New Pinball Arcade from makers of Williams Collection

[Flojomojo]

THIS SUCKS PEOPLE!!! THIS IS WHY DLC IS BAD!!! YOU CAN NEVER TAKE BACK PHYSICAL MEDIA, BUT DLC, GONE LIKE A FART IN THE WIND...

It's not the "DLC" that sucks in this case, it's the lawyers and accountants and rights holders who removed them from sale (which is not the same as revoking a license from a paying customer). This is just like having a book go out of print, except you won't be able to track down an overpriced legit used physical copy.

 

I bought all of the seasons on iOS, and as long as Farsight keeps up maintenance for their app, I'll be able to play it all. If you buy them on Steam, they'll probably be even more durable. If you lose or break a cartridge or disc, *poof* your stuff is gone. Not so if there's another copy on a cloud server. So get off the "physical media uber alles" hill, that isn't the right fight for this situation.

 

It does suck, but relax a little.

Yes, this. I agree that it is HIGHLY LIKELY that these will come back in another (hopefully better) form. If you already have them, you're covered. If not, you'd better move fast. If you don't want to spend $30 per season, wait and see what happens next.

 

When Dark Horse Comics lost the Star Wars license, all that stuff was pulled from their store. Most of it has reappeared on Marvel/Comixology, and it goes on sale a lot. I still have the stuff I bought from Dark Horse, and I have the *option* to fill in my collection by buying from the new license holder. My life has gone on.

 

P.S. Miitomo shut down overnight. If anyone wants to complain about digital-only ephemera, there's a good topic for another thread.

[S1500]

It's unfortunate that Farsight got their most desired tables yanked. Those were the money makers. Everyone's nostalgic for B/W tables, not Premier tables by any stretch.

 

On the other hand, I can see why the parent company decided not to renew. Farsight's QA was lacking, and there was the whole dropping the ball with not getting new releases on the 360 for years. Sure, MS is moreso to blame on that, but the parent company isn't going to care. Farsight looks like it bitten off more than it can chew.

 

Should it(Bally/Williams tables) go to another software dev house, they better have it together. I predict layoffs at Farsight.

[Atariboy]

Banzai Run came out on the PS4 this week, if it's of interest to anyone. I believe that makes the PS4 fully current.

 

It's more than I planned to do, but I now own all except 5 of the Bally/Williams tables. I own all of seasons 1-4 and 7, and half of the Bally/Williams lineup from seasons 5 & 6.

 

One of the seasons was on the Wii U since I had the credit there doing nothing. Hopefully it's a decent version of Pinball Arcade, even though I'm sure it's not as pretty as the XB1/PS4 counterparts.

Edited May 9, 2018 by Atariboy

[+wongojack]

It's unfortunate that Farsight got their most desired tables yanked. Those were the money makers. Everyone's nostalgic for B/W tables, not Premier tables by any stretch.

 

 

I love pinball, but I don't have any real strong pull towards B/W over the other manufacturers. Before TPA, I had really no opinion about those companies - I only remembered tables I liked. Now that most of the tables I remember have been released, I've actually been more interested to play the newest tables made in a digital format. I also think this works better for a more casual player who see's a Tron machine at the movie theatre and wants to play it at home (for example).

[Jess Ragan]

I guess I'd better ask... which Bally and Williams pins should I get before they all vanish? Been keeping an eye on Star Trek: The Next Generation, but I'm not sure which other ones are worth the purchase. The Addams Family? The Twilight Zone? Help a brother out here!

[Flojomojo]

I guess I'd better ask... which Bally and Williams pins should I get before they all vanish? Been keeping an eye on Star Trek: The Next Generation, but I'm not sure which other ones are worth the purchase. The Addams Family? The Twilight Zone? Help a brother out here!

 

All 3 of those for sure. They're like 4 bucks each, somewhat less if you buy the $30 "season." I don't mind spending money on stuff like this so I grabbed it all.

 

If I were being choosey, I would pick these for myself (in addition to those 3 you mention), but everyone's favorites are different.

