than Virtual Pinball. One example is how the lighting on the board is 3D rendered. The Virtual Pinball table’s lighting effects are statically added using an image tool. Although the ball physics could probably be proved to be superior (one way or the other) mathematically, I can only say that I find the ball behavior of The Pinball Arcade to feel more realistic. That is not a slam. I would expect that a product that had developers paid to work on it all day every day would have more polish than a product whose developers are contributing “as they have time”.
4) Plug and Play. Download and launch. It’s that simple. On the other hand, Virtual Pinball takes quite a bit of R&D to get going (even with an abundance of available documentation). That said, VP is worth every bit of blood, sweat, and tears that are required to it going.
5) Supporting TPA (The Pinball Arcade) is really good for the game. The fact that is available on just about every mobile platform has really rekindled pinball interest with the masses.

Cons
1) The tables are pretty expensive unless you buy a season at a time.
2) The tables are not stored with a "Pinball Arcade account"; but rather, the store for which you purchased the engine that plays the tables. On one hand, I would expect to be able to buy the content in the cloud (like an Amazon kindle book) and then play it on any device that had the kindle app (buying the version of the app native to that platform if necessary). On the other hand, extra maps for Call of Duty on PC, Xbox, and Playstation do not transfer between each other. At $30 a season, you really have to pick just one. I am probably choosing Steam as my store since I can at least go from PC/Mac (with XArcade Tankstick) and use a Netbook on the go. On the other hand, I'd much rather use a tablet for mobile. So, I may go with TPA on iOS for mobile and stick with VP on the desktop.

This is not a "video game", as much as it is a simulation that reproduces every aspect of actual, real, arcade pinball machines. The lights, sounds, backglass art, ball physics, flippers, tilt inertia, everything. These are licenced, authentic replicas of actual pinball tables like you would find in the arcade.

This is a game for people who want the feel of an actual, physical pinball table--maybe to practice and learn the rules and scoring of individual tables, or just to play in lieu of paying 50 cents a game at the arcade. If you're looking for pinball that plays like a video game, this isn't it. Some tables are unforgiving, complicated, and skills like flipper control can take a long time to master (just like their real counterparts).

Most people look at the DLC prices and go "what the hell, $120 for pinball?" It seems like a lot compared to typical games, but it really isn't for a game like this. The $30 DLC is for around 20 tables per pack, and individual tables can be unlocked for a few dollars. You can demo any table you want, with the only restrictions being a score cap that will stop play if your score exceeds the high score list. A real pinball machine is usually 50 cents a play, so it's not uncommon to spend $20 a night on pinball in the arcade. When you look at this this way, it's a steal to be able to practice and play at home for the price. Remember, these are actual, licensed, replicated machines, not something some programmer thought up in their basement. Note that if you want to buy a table pack, you can buy either the regular or "pro" pack, you don't need both, so the total DLC pricing appears as about twice what it actually is. The pro pack has no impact on the games themselves, but it does give you other options like being able to modify some of the table settings, like tilt control.

This includes "Tales of the Arabian Nights" already unlocked and ready to play. Purely personal opinion, but Theater of Magic, Scared Stiff, and Bride of Pin-Bot are great tables for brand new players--fairly simple, the production value is great, and even if you have bad aim, there's plenty to hit. Here is a IPDB's list of the top 10 rated pinball games if you're looking for some new tables to master:

#1 Twilight Zone
#2 Medieval Madness
#3 Theatre of Magic
#4 Monster Bash
#5 Star Trek: The Next Generation
#6 The Addams Family
#7 White Water
#8 Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure
#9 Tales of the Arabian Nights
#10 Star Trek (Enterprise Limited Edition)

This review is going to be the same for Pinball FX2 and Pinball Arcade. Why? Because they are the only folks doing decent work in the digital pinball industry right now (Pro-Pinball doesn't count, yet... but even on release it's not a suite, it's just a couple tables). They both have a similar demo system, give one free table, have around 40-50 tables for purchase at the timing of this review, and are complimentary rather than competitive. BOTH are amazing, but have some differences.



Differences in Pinball FX2 vs Pinball Arcade

Pinball Aracade
- The snippet of history relating to every table is awesome. Learning the historical significance, designer history, units sold, etc. is one of my favorite features. It can make "bad" tables amazing when you understand their place in history. Also, playing tables you played in real-life in the past is an incredible blast from the past!
- Performance/lighting is lacking a bit, but there are plans for a DirectX 11 version (which is already on other platforms apparently) that will likely solve both. Performance is my only concern for the future, since right now I far exceed the required specs yet have game-breaking FPS issues in certain circumstances (even though I use no ball reflection or AA).
- The table selection is phenomenal! Some really, really amazingly popular tables are available, as well as some ultra-rare ones that aren't exactly the most complex but are a blast to play when taking into account their historical and idea-based significance. You play time-travel to core parts of gaming history when you play every table.
- The leaderboard system is, unfortunately, awful. It requires a 3rd party account, is only shown when you manually dig through various menus, and just isn't satisfying. The only fixes necessary are UI-related, so I have hopes they'll revisit it at some point.


