Any way to obtain delisted tables?

[Matthawk]

I am aware that Farsight lost the license to Bally/Williams tables back in 2018. At the time I had TPA, but wasn't that into pinball and didn't have a lot of spending money. I was very picky with my purchases and only got a few of the tables that are now delisted.

Well, this year I have gotten into pinball quite a bit. Unfortunately, my timing sucks. Now many tables are no longer for sale and the new owner of the license (Zen) has only released a few I did not already own in TPA. Their current rate of releasing tables (0 in 2020) means the rest won't be coming for years, if ever.

I did purchase seasons 1 & 2 on PS4. It's something, but still missing a ton of quality tables I'd like to play.

Is there any way I can get some of these other tables? I prefer Android for the portrait tablet style of playing. I read in other threads here that Wii U may still have seasons 1-5 available, but that thread is over a year old. I don't want to buy a Wii U just to find out I can't get the tables.

This is driving me mad. I wish I had the funds back in 2018 and just bought them all. Now I have the funds but no way of purchasing the tables.

 

[strells]

Nope.

 

[Pete]

well... there are ways on pc anyways... none of them legal lol. i wont help you out with that, but it is out there. legit bought and own them on steam myself.

 

[Firefox2000]

Well Zen pinball got the licence and they have so far released 18 tables, so you might want to check those out as i am sure there are a few that are not on the PS4 disc release, which only covered two seasons of PBA tables.

 

[shutyertrap]

You can purchase them from Arcooda still, as they essentially bought the copies they have from FarSight to include with their cab offerings in the future. It's only available for PC, and I know they had limited quantities. It aint cheap though.

 

[trash80]

You can purchase them from Arcooda still, as they essentially bought the copies they have from FarSight to include with their cab offerings in the future. It's only available for PC, and I know they had limited quantities. It aint cheap though.

Arcooda is closed and is not responding to inquiries.

 

[Matthawk]

Thanks for the responses. The Arcooca machines look really nice. Their site doesn't indicate they are closed though.

I have tried the FX3 Williams tables. I like them, but only 5-6 are ones I didn't have on TPA. There are still so many that TPA made that are not in FX3 yet, and their current release schedule does not give me any confidence they will ever catch up.

 

[trash80]

Thanks for the responses. The Arcooca machines look really nice. Their site doesn't indicate they are closed though.

Literally at the top of the homepage in a bright yellow banner with red text it says "Sorry - Due To Covid-19 We Are Closed Indefinitely"

 

[Narc0lep5y]

So. I’m not sure if it still works but back when TPA changed over on iOS, my iPad didn’t auto update and if you still had the old software version the in app purchase still worked.

I bought a few extra I didn’t have after the deadline that way. But this was like a month or two after the switch, not two years.

IF you could find an older version, you “might” be able to run an older version of the android app and do the same thing. I don’t know how
Android app loading works. And who knows how the Farsight server sees that data later down the road too.

Plus I’m not really sure it’s worth the work and the premium price to get those missing tables. After playing FX3, the feel is just off on TPA for me now and I just can’t go back, even for the tables I adore and already own. But, if you’re really committed to it, there might be options.

 

[Firefox2000]

Of course the irony here is across all the platforms digital consumers who want to buy them can no longer do so, or support the production of these tables or get access to these tables, yet over on the good ship pirate they are enjoying all the tables free of charge, i mean this is where a digital future just falls on its backside when consumers willing to pay and suppport the platforms end up not being able to do either.......it is just insane that there are not plans in place to make sure even when a licence is lost or expires that digital tables already made can continue to still be sold to consumers...........i just will never understand this whole limited run of a virtual product, well limited to paying consumers, while unlimted and free to those of one leg and a parrot disposition.

 

[Matthawk]

It's a very frustrating situation. I am willing to pay them for a product that was for sale to others. I am not going to pirate the tables, but pay for them just like everyone else did.

 

[Byte]

Maybe you can put an ad out that you're looking to take over someone else's PSN account who has all these tables but is no longer interested in playing on console. There are probably some risks attached to that, so it depends on how determined you are.

 

[vfpcoder]

The really frustrating thing about all of this is the Kickstarters which were set up to help pay for licensed tables like "Star Trek: The Next Generation", "Terminator 2", "Adams Family", "Twilight Zone", et all.
I contributed to all of those Kickstarters and have access to the tables both on iOS and Steam. (Not to mention that I later paid for the Arcooda Cabinet Enhancement package -- which I'm happy to say is still functioning.) But it seems to me that FarSight should at least be able to continue to sell and maintain the tables which were built around those cross-licenses. Guess they had a pretty poor lawyer signing those contracts ...

 

[Arcooda]

Hi everyone, we hoep everyone is staying safe. We're still definitely working, however we just weren't in a position to take new machine orders. We should have some announcements in October.

For the software, its still available and ready for immediate purchase. If you're after the Arcooda Pinball Arcade software, you can order it here: https://www.arcoodapinballarcade.com/

 

[The loafer]

I think there are a lot of people crapping on Farsight for something these very same people simply don't understand how the industry works. Farsight deserve some knocks, but not for limitations in their licenses

limited timeframes for licensing: Let's be clear, there is NO COMPANY in existence that will license a game to be sold in perpetuity. Doing so and you lose control of your IP. Keeping control may be limited for those in the future who would want to purchase it, this is very true, but it also allows something better to come out from it (like another company bringing out a better product using the same license... like Zen).

It really is too bad, I am not making light of it. The problem is digital sales aren't transferable so there's no way around it like when we buy a used older game. If they were transferable, this would fix the issue. My fondest hope was that somehow a system could come out to transfer licenses, but where the original IP owners get a cut. The problem with that is time is the enemy of a lot of companies so what to do when a company doesn't exist anymore, or rights are shared amongst new IP owners? IE: my fondest dream is just that, a dream, it's not achievable and never will be. But I sure wish it did exist

That's why if someone feels they don't want to support digital distribution you gotta say you're going to miss out because eventually that's where everyone will go... but it's a very fair position to have and anyone that missed it on original release or becomes a fan after the license expires, well they lose out permanently.

At least for those who desperately want it, Arcooda do have some licenses left. If you look at it from a "$ per table", it's a good deal. I just wish they could have had the last season available. I own their license but those tables are sorely missed.