 

Attack from Mars

Cyclone

Firepower

Pin-Bot

The Machine: Bride of Pinbot

Medieval Mayhem

Theater of Magic

 

 

Here's a complete list of the games that will no longer be for sale:

• The Addams Family
• Attack from Mars
• Banzai Run
• Black Knight
• Black Knight 2000
• Black Rose
• Bram Stoker's Dracula
• Cactus Canyon
• Centaur
• The Champion Pub
• Creature from the Black Lagoon
• Cyclone
• Diner
• Doctor Who
• Dr. Dude & HIs Excellent Ray
• Earthshaker
• Eight Ball Deluxe
• Elvira and the Party Monsters
• F-14 Tomcat
• Fathom
• Fireball
• Firepower
• Firepower II
• Fish Tales
• Fun House
• The Getaway: High Speed 2
• Gorgar
• High Speed
• Hurricane
• Indianapolis 500
• Jack Bot
• Judge Dredd
• Junk Yard
• The Machine: Bride of Pin•Bot
• Medieval Madness
• Monster Bash
• No Fear: Dangerous Sports
• No Good Gofers
• Paragon
• The Party Zone
• PIN•BOT
• Red and Ted's Road Show
• Safe Cracker
• Scared Stiff
• Sorcerer
• Space Shuttle
• Spanish Eyes
• Star Trek: The Next Generation
• Swords Of Fury
• Tales of the Arabian Nights
• Taxi
• Terminator 2: Judgment Day
• Theatre of Magic
• Twilight Zone
• White Water
• Whirlwind
• WHO Dunnit
• Wild Card
• World Champion Soccer
• Xenon

[+wongojack]

I like Flojo's suggestions, and I think most of those are in Table Pack 1. Most of those tables were also sold in physical form all the way back to PS2, so look around at that.

 

In addition to what Flojo suggested, I bought all of these through various table packs and have really enjoyed them:

 

Black Knight

Black Knight 2000

Centaur

Diner

F-14 Tomcat

Firepower II

The Getaway: High Speed 2

Gorgar

High Speed

Space Shuttle

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

World Champion Soccer

Xenon

[Tanooki]

This fucking blows...

 

And it gets worse. Just when I was holding out for a launch on Switch, this happens:

http://pinballarcadefans.com/showthread.php/13214-Initial-Thoughts-on-PBA-for-Switch

 

Basically, in the middle of the night, TPA for switch went live and was later recalled less than 24 hrs later due to "licensing issues". So I and others figured they were working out bugs or kinks or something. At worst, maybe one or two tables would be affected. Then updates went out for the select few who got a chance to download it. Now the truth comes out. An updated version of TPA for Nintendo Switch is coming, WITHOUT the Williams and Bally tables that a select handful of people (not me) were able to purchase.

 

THIS SUCKS PEOPLE!!! THIS IS WHY DLC IS BAD!!! YOU CAN NEVER TAKE BACK PHYSICAL MEDIA, BUT DLC, GONE LIKE A FART IN THE WIND...

 

I will never forgive this travesty. I'll probably also never get to play Paragon and countless other tables on Pinball Arcade, ever...

 

Well you could say I'm a little more than pissed right now, but mostly just sad...

 

PS most Stern tables suck compared to classic Williams and others, save for perhaps the ACDC one...

 

More or less entirely agree with this post, and I'm sure no one is shocked. That said the biggest agreement is the fact the Stern stuff just isn't as interesting as the well crafted stuff Williams put out and that just sucks. On the flip side, makes me very happy I have the they can't take it back 3DS release of Pinball Arcade which has 6 classic Williams tables on the card in full nice 3D which makes it feel even a little closer to reality. Pinbot, Black Knight, Space Shuttle, and the others, safe and sound. It's a cheap pick up used or new, for now at least, until collectors see a reason to get everything.

 

I don't have the funds for now to snap up some more tables, may just have to pop for one or two, but it's probably just going to be me ignoring it. I've taken advantage of the rare android/ios sales and the rotation on steam too but because of that I have a weird mixed bag of tables. iOS where I started has the most and the steam with the first couple of seasons scooped on there, then Android which I got into last has like season 1 and that oddball package you randomly could get for like $3 with 5 tables they did awhile back. I'd have to justify one to buy on, then go for it. Stuff like Jackbot, The Getaway, and just a few others I'd think I'd like individually, maybe that last duo of bally EMs too. Loathesome stupid IP battles, we lose worse than anyone else with this digital shanghai.