Pinball FX2
- "impossible" mechanics since it embraces modern technology and video game-ness. Definitely "pinball 2.0" in that regards, without betraying the core of what pinball is about.
- Fantastic performance and graphics.
- Table selection is pretty great, though I'm personally getting sick of all the Star Wars and Marvel stuff. My favorite tables are the non-themed ones, and I really wish they'd come out with more that aren't references to pop culture. Granted, the themed tables are great, but sometimes I want ones that aren't.
- The leaderboard system is good, but a tad flawed in that a fair amount of it requires friends that play... buuuut this has become a beneficial "feature" for me. Lots of people I've friended to enhance my FX2 experience have become actual friends and are great to chat with. The hardcore pinball community is made up of some really amazing people!



Regarding those that complain about the price of tables:

1) A single pinball table will easily give you hundreds if not thousands (and potentially infinite) hours of play. Every single table out there, even the more simplistic ones, are deceptively complex. Pinball is the ultimate in skill/reflex-based, learn-as-you-go gameplay and even the most skilled players in the world have to learn a table's unique nuances before they can master it.

2) Consider the 90s and the average cost of pinball per play. My memory has most at $0.50, but even at half the cost you're looking at only a few plays per table before the cost of the real-life versions are way more expensive than digital versions... and with pinball, it's pretty much a guarantee you're going to play it dozens (if not hundreds/thousands) of times per session.

3) Because of the mechanical nature of pinball, real-life tables require a *lot* of maintenance. Parts are finite (and rare these days), technicians are human and can thus screw something up (not to mention potential defects in parts), repairs require work orders and time to get a tech out to the site and more time to complete repairs, etc. Digital tables, while not perfect renditions of real world physics/visuals (yet), don't ever require new parts. You pay *once* for infinite plays... no per-play or no per-hour/day cost... just a one time fee that is less than a Starbucks drink.

4) Designing a table that is complex, deep, satisfying, addicting, rewarding, and skill-based takes a lot of time and effort on behalf of the designer. While digital table design has a lot of benefits in that regard (since it is much simpler to experiment and track data), it's still not even remotely as cut-and-paste as the average (and ignorant) gamer thinks. Don't believe me? Design one yourself with the plethora of tools out there that is even remotely as good as existing tables. Is your table complex enough to satisfy skilled players? Does a long run end up flatlining at some point? Is it easily exploitable/breakable? Is it addicting and satisfying the further a player progresses and when they combo properly? Is the art appealing and distracting-yet-somehow-complimentary? Do you have a huge variety of missions and unique 'toys' on the table/dotmatrix? That's to say nothing about sound effects, animation, art quality, etc. My point: it's no easy task to make a good pinball table... to assume that because it's pinball it's just a reskinned version of something else is showing your ignorance of the genre. You may as well say that Tetris is the same as Mario.


My point with this? $3 per table is an insane bargain. You can easily drop $100 on a single table in a single day with real-life tables. Quit being so greedy and cheap (and ignorant to the fact that EVERY table is its own game). Support the devs, learn what pinball is about, and quit being entitled jackasses that are ruining every industry out there with your cheapness *cough*. Don't like the price? Don't buy it... but don't complain. Live within your means and don't demand others sacrifice just so you can magpie games/etc. There's a life lesson there... figure it out yourself.

Hi everyone, a little history then I'll move on.... Growing up, I had a huge interest in Computers and Video Games. However my true passion was always Pinball. My first computer was a commodore 64 which I got for Christmas of 1983. The first real game I purchased for the C64 was EA's Pinball Construction Set PC Link Here . It was simple as hell, but still you were able to create multiball games with it.

About 10 years ago I was introducted to Visual Pinball which blew my mind, free pinball tables that can be created by everyone and anyone with an interest and started out banging tables I remembered creating in the 80's using PCS, then onto Future pinball and anything else that tried to recreate that feeling of real play.

Fast forward to today and we have finally have TPA on the PC and nothing out there has yet to even come close to this; I mean it may not be perfect (DX11), I can think of many things that should be added (Cabinet Mode.) However it has been a start to a near perfect Authenic Collection of pinball tables recreated for the PC.

One addition I would love to see with TPA is side by side double player action with my steam friends, where each player plays on the left or right side of the screen, multi screen or even each player having its own window. I cannot see it taking up much bandwith and this would be excellent for tournaments and competition events. Are there any others who share this same type of interest.

Here is a some Canadian Badass trivia. What do I have tattoo'd on my back?

This game is deceptively labeled as "free" in the steam store. It's not free unless your idea of fun is playing a few minutes of each game and then stopping. I guess everyone has access to at least one pinball table for free, but "Arabian Nights" isn't my favorite table really, so I can't imagine anyone just playing that table over and over.

Still, it's got a great collection of real simulated pinball tables with some classics going back to the earliest days of pinball to more modern releases that you might remember from 20 years ago. (Do they still make pinball tables? It has been so long since I've been out to an arcade or even a bar that would have one to know)

Anyway, some particularly good pinball tables to mention: Star Trek:TNG, Black Knight 2000, Terminator, Elvira and the party monsters, Creature from the Black Lagoon, No Good Gofers, Funhouse, and Champion Pub. Some of these I remember playing the actual table and it does a good job of bringing back the feeling of playing (minus the loss of quarters from my pockets) and others I discovered from playing them in this collection.

