Pinball Arcade

i RECOMMEND THIS GAME ALL THE FUN PINBALL ACTION YOU CAN SPEND HRS ON THIS

Great game. It's unfortunate that the Williams tables were pulled. I was lucky enough to have gotten the game before that time, picked up all of them, and still play it frequently.

It's great to be able to play the machines I used to own, as well as some I have had my eye on for some time.

I already own three other high quality pinball games, and this game didn't look good to me at first, but then I noticed there was DLC with pinball tables for American Dad and Family Guy and some Universal Studios Movies, so I decided to buy just a small amount of content for the game, and I wasn't interested in the rest of the content but might buy it if I can get it at a really low price.

I've been a huge pinball fan my entire life, to the point where I recently bought my own real machine. I've been playing Pinball Arcade since it first came out. I've spent an obscene amount on buying literally all the table DLC on PC and some of it on Android. I backed two of FarSight's Kickstarters to add loved but expensive tables to the collection (Star Trek: The Next Generation and Terminator 2: Judgement Day.)

So given all that, you may be asking, what's with the negative review?

Simply put, Pinball Arcade is a great place to play some of the best pinball tables ever made but due to licensing and overall poor and inconsistent design, the collection is a shadow of its former self and even when at its peak, I don't think the cost of entry was worth it for all but the most die hard fans who didn't mind spending way too much (i.e. me.)

Virtually all of FarSight Studios' catalog is what can be charitably described as "value titles", known to most gamers as shovelware. This is not a AAA or even AA studio, nor has it ever tried to be. After moderate success with previous pinball collections for 7th generation consoles, Pinball Arcade was a big shift in both direction and ambition, especially when you see the crazy number of platforms it's on (though thanks to their crooked publisher for the console versions, there are a lot of mismatches between them.) They wanted to bring as much of the world of pinball as possible to as many platforms as possible and they claimed, with as much authenticity as possible. I thought that was great. I didn't even mind that you had to buy the DLCs for each platform because that was less due to their greed and more due to the requirements of the license holders.

Whether or not you'll like the tables on offer is down to personal taste and that's not where my issues lie. My issues are with the myriad technical and design deficiencies that really damage the overall quality of the package and really make you question whether it's worth the asking price to buy what tables remain. Just some examples:

• All tables use the same physics model. It's not bad (certainly better than the ping pong ball model of Pinball FX) but it's not remotely close to the level of simulation they promise and some tables play not at all like their real life counterparts.
  
• PS2 era UI that's ugly, dated and clumsy to navigate.
  
• Huge inconsistency in table visual quality. Some tables look great, others are blurry messes not even close to the "astonishing detail" the Steam description promises.
  
• Same issues with table sounds. Some are good, others are much lower quality.
  
• Environment textures are ugly and low-res.
  
• Frame rate is inconsistent unless you're running hardware way more powerful than this should require.
  
• Online play (which is still listed in the menu as Beta) just says Coming Soon when you select it. It's been this way for years and presumably, will never be finished.
  
• Terrible account system that regularly doesn't work and requires you to reset your password multiple times before being able to sign in.
  
• Ugly, unintuitive leaderboard system.
  
• DirectX 11 mode that will push any GPU to its knees, while somehow looking worse.
  
• Table goals (which are tied to achievements) that occasionally don't unlock.
  
[*]Hasn't been updated in forever and no new tables have been announced. Most likely has been abandoned by FarSight.

How can I play Pinball arcade in portrait mode?
I can't seem to find any options to change the orientation of the table.

Thanks

While i get that Pinball isn't for everyone, I would personally advocate that this game needs to exist due to real life pinball being a particularly expensive hobby, and for all intents and purposes, a digital game would likely do a much better job at preserving its history than to constantly wax and maintain that $2000+ investment. For those who want to get into Pinball, I think this game is well worth looking into, especially since a lot of the machines featured have long since halted production (in the case of Gottlieb, the company actually went under back in 1996)

I admit that i'm not exactly an expert of the game myself, though as far as the actual in-game physics go, i was still able to get a lot of enjoyment from what i've seen of Season Two (though i think a part of that has to do with my exposure to Microsoft Pinball Arcade from the late 90s). Physics aside, the graphics are... pretty damn good, i guess? It's fucking pinball, what is there for me to say about it?* Asides from one complaint i have which is the glow-in-the-dark balls creating a graphical artifact in Haunted House.

Other than that though, the only non-graphical complaint i really have is Farsight's participation in the Steam sale and their previous lack thereof. Perhaps 2018 will have more seasons be discounted? (We only got Seasons 2 and 5 discounted during 2017's christmas sale).

tl;dr: for most people, this is probably as close to the real thing that most people can get due to pinball's declining popularity, and even if you still want to play the real thing, you're likely only going to be able to play like one or two of the in-game tables IRL unless you live in Las Vegas or Osaka.

If you've any interest in the game of pinball, I would personally recommend adding Season 2 to your isthereanydeal waitlist

*Edit: Apparently, Farsight's process of digitizing the table actually involves disassembling the real life tables, photographing the props, flippers and bumpers and recreating them as a 3d model. Probably explains the detail in the game.

If you're looking for an accurate and realistic pinball sim you really can't beat it. It comes with a free table which is very welcome (you can see if you like the game before buying any additional tables, unlike another pinball game I could mention).

The UI is definitely clunky and could use work, however it is not gamebreaking and won't affect actually playing pinball (might make purchasing more tables difficult as it can be unclear in the shop menu which table you currently have selected/highlighted).
It also would be nice if they would add more menu music, but you can always turn it off if you get sick of "Pinball Wizard".