 

I would imagine if they weren't already done and licensed in a comfy bundle for a couple years now the ZZZ tables would be a great pick up to fill the holes as they did dozens, but the Zaccaria stuff from Italy is solidly represented on Android, iOS, and in open playing beta on PC via Steam too now so that's not happening. There's little left to scoop as Sega/DE was gobbled up by Stern and there's not a huge back library on that anyway they can tap without further license problems (like Back to the Future.) WMS/Bally obviously is out, unless they go into the weeds and have someone else make a package, so you're left with either old Gottlieb, or another of the modern one off tables made in the last decade by veterans or in the process of being done.

[Tanooki]

I reviewed my accounts after posting, dumb edit feature won't work anymore. I was going to change the 2nd block to the fact I was wrong and surprised. Steam/PC has All of Seasons 1-3, just added Getaway, Addams Family, and EM pack El Dorado+Fireball. I'm done. Apple was Season 1 plus part of Season 2 I cared most about and randomly others (like those EMs and Addams Family) so I just added Getaway. I'm done. Android not going to bother, it has by far the least as I use it rarely if ever on there so I don't care. I'm not feeding them any more cash at this point as I don't trust the situation anymore. At least on Steam if you get shut down, they'll keep it living on, which won't happen on mobile. The exception being they are finished, you can sideload whatever, and I'm sure some angry WMS/Bally fan will probably throw a hacked copy of the game out there with all the Seasons on it as revenge, that seems to be the usual now in those circles.

[Atariboy]

Is Doctor Who: Master of Time going away?

 

Ignoring that one since it's a Farsight creation that updates the real Doctor Who pinball table, I passed over these Bally/Williams pins.

 

• No Fear: Dangerous Sports
• Judge Dredd
• Hurricane
• Swords of Fury
• Doctor Who

I might cut that down a bit further before the end comes. Hurricane and Swords of Fury in particular both looked appealing.

Edited May 10, 2018 by Atariboy

[Andromeda Stardust]

I reviewed my accounts after posting, dumb edit feature won't work anymore. I was going to change the 2nd block to the fact I was wrong and surprised. Steam/PC has All of Seasons 1-3, just added Getaway, Addams Family, and EM pack El Dorado+Fireball. I'm done. Apple was Season 1 plus part of Season 2 I cared most about and randomly others (like those EMs and Addams Family) so I just added Getaway. I'm done. Android not going to bother, it has by far the least as I use it rarely if ever on there so I don't care. I'm not feeding them any more cash at this point as I don't trust the situation anymore. At least on Steam if you get shut down, they'll keep it living on, which won't happen on mobile. The exception being they are finished, you can sideload whatever, and I'm sure some angry WMS/Bally fan will probably throw a hacked copy of the game out there with all the Seasons on it as revenge, that seems to be the usual now in those circles.

And it really, really bothers me that going into the future, piracy may be the only way to appreciate the hard work TPA put into these tables...

 

And I feel rotten sick that some people got to download everything on their Switch during the few short hours it was up, but not me. I guess I could toss $210 towards the Android variant, but I absolutely loathe touchscreen gaming and would get much more enjoyment out of physical controls, plus I simply don't have the money to throw at Farsight right now. My credit card is already in dire straits, no need to worsen the blow with frivolous spending on stuff I won't even enjoy.

 

Yes, I've played the Android demo tables. They are hardly better than the Ouya version was. Wii-U was night and day contrast in terms of graphics and lagless performance. Still bummed they never updated the Wii-U platform once but I went ahead and bought the remaining half of season 5. I would vastly prefer the Switch tablet though to the Wii-U gamepad. Not being tethered to the bedroom helps a lot.

[Asaki]

Should it(Bally/Williams tables) go to another software dev house, they better have it together. I predict layoffs at Farsight.

