Speaking of Portal Pinball, there's a pretty unforgiving and wide main drain. Most of my lost balls are straight down the middle from a weak ramp shot.

Still love it, just wish it was less punishing, especially with the only achievement being for beating the final mode.

In or near the Atlanta area this weekend? We got ourselves another pinball show.

http://www.southernfriedgameroomexpo.com/

Dammit. I wish you had mentioned that earlier. If I didn't already have plans, I would have definitely attended.

How often do they do this sort of thing?

This show is annual (so far anyway). If you're feeling adventurous we have 3-4 shows in Florida each year. Jacksonville, Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale.

In a huge surprise to absolutely nobody :

Ant-Man Pinball Comes to PS4, PS3, PS Vita July 15th

Posted by Bobby Loertscher on Jun 30, 2015 // Community Manager, Zen Studios

Prepare for an adventure of enormously tiny proportions! Our latest pinball collaboration with Marvel will showcase their upcoming film, Marvel’s Ant-Man, only in theaters July 17th! Assume the role of Scott Lang, master thief turned Super Hero, as he fights to save the world on a microscopic level. The Marvel’s Ant-Man table will be available for Zen Pinball 2 on PS3, PS Vita and PS4 on July 15th! Just remember to purchase on PS3 or PS Vita and import to PS4 to play on all three systems.
On the Marvel’s Ant-Man table, players will experience the breathtaking action of the upcoming Marvel Studios film as they’ll engage in heated combat with Yellowjacket in a multiball fight, duke it out as shrunken Ant-Man, help Hope Van Dyne train Scott Lang, and have an active role in side stories featuring Ant-Man and his friends. Heroes don’t get any bigger!



We’re doing things with the Marvel’s Ant-Man table that will be completely new to both our game and the pinball genre as a whole, including shrinking pinballs and crazy new mini-games that will undoubtedly excite our biggest (and smallest) fans. We can’t wait to give all of our players a shot at this table!
Working with Marvel to bring their properties to our pinball universe has been fantastic over the years, but we’re extremely excited to have teamed up with them on not just one of their films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe releasing this year, but BOTH of them, with Marvel’s Ant-Man joining our recently released Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron table on our Marvel roster! See you on the leaderboards!

I hope one of the features isn't making the ball turn ant size

Oh, I saw yesteray that Zen is making a Family Guy table. I didn't give a shit so I didn't post it. I see no one gives a shit.

On a related note, Ubisoft is making a Gravity Falls platformer in the intersection of Rayman and Metroidvania. I sure would like Zen to make that property into a table!

I saw the news, but was too lazy to post it.

I still like Family Guy, so I'll pick the table up, but I'll likely wait for a sale.

The newest update for the PS4 version of Pinball Arcade is up, and I'm seeing reports that people are able to play tables they bought on PS3/Vita but haven't purchased on PS4 yet.

Looks like I'm able to play Cyclone, Jack Bot, and Xenon even though they weren't on the store yet without having to download anything more than this update. Not sure if I can play them because I have season pass or this update is screwed up. It may be the latter, because it seems I can access all of the Pro menus too.

Zen's Plants vs. Zombies table is now on the X1. I'm glad it's there (still hoping for Ms. 'Splosion Man!) because I didn't give it much attention when it came out despite my love for both properties. As I recall, it was very easy to play forever on it. Lots of free balls.

Anyone have a visual/virtual/digital pinball table or ever played one?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avjIOY5a7IE

I have seen one in videos before but never in person or played one.

I would buy one in a heartbeat.

Looks like the one in the video is a personal project. I have also found other sites that show how to build one but have not seen one that's commercially available.

I would think that making something like this available from Stern or other manu's might be profitable. Or it may cannibalize the traditional pin market that's left.

Nothing will beat a real pinball but this would be a great way to start.

No one that is into real pinball actually cares about virtual ones like that. You just can't replicate the real thing.

That may be true. I'd much rather have an actual pinball machine. Nothing is going to replicate playing an actual machine.

But for people that don't have the means to purchase an actual pin much less maintain it then this may be solution. Not to mention the space it would require to house all the pins one may be interested in playing.

The other issue is finding real pins to play on out in the wild. Good luck getting any playtime. There is one place close to me that has 2 pins available to play. There are a few others I know of but they are 1-2 hours away.

Not an issue in my town.

Maybe not but I love real pinball and would love to have one of those tables for many reasons. Room, cost, maintenance, variety, etc.

And this looks a lot more fun than playing on my xbox.

