smbhax
Active member
- Apr 24, 2012
- 1,803
- 5
I just wanted to put out here a firm thread in which we say a firm "NO!" to flipper lag in the pinball game. Let's not have any delay in flipper response at all this time around, please. : )
FarSight's earlier "Pinball Hall of Fame" games on both PS2 and later PS3 had no perceptible flipper lag; the flippers had a crisp feel, responding instantly when you pressed the controller button, just like those of us used to real pinball would expect them to--this allowed for shots to go precisely where they were aimed, and one's aim could translate perfectly between playing digitally and playing the real tables. And it was good.
Unfortunately, on the PS3 version of The Pinball Arcade, FarSight decided to use some rendering techniques that inserted a frame or two of delay for graphics processing between the time you pressed the button and the time the flipper actually flipped, throwing off the player's aim and making the game feel sluggish and unresponsive--in the end, less realistic and less fun. While they eventually managed to cut the delay in half, it is still there and still prevents the game from feeling like real pinball; if you're someone who likes to go back and forth between real pinball and digital pinball, then when you get home and fire up The Pinball Arcade after a visit to your local arcade, if you're like me you'll whiff your first shots because you've forgotten you have to flip early to compensate for the game's delayed flipper response.
Hopefully FarSight will have learned from their experience with the PS3 version, and the PS4 version will be as responsive and lifelike as their games of yore! Because if you haven't got quick flippers, you haven't really got a pinball game, have you?
~~~~~
For me, while the shiny new graphics of the PS4 version will probably be a plus, the flipper response is the make-or-break issue as to whether I'll be moving up from the PS3 version. So I'll anxiously be awaiting reports from the day one buyers on how the flippers feel on the PS4!
FarSight's earlier "Pinball Hall of Fame" games on both PS2 and later PS3 had no perceptible flipper lag; the flippers had a crisp feel, responding instantly when you pressed the controller button, just like those of us used to real pinball would expect them to--this allowed for shots to go precisely where they were aimed, and one's aim could translate perfectly between playing digitally and playing the real tables. And it was good.
Unfortunately, on the PS3 version of The Pinball Arcade, FarSight decided to use some rendering techniques that inserted a frame or two of delay for graphics processing between the time you pressed the button and the time the flipper actually flipped, throwing off the player's aim and making the game feel sluggish and unresponsive--in the end, less realistic and less fun. While they eventually managed to cut the delay in half, it is still there and still prevents the game from feeling like real pinball; if you're someone who likes to go back and forth between real pinball and digital pinball, then when you get home and fire up The Pinball Arcade after a visit to your local arcade, if you're like me you'll whiff your first shots because you've forgotten you have to flip early to compensate for the game's delayed flipper response.
Hopefully FarSight will have learned from their experience with the PS3 version, and the PS4 version will be as responsive and lifelike as their games of yore! Because if you haven't got quick flippers, you haven't really got a pinball game, have you?
~~~~~
For me, while the shiny new graphics of the PS4 version will probably be a plus, the flipper response is the make-or-break issue as to whether I'll be moving up from the PS3 version. So I'll anxiously be awaiting reports from the day one buyers on how the flippers feel on the PS4!
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