I seriously doubt the license holders are going to do anything with it but sit on the copyrights =| People aren't exactly screaming for pinball these days, it's a pretty niche market.

 

One of the seasons was on the Wii U since I had the credit there doing nothing. Hopefully it's a decent version of Pinball Arcade, even though I'm sure it's not as pretty as the XB1/PS4 counterparts.

I like the WiiU version quite a bit, but it was so much cheaper to get everything on Steam. For some reason, I can score -way- higher in the WiiU version of Arabian Nights than I do on Steam.

 

I guess I'd better ask... which Bally and Williams pins should I get before they all vanish? Been keeping an eye on Star Trek: The Next Generation, but I'm not sure which other ones are worth the purchase. The Addams Family? The Twilight Zone? Help a brother out here!

I think most people would recommend getting seasons 1 and 2 for the bulk of the great stuff. There's other good tables scattered throughout the rest of the seasons.

 

You can play score-limited demos of all of them for free before you buy them, BTW.

[boog]

Is Doctor Who: Master of Time going away?

 

Ignoring that one since it's a Farsight creation that updates the real Doctor Who pinball table, I passed over these Bally/Williams pins.

 

• No Fear: Dangerous Sports
• Judge Dredd
• Hurricane
• Swords of Fury
• Doctor Who

I might cut that down a bit further before the end comes. Hurricane and Swords of Fury in particular both looked appealing.

 

Master of Time is basically a reskin/update of the Bally Doctor Who table, so I suspect that will vanish as well. I like both Doctor Who variations and would personally rank them above the others on your list.

 

I'm glad that Farsight at least gave advance notice for delisting on most platforms. The Switch release being pulled after one day is horrible but I suspect they had no choice. Lots of development time for no revenue... it makes no sense unless there was some immediate legal issue. Hopefully other platforms stay available until June 30th as planned. I've got S1-S6 on PS3/Vita and seasons 1 & 7 on PS4. Hoping that a 20% off PSN coupon appears from an E3 promo or weekly newsletter before the delisting so I can grab the rest of the seasons on PS4 at a slight discount.

 

 

The future looks pretty grim for Farsight. I think 'season 8' will just be AC/DC, Star Trek, Mustang, Whoa Nellie, and Big Buck Hunter with individual tables for $10 or a bundle for $30. If they survive long enough to get that released on all platforms, that'll probably be the end. They've mentioned that the first couple seasons of PA are still their best sellers and without that revenue it'll be hard to keep going. Hopefully they've got other non-pinball projects in the works.

Edited May 10, 2018 by boog

[Tanooki]

And it really, really bothers me that going into the future, piracy may be the only way to appreciate the hard work TPA put into these tables...

 

And I feel rotten sick that some people got to download everything on their Switch during the few short hours it was up, but not me. I guess I could toss $210 towards the Android variant, but I absolutely loathe touchscreen gaming and would get much more enjoyment out of physical controls, plus I simply don't have the money to throw at Farsight right now. My credit card is already in dire straits, no need to worsen the blow with frivolous spending on stuff I won't even enjoy.

 

Yes, I've played the Android demo tables. They are hardly better than the Ouya version was. Wii-U was night and day contrast in terms of graphics and lagless performance. Still bummed they never updated the Wii-U platform once but I went ahead and bought the remaining half of season 5. I would vastly prefer the Switch tablet though to the Wii-U gamepad. Not being tethered to the bedroom helps a lot.

 

We're in agreement. I had to pick and choose, sickens me a little, but not as much as you. I just can't justify hundreds of dollars to get all those seasons, especially over +1 format too. Bugs me they didn't have some floating license cross play setup but likely just not possible since everyone needs a cut. My PP acct is slim and has been so even if I wanted to get generous on Steam for 4-9 it's just not there.

 

I wasn't talking about Android demo tables, but when it came out and for a good stretch of time they sold full tables, a mini pack of like 4 (on top of TOTAN which was always freely included) was sold just for a few dollars, no demo, full tables, so I have that on there and not much else. Now I don't like the touch control either as they cover up the flipper view easily which is a problem, but I can run my tablet through the mini hdmi to hdmi cable to my TV and use a controller, there it shines as well as the Switch could do on TV play. Handheld is a little dicey though as it's not attached like Switch but doable, yet I never do either way as it's more convenient portable or on my laptop which I often am on/near much of the day so it's fast to load.