Cost can be up to $8000 or more for the really well done ones. Sure you could piece together a pretty nice one for $3000 or so, but you're going to spend a ton of time trying to get it configured right.

If you can afford spending that much, you are better off just getting one and rotating it around by trading them. There's a pretty big community and it doesn't take long to find someone close by wanting to make a trade.

Good news for you Xbox-owning video pinball fans : All the Pinball FX bundles are now half off this week. The three Star Wars bundles (3-4 tables each), the three Marvel pinball bundles (4 tables each), the two Pinball FX Core bundles (4 tables each) are all $4.99 each this week. The two table South Park bundle is now $2.49 on sale. Remember to buy the 360 version first, then you can transfer and get the XO versions imported for free (doesn't work the other way XO > 360 though).
Also Pinball Arcade S1 and S2 are also 50% off for the 360, but those tables don't transfer.

Edit : TPA Season 1 & 2 are also on sale for the Xbox One for half off ($15 each standard, $20 each Pro bundle). The tables don't transfer, but if you want the next gen versions, at least they're on sale (and look MUCH better on the XO versions).

Thanks for the post and all the info Decker. I do plan on picking up an X1 in the next year so I guess I will pick up what I don't have on my 360 for Pinball FX.

Since Pinball Arcade doesn't transfer, can you buy the X1 versions without having an X1 yet? Also, does these ever go on sale and is this a price we are not likely to see often? And do the Pro bundles give you all the tables if you buy both?

Sorry for all the questions.

Got Zen Classics this morning...it was about the only table pack that I didn't have yet. I am also still missing one of the Star Wars Ones but I rarely play the Star Wars tables I do have. And South Park, no thanks. I wish though they would put at least a minor sale on the one off tables, especially for Marvel.

I'm interested in Pinball Arcade, but $15 is a bit pricey per season, even if its what, 15 tables? Also, to this point all I've done with my Xbox One to this point is playing with apps and pinball. I spend $400 on a game machine to play pinball...and I'm thinking by not buying Pinball Arcade, I'm probably doing myself a favor.

Speaking of which, I've played Sorcerer's Lair, Deadpool, Paranormal and Plants vs Zombies so far on XB1...is it just me or did they change the tables a little bit? None of it is a major change...but I dunno, some shots feel different and certain things feel "tweaked". Maybe its just me and I'm mistaking sharper graphics for actual change.

You need to buy the Season Passes (or individual tables if you rather) from inside the main game (which is Free and includes one table) on the XO. You can buy it separately on the PS4 from their online store, but not on the Xbox site or from the Smartglass app for some reason.
If you have a friend with a XO, you can log onto his machine, download the free game then buy the Season Passes to keep for now.
The SPs have been on sale once or twice on the PS4. Not often and yes, this is a good price for those two seasons, which are easily the best with both the most tables and the best ones as well.

You don't really need the Pro bundles as all they do is allow you to mess with the settings (like the angles and stuff, but of course that disables Achievements and Leaderboards) and use a free roam camera to admire the tables. Pretty useless actually.

They just updated season 4 for TPA last week I believe for XO.
There are over 60 titles now for TPA.

Season 1 has 22 tables.
Season 2 has 19.
Season 3 has 10.
Season 4 has 10.
Season 5 has 2 so far.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pinball_Arcade

If you love pinball and grew up playing then IMO, TPA is better than PFX.

I have not played PFX since I purchased TPA. Yes PFX has better achievements and online play but since I grew up playing real pins the real tables in TPA have a much greater appeal to me.

Also last week Farsight announced that there will be a Stern TPA that focuses on Stern tables only. So hopefully a lot of the more recent pins from Stern will come thru.

I was wondering exactly why you would even buy the PRO upgrades.
Then I saw this on wiki:

"Pro Menus

In late October 2012, FarSight Studios began to release "Pro Menu" upgrades for previously released tables. The upgrade lets the player control the camera to look around the table, control the ball, learn tips from pro players, and view the coin door and use the operator's menu. For Scared Stiff, it also grants the ability to turn off family mode with an uncensored voice-over."

Odd thing happened last night. Playing Pinball FX2 on Xbox One, unlocked a couple of achievements (One for El Dorado, One for Blade). I go to look in the achievements "app" of Xbox One, and its not there. The whole game is missing. The achievements show up inside of the game, but nowhere outside the game. Furthermore, my score has went up as it should, but there is nothing to support it since the game is completely missing from the list.

Now I will admit, my wife was in another room on the 360 watching Hulu, but that really shouldn't interfere should it? Or am I just being paranoid for nothing and this should correct itself...eventually?