All in all a really good pinball sim, especially if you prefer actual table over "fantasy" pinball.

Good (3/4). While the core pinball game is flawless, everthing else you take for granted is poorly done. Like missing touchscreen controls; Also my controller doesn't work. Or that I need youtube to to play a table because the in-game help is a 500+ slide clickfest.

Developers, Please stop pushing updates! I only play a few tables that I purchased, occasionaly, but every time I launch I have to wait for a download. One update obliterated the AAA UI and replaced it with something Indie looking. After you sell someone a copy how can you change its features?

Pros:
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* Classic great tables such as Fun House not found anywhere else.

Cons:
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* Pricing very expensive relative to Pinball FX tables
* Not optimized. Uses way too much cpu and gpu vs more graphically intensive Pinball FX. You need 2x the horsepower to run Pinball Arcade vs Pinball FX. Crazy but true.
* Horrible UI/table navigation that looked it was designed in the 1970s.

Conclusion:
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Must buy if you like Fun House or other classic tables. Don't get it if you don't care for classic tables and prefer the modern tables with butter smooth action of Pinball FX.

Had most of the tables in this collection on Visual Pinball , but not the Ripleys one , so at the offer price I took a punt , and it turned ot to be a pretty good one overall. On first play was not that impressed , but that was when I played it full screen , in the window ( slightly stretched ) the tables came into their own and most of them are far superior to the Visual versions , ( which are great ) especially in the audio department . My only caveat that the full price for a package seems a little steep when you can play most of the tables in Visual for free , or a voluntary contribution , but if you can get these packages on an offer go for it !!!

Hmmm, lets see......well it's free to a point. A lot of the table collections cost real money, shame but you can still free play each table once to get a high score. there is a slight delay in the controls... or it could be me being a bit slow (probably, hee)

I like it, for a quick blast of something other than shooting stuff or rpg roaming, or playing any of my other games it's decent, you can buy the tables you want to play and try out the others when you want, there's the usual multiplayer and other bits. Can't really fault it for a freebie

I enjoy every game, I have purchased immensely! It is fantastic, that I can get on the computer and play pinball. I have been a pinball fanatic, practically all my life. and it is a luxury to play pinball, from my home. Especially when Pinball machines are not always available at the corner store. Now! Complaints! I can not be believe I have played Adams Family for about 400 hrs and don't have 99 bear kicks! I had 400 hours on this game in a Corner Store! Your interpretation of the game is not quite perfect! I rarely miss anything on this game! And now I am missing!

This is a great game, but it updates WAY TOO MUCH, and when you've got terrible internet, and constantly loses connection and downloads a 1GB game in 4 days.
OVERALL...
8/10
Pros: Cool tables, great gameplay, and crisp graphics if you've got a good graphics card.
Cons: Too much updates, and theres a glitch in High Roller Casino where the ball gets stuck sometimes.

Do you now what would even be the best game ever, if you put Workshop onto the steam of Pinball Arcade with a pinball table creator. That would be the best game if all of you guys would put the Workshop and a Pinball Arcade table creator with it. Still I really like the game alout, I have it on android right now and I have unlocked so many Pinball Arcade tables. Since that I have no got it onto steam or on my computer, I still like that game alout.

I have played many of these tables in the late 70ies and early 80ies, and I have to admit, the simulation is absolutely superb. It is also very nice, that you can buy single tables. Absolute recommendation for anyone who ever played pinball.

This is a great pinball sim. It has good physics and a bonus are all the historical (and new) tables. That adds a nostalgia factor, because I remember playing some of those machines when I was a teen. Also they have 2 of my favourite tables: ST TNG and Haunted House.

If you like pinball, get this game. The tables are more expensive than in Pinball FX 2, but I guess the licenses for Stern et al. are more expensive. Also (for even more money) one can acquire pro versions, with tips and the option to explore tables in detail.

Comes with Arabian Nights for free.

10/10 on that alone since it is my favorite pinball table from when I was a kid.

I love playing arcade pinball, so this is the perfect fix for me. Between this and Visual Pinball....I play this much more. Graphics are very clean. Physics are great. Love that I can rotate my monitor and set for portrait mode. My only gripe is I wish I could choose and save a custom camera angle. I purchased every season. Can't wait for the next table!

Great opportunity to play the classic pinball tables from yesteryear. Great physics, with only the rare lag (usually during a multi-ball, but still uncommon).

Downside is that the UI isn't very friendly when looking for tables. Then there is oft-mentioned price of the tables and lack of an a la carte option to buy tables. The licensing fees are the likely culprit, but considering how much it costs to actually play the real life tables, the price isn't so bad. With the bundles, I've discovered some fun tables that I otherwise wouldn't have bought individually.

The UI is really as bad as other reviewers are saying. I also have this on PS4 and the older UI is much better, and the game itself is much more responsive (I enjoy it enough to buy some tables on PC during the sale). Can't recommend PC version at this time.

I loved playing this series on the PS4 and thought PC would improve the experience. Yikes! I'm stuck with a game that freezes on a regular basis. Nothing like being on a great roll, tripled the free game score on your first ball and you know you've already lined up at least three extra balls and you think this is the time I break the table - my score is going to be through the roof. As the third multi-ball madness winds down, without warning the game freezes. The table broke me and I never got to ball number 2. This is when the heartache went too far. The game freezes more often than not before I can go through three balls.