 

 

 

And boog you're right.

They already said on their notes (developer is responding to posters on the Steam forums for the game) that the season to come after the shut down is them slamming the totality of Stern Pinball Arcade back into Pinball Arcade and maybe adding a table or two, that's it. Other than that, last I read, they'll re-org packs likely by IP holder/developer so if anyone decides to stab them in the back on an agreement again it's more easily removed. This Williams bit is a mess as they're spread out ever basically everything making a mess of it all.

[Atariboy]

The relisted Pinball Arcade app on the Switch possibly gives us a hint at what to expect for the reorganization on other platforms like the PS4 after June.

 

• Gottlieb Table Pack 1 & 2 (Both priced at $9.99).
• Gottlieb Table Pack 3 ($8.99).
• Gottlieb EM pack ($8.99)
• 2 packs of Stern tables, including those in the standalone Stern Pinball Arcade ($19.99 each; SPA purchases aren't transferring to regular Pinball Arcade).
• 1 pack with both Alvin G. & Co tables ($7.99).
• Standalone Doctor Who: Master of Time table ($4.99; Presumably not getting delisted then).

 

Total cost to buy all non Bally/Williams content on Pinball Arcade on the Switch is $90.92 USD.

Edited May 11, 2018 by Atariboy

[Austin]

I snagged Season 6 last night on the Xbox One, which puts me at only needing Season 7 for it. I will buy that come pay day.

 

I'm still sad to hear about this news. As someone who is heavily invested in real pinball, it was great frequently hearing people that got into the real-world game because of the Pinball Arcade. Without the easily accessible availability of the most popular tables of all time in digital form, I wonder if this is going to have the side effect of negatively impacting the reach of real pinball. This software has been a gateway for a lot of newer players.

 

The Gottlieb and Data East stuff is solid, but I doubt as many players have given this a first time try because of those--The Bally/Williams machines are the main draw. The others are icing on the cake.

[Asaki]

Funny how, due to this, Arcooda is rush releasing a software-only version of their virtual pinball package, but still absolutely no news on when the actual physical tables will be for sale.

[Andromeda Stardust]

I think my all time favorite pinballs are Black Hole, Bride of Pinbot, and High Speed. Bride of Pinbot is the only table I've ever completed all Wizard Goals for.

 

Rip Williams/Bally.

 

The Gottlieb tables I enjoyed all of them (and did not find them to be lackluster like other Williams fanboys) but so many excellent Williams tables to be had. Mideval Madness and the Elvira Scared Stiff was another I'll miss.

 

I now have everything that was offered for the Wii-U version but sadly that stops halfway through season 5. At least I can pkay Getaway now...

 

And I also enjoy the few early era tables they provided. Big Shot was a regular "cool down" table I would often play after a marathon workout on the visually cluttered modern dmds like mideval madness. I think my favorite early era "cool down" table has to be Xenon. That sexy sybth voice is hypnotizing. And yes, there's exposed boobs on the playfield art. I'd love to compare it to Paragon but I can't now. There was a rather high profile poll on pinballarcadefans a while back on which "pre 80s" pinball to include, despite the fact Xenon was released in '80. I voted for Xenon. Early on, it was Paragon in the lead but Xenon inched ahead for the win. I think it was 49.9/50.1 split kind of close. Now both are / will be gone...

[boog]

BlahCade podcast interview with Bobby King, VP of Farsight, about losing the Williams license:

 

http://shoutengine.com/BlahCadePodcast/bobby-king-wms-licensing-interview-and-commentary-58347

Edited May 12, 2018 by boog

[Jess Ragan]

Move on from pinball!? Does Farsight do anything else? Aside from bowling and Action 52, and they probably wish people would forget about the latter.