There are table packs, and "seasons" you can buy into, and even in the seasons you can choose the regular or the "pro" version. It's obvious why you'd want to buy the seasons instead of the individual tables (you save some cash) but why would you want the pro version? Supposedly there's a few tables with some not-so-nice words that are spoken, and the pro versions allow you to unlock this (I heard, but could be wrong) and the pro version allows you to mess with the table mechanics more and "cheat".

While it might be nice to have the pro version, it's not a necessity.

At the time of this writing they are just beginning season 4. I've got all of them up to the end of season 3, and I will probably eventually get season 4. If you're a fan of real pinball machines, check this out. If you're a fan of old pinball machines or rare pinball machines, check this out. I won't go so far as to say that every pinball game included is equally fun, but there are some real gems and classics in there.

Some tables play smoother than others, but there was an incrediable amount of work put into this game and the tables. Even so, I'm not sure the tables need to be so expensive. I'd buy one or two tables at a time for single-digit prices, but I'm not paying $30 for a group of tables where I'm only going to play a couple of them. Recommended, even if you only play the free table and the trials.

Impeccable renderings of the pinball tables I remember from the arcades of yesteryear. Almost flawless recreations and execution of these wonderful machines. Pinball Arcade has a wonderfully accurate reproduction of the phyics and gameplay. The best I've ever seen in any digitized version of pinball. Almost unbelievable considering the fact that they are created from existing machines and I can't really tell the difference in play from their live versions. Fantastic job.

Legit pinball simulator.

Way too expensive and almost never on sale. Good if you have more money than you know what to do with.

I've always enjoyed pinball machines, even if I'm fairly awful at them. There's something Rube Goldberg-like in all but the most primitive models, and even if bad luck or brutal table design ends my game a few minutes in, it's extremely satisfying getting the various bits and bobs of the table to light up, freak out, and (one can always hope) scream out "MULTIBALL!" I realize they aren't for everyone, but for their enthusiasts, pinball machines are about as magical an arcade fixture as you can hope to find.

Of course, the fact that they're finely calibrated physical machines puts some serious dampers on how fun they can be. All too often you'll come across some odd, absurd relic of the 70's, 80's, or 90's, only to find that the thing's been horribly maintained. Unresponsive flippers and broken components are just par for the course. Digital pinball games attempt to correct this; so long as your computer or console can handle the game, how could anything possibly be broken? Unfortunately, with a few exceptions, most pinball video games are either shabbily designed, badly coded, or overly complicated, and by definition none of them can carry the physical element of even the most unloved table.

While it's not perfect, FarSight Studios' Pinball Arcade is a wonderful compromise between the physical and digital. Rather than creating new material, they've simply licensed an immense pile of existing tables and digitally recreated them with exhaustive attention to detail and physics. Glitches aren't entirely unheard of, but they're extremely rare, and the ability to play these tables as though they were fresh out of the factory is extremely satisfying. On top of the all-too-natural urge to get high scores on everything, each table comes with 10 achievements to complete (5 Standard Goals and 5 Wizard Goals which are unlocked once you've beaten the first batch), and while selecting your table you get a neat little historical blurb about each one, so you know just who to send hate mail to when The Black Knight unfairly destroys you 12 seconds into the game.

The price is a touch high, but this is understandable considering the licensing fees involved, and for fans of the genre, just consider the quarters you'll be saving! If you're still unsure about it, you can install the base game for free to get your hands on one starter table (Tales of the Arabian Nights), and once you've played that one to death, buy a season or two and prepare to lose a few dozen hours.

Love this game

all the best GOTHIC PINBALL GAMES, like ELVIRA Mistress of the Dark! both of them
Dragula
Class of 1812 etc

flip flippers get big points

pins are better than video games

Sweet Pinball Games

There’s a nostalgic attraction to the concept of digital preservation - and the craft involved with an elaborate pinball table is an art. Leading the charge for commercial video pinball sim, Pinball Arcade seeks to emulate authentic tables as closely as possible.

A digital platform, the base package includes (depending on version) either 1 or 4 real life tables of historical note. New tables are added in packs of 2 as they’re recreated. Farsight has done a good job of mixing older tables with new; simple but groundbreaking boards such as Black Hole are represented along with relatively modern bombastic crowd pleasers such as Medieval Madness.

A strong aspect of the package is well-explained rule sheets with visual aids. If you thought pinball was sheer randomness, and never knew most tables have an intricate sequence of modes to activate for huge jackpots, Farsight’s respect for the game is contagious.

The only downside is a fundamentals-first ethic, leaving the presentation with the look of a cheap iOS game even in the console versions. Farsight intends to update the front end, but it’s a drag compared to the virtual arcade hangouts in the developer’s earlier generation Pinball Hall of Fame collections. Still, the play is what matters here. When at the table it’s the next best thing to owning a real machine.