How Big Will TPA Get?

[CC13]

I just realized that if FarSight can keep up their current pace of releases, we'll have 40 tables to choose from next year. How much further can we go after that? Myself, I would like to have every table on either Pinside's Top 200 or IPDB's Top 300, but diminishing returns would probably set in long before FarSight were anywhere near that point. Realistically, I think TPA could swing about 100 or so tables before running out of tables that would really be worthwhile to port. What do you guys think?

 

[Judi Chop]

I don't know if there's really any way of knowing but i think they'll have staying power for quite some time. Having won some awards now hopefully this helps launch them even further. I know we're all still hoping to see TAF and Indiana Jones among others and I'm sure as long as they keep up what they're doing we'll see these and many other tables still to come

 

[Crush3d_Turtle]

I would much rather have FS switch from large volume to high quality in terms of the software. I would love to see more statistics available (ie. total games played, average score per table, etc.) as well as tournaments and challenges. In addition, I hope that there is a greater focus on bug fixes as every single DLC has been full of bugs many of which (at least on the PSVita) have not been fixed. The long term sustainability in this game needs to be focused on quality.

 

[night]

FairSight should start to concertante on what they have now and fixes bugs and make sure it runs on all platforms smooth. And direct ports from the iOS to the Mac is a shame, it should have console quality. The menu structure needs a big update, graphics needs updates. Pro Pinball will be there in 2013, iOS games like Revendge of the Rob-o-Bot look just much more slick and perfectionised, better graphics, better sound, better lighting simulation, better texturing. Focus on these things before releasing new tables, because every new table is a new problem to solve. FairSight is going too fast and doing stuff half good.

 

[pseudokings]

I would kill to see 100+ tables. Okay, not literally, but, you know...
From the (pretty extensive) research I've done there are well over 100, probably more like 200 tables that I would love to see/would find worthy of inclusion in TPA. How many will they really do? I don't know, but anything short of 60+ would be underselling the concept, so hopefully they are making good money and having a great time (along with building an amazing -real- arcade for themselves ) and have no set number or end date for this vital, brilliant project.

...now announce a Wii U release date, FS!

 

[francis247uk]

Personal preference but I'd much rather have 100 tables with a few bugs here and there then 10 without bugs. Plus if they didn't keep releasing tables where would their income come from? Better to get tables into the wild with hundreds of people playing them and reporting bugs here then for Farsight to employee more playtesters and stretch there already limited resources further

 

[Mark W**a]

Someone needs to track iOS, Android, and PS3 sales to get an idea of what kinds of numbers Farsight is pulling. That will give you an idea of how much of a success the title is. Obviously the more sales determines how much of a hit it is determines continued support for years to come. The recent awards it's recieved from some news outlets, in addition to Twilight Zone being a hype table, hopefully they are seeing a nice bump in sales overall.

And of course I'd love to see this just continue and continue to be successful and get more and more tables. Proud to say I turned yet another pinball buddy on to the game. Every time I meet pinball players I always show off the game to them and they are impressed, and you'd be surprised a lot of people still don't know it exists.

I know Xbox sales were in the 10k-20k range with 5-10k for each DLC pack. That's with little fan fare or advertising on the dash. I think with the right kind of push on 360, once they get things sorted, a ton of DLC all at once the game could see a serious resurgence on the platform. 100k isn't out of the question but it's going to need real advertising and a serious effort to break in. It's such a better game than Pinball FX but they are going to need to get the word out if they want a piece of that pie. Pinball FX probably has over 1,000,000 users just on 360, if they were able to get 10% of that market they would be in great shape.

 

[Richard B]

I'm in the quality over quantity ring. I'd rather have a few tables that played the way they are supposed to rather than a bunch of shoddy ones that require different tactics from the real machines. They've got ball movement down respectably well, now they need to improve flipper interaction, and update older tables with these changes (which they said they would not do).

 

[Nik Barbour]

+1 quality over quantity.
Also more realistic difficulty (or an option for it), and updates and improvements to already released tables.

 

[brakel]

+1 quality over quantity.
Also more realistic difficulty (or an option for it), and updates and improvements to already released tables.

Quality does not sell as well as quantity...especially in the mobile markets.

 

[Kolchak357]

I'm actually pretty happy with the quality. So bring on quantity. The only two that quality is a real issue for me are CV and BK. I can overlook the rest of the blemishes. I don't play a lot of marathon games, so the game ending bugs don't really bite me that often.

 

[Nik Barbour]

Quality does not sell as well as quantity...especially in the mobile markets.

I really hope they are not aiming to be a mobile market targeted game.

I would have thought the core mobile market would only play the 'free table of the month' and switch each month anyway. They aren't renowned for spending big sums on apps.

 

[night]

I really hope they are not aiming to be a mobile market targeted game.

I would have thought the core mobile market would only play the 'free table of the month' and switch each month anyway. They aren't renowned for spending big sums on apps.

I think the mobile market is TPA's biggest market..

 

[Chris Dunman]

The bigger the better for me...

 

[night]

The bigger the better for me...

So you think that size does matter?

 

[Nik Barbour]

I think the mobile market is TPA's biggest market..

Is that not by default - can't get it on xbox pc or wi-u.
Ps3 & vita have problems (lag & quality).
Mac is upscaled ios (with quality issues).
At the minute, people can ONLY really play on the mobile platforms.

Once other formats are released (and I'm sure they will be) I would think more money will be made from these.

Typical mobile gamers are notoriously cheap and want disposable, not quality products.
You might get a lot of downloads, but I'll bet they play the 'Free' table.

 

[esp2000]

Is that not by default - can't get it on xbox pc or wi-u.
Ps3 & vita have problems (lag & quality).
Mac is upscaled ios (with quality issues).
At the minute, people can ONLY really play on the mobile platforms.

Once other formats are released (and I'm sure they will be) I would think more money will be made from these.

Typical mobile gamers are notoriously cheap and want disposable, not quality products.
You might get a lot of downloads, but I'll bet they play the 'Free' table.

I don't think that statement is entirely true. I along with at least 4 other people I know who play this on Android have purchased all of the tables and Pro Mode on all available tables so far.

 

[Nik Barbour]

I don't think that statement is entirely true. I along with at least 4 other people I know who play this on Android have purchased all of the tables and Pro Mode on all available tables so far.

I also have all of the tables on Android, and 2 of the 3 pro upgrades, and I'd buy them again on xbox if I could, but I'm a Pinball fan.

I was trying to summarise a typical mobile gamer (your typical Angry Birds player) the bulk of the mobile gaming market.
Your presence on this forum makes you a non typical customer and a Pinball and or Pinball Arcade Fan.

It's only an opinion, and only Farsight would know the end figures anyway. Even then these couldn't be fairly compared until all formats have been available for at least 6-12 months.

 

[Crush3d_Turtle]

I don't think that statement is entirely true. I along with at least 4 other people I know who play this on Android have purchased all of the tables and Pro Mode on all available tables so far.

The only thing that sucks is conversely, I have 3 friends who have not bought the DLC on the Vita after seeing how bad tables like BoP and CV are on it. At this point I have become the DLC "guinea pig" since I am the only one who has faith that FS will eventually fix all of these major problems.

 

[DaPinballWizard]

Keep them going. Top 300 tables would be great. Just make sure Flight 2000 is created before packing it in.