[Tanooki]

BlahCade podcast interview with Bobby King, VP of Farsight, about losing the Williams license:

 

http://shoutengine.com/BlahCadePodcast/bobby-king-wms-licensing-interview-and-commentary-58347

Has anyone done a transcription of that? I really would like to know, just not sit and listen to a prattling podcast for 2hours to get it.

[Andromeda Stardust]

In a slightly drunked panic last night, I picked through the Pinball Arcade app on my Android tablet and chery picked my favorite table packs from TPA seasons 1-5, and most of the better looking tables from the seasons 6-7 that I never got access to, including early era solid state and electro mechsnical. I like how two of my most favorite tables from Williams, Bride of Pinbot and Mideval Madness, came together as table pack 1 from season 1.

 

I read the press release from the Nintendo eShop about Pinball Arcade, and "35 of the best pinball tables of all time", and it had a "yeah!" and an "Oh..." button. I clicked the "Oh..." option, possibly for the first time. Nintendo thanked me for my feedback. Sorry but that's just disappointing. I plan on getting the four Gottlieb packs anyway (basically for me it's going to be just like the Gamecube Gottlieb Hall of Fame disc but on steroids), but Stern can diaf after the "double dipping" fiasco. I was right to wait for the main Pinball Arcade app to drop even though they've royally screwed the pooch withthis release.

 

I literally only bought the Ghostbusters and ACDC pinballs from the Stern app when it launched, being premium tables. I love ACDC and the table really showcases their music and has an additude that's lacking in other pins. Ghostbusters because I like the franchise. They have milked the Stern app by charging premium rates over classic table packs, and many of them aren't that exciting (except the ACDC one, which I knew from the day they announced it, would never see the light of day) with lackluster themes. I can't explain why, but for the most part the classic tables are funner.

 

Moving on, I see a serious issue with the format of the updated app. Most tables no longer offer a free demo, which is basically suicide on Farsight's part. How do I know if I want to own a table without a free trial? Most people aren't going to spend a dime without test driving the tables. I don't know if it's a Nintendo policy or changes with the licensing agreement on Farsight's part, but they've basically committed suicide here if Farsight pulls this same stunt with their other platforms, especially mobile.

 

Finally I'm addressing a lack of polish and effort, specifically with their Switch port. It's still a vanilla port, albeit with improved lighting and rotation options. When I downloaded Pinball FX 3, I was amazed with the level of realism the FX team achieved by utilizing the HD Rumble features of the Joycon / Pro controller. I can feel the ball rolling across the table, and every pop bumper and flipper hit felt just like it does when I'm playing a real table. Just feeling the ball rolling around through the tablet (in portable mode) makes me feel as though the simulation is real, like I'm holding a miniature pinball table in my hand. Pinball Arcade / Stern Pinball Arcade literally evokes the exact same sensation as traditional controllers with weighted motors. The vibration frequency is monotone and abrupty cuts on and off as if the rumble motor is being activated on and off by a digital switch. Even traditional controllers would duty cycle the voltage signal to the motors to adjust the intensity. The on/off buzzing in Pinball Arcade is like a cell phone in vibrate mode.

 

Don't get me wrong, the vibration feature isn't undesirable of bad. It just shows evidence of a lazy port by Farsight without the custom tweaking necessary to make it take full advantage of the system's caabilities. They could have hooked up vibration sensors to real tables underneath the left and right flipper buttons, capturing low frequency effects and applied these effects to the hd rumble motors. Farsight had the opportunity to create a more immersive experience specifically for Switch owners, but chose not to, instead porting traditional rumble motor feedback effects. Pinball FX went the extra mile on the Switch port by utilizing HD rumble, and it makes a huge difference in realism.

[ComputerSpaceFan]

I decided to download Pinball Arcade on my secondary PS4 in the other games room and I was dreading it. In the old days you would download the free game with the four tables then download all your DLC only to have that not appear until it updated (I have a video on this subject) so I went in yesterday expecting a lot of hassle. I am pleased to report all I had to do was download the game (2 gigs) and then since I have PS+ I just download my cloud save which was maybe 10 megs and boom all my tables were there and available and run great.

I consider this my archival backup in case my original PS4 dies someday and this will be my other way to play these soon defunct tables.

[Tanooki]

I read the press release from the Nintendo eShop about Pinball Arcade, and "35 of the best pinball tables of all time", and it had a "yeah!" and an "Oh..." button. I clicked the "Oh..." option, possibly for the first time. Nintendo thanked me for my feedback. Sorry but that's just disappointing. I plan on getting the four Gottlieb packs anyway (basically for me it's going to be just like the Gamecube Gottlieb Hall of Fame disc but on steroids), but Stern can diaf after the "double dipping" fiasco. I was right to wait for the main Pinball Arcade app to drop even though they've royally screwed the pooch withthis release.

 

I literally only bought the Ghostbusters and ACDC pinballs from the Stern app when it launched, being premium tables. I love ACDC and the table really showcases their music and has an additude that's lacking in other pins. Ghostbusters because I like the franchise. They have milked the Stern app by charging premium rates over classic table packs, and many of them aren't that exciting (except the ACDC one, which I knew from the day they announced it, would never see the light of day) with lackluster themes. I can't explain why, but for the most part the classic tables are funner.

 

Moving on, I see a serious issue with the format of the updated app. Most tables no longer offer a free demo, which is basically suicide on Farsight's part. How do I know if I want to own a table without a free trial? Most people aren't going to spend a dime without test driving the tables. I don't know if it's a Nintendo policy or changes with the licensing agreement on Farsight's part, but they've basically committed suicide here if Farsight pulls this same stunt with their other platforms, especially mobile.

 

I think Farsight is very lazy too. Also I'm with you about Stern Pinball. I grabbed it for a real copy on Switch and rarely use it. For me the only interesting stuff was what they lifted from TPA already, Ghostbusters, Star Trek, and AC/DC as their other newer stuff basically sucks. I did like their somewhat older Monopoly table playing it over a decade ago at a restaurant though but it's not likely to happen. Their older stuff in TPA was the good stuff, their newer just feels lazy or a wannabe tryhard doing something new for the look and minigames but failing at trying to well ape old designs so it's boring. I know they won't honor it, and the excuse will be some software bs, but anyone with the Stern one if they're really going to add the entire contents to the main TPA over this WMS/Bally debacle should be credited to pull it over and consolidate the pins at least. They won't, because it would be the right thing to do, as they know some will buy it again to do just that causing double or perhaps triple dipping on a couple things.

Edited May 13, 2018 by Tanooki

[Andromeda Stardust]

They won't, because it would be the right thing to do, as they know some will buy it again to do just that causing double or perhaps triple dipping on a couple things.

I've already "triple dipped" a few items between Ouya, Wii-U, and most recently Android. Possibly quad dipped the few Gottlieb tables I now own on both Android and Switch. Speaking of triple dipping, where's my ball packs for Switch? I insist on playing Bride of Pinbot and Elvira Scared Stiff withthe eye ball. Oh wait nevermind; those tables aren't available anymore...

 

I did not want to use the Android platform but since I now own a Galaxy Tab A 7" (fortunately you can offload most downloadable apps to the SD card to make up for the paltry 8Gb of internal storage), at least I have access to all my tables. There is some inherent lag associated with the touch screen, much like on Ouya with a PS3 controller, so I have to actually hit the flipper slightly before the ball makes contact. Switch and Wii-U with the portable screen is nearly perfect however. Unfortunately with touch screen lag for some faster moving tables, this means more accidental drains when the bsll rolls of the tip of the flipper, and missed skill shots from secondary flippers higher on the playfield. I've not yet tried using touch controls in tate mode on the Switch. It's currently on standby in the cradle doing a mega download of the Gottlieb Packs as well as Season 2 or the FX3 app.

 

Why do us salty fans keep buying their product again and again like a chain smoker buying cartons of smokes? Are we so addicted that we have to have charge up our credit cards in order to secure access to every pinball table available on every platform? Then they announce the deletion of 2/3 of their back catalog as we frantically try to download every table before the expiry date?

 

I'm basically hoarding paid digital content. How is that even tangible? Perhaps I have a problem. At least physical stuffs I can resell if I need quick cash or to reduce the clutter...