Latest NEWS And INFORMATION On FarSight Studios' The Pinball Arcade

[Jeff Strong]

I have been stoked about the Bride of Pin*Bot coming but for us PS3 / Vita players, we are still in waiting.

Can't be much longer, right? I think she's finally almost ready, and definitely worth the wait.

 

[dtown8532]

Because it was crappy.

Well I guess I should chime in on this one since I owned and shopped one. The artwork is beautiful which is something that doesn't translate as well to digital. In fact I liked it so much I took several POV shots of the ball while it was on the playfield. My avatar is one of them. I thought they were good enough that I sent some that were published in the Pingame Journal several years ago.

Anyway onto the game. Other than the artwork Sorcerer has a lot of features for a table from the mid 80's. Multiball, a small ramp, cool voice over that really p1sses you off, three flippers, drop and stand up targets. I also really liked the use of curves in the play field design. For instance the stand up target bank and path that shoots the ball into the bumpers. Make no mistake Mark Ritchie's Sorcerer is a player's game and very fast when fixed up.

With that said, I barely played it on The Williams Collection. Why? Well, probably because I played a ton of it while I had the table but also because, yes, when you compare it to most of the other tables on TWC its close to the bottom. Not because its bad but because the others are so good. However, I'll tell you one thing, I'd rather play Sorcerer than any table from The Gottlieb Collection. Yea. I'm a Williams fanboy and proud of it.

 

[Fungi]

However, I'll tell you one thing, I'd rather play Sorcerer than any table from The Gottlieb Collection. Yea. I'm a Williams fanboy and proud of it.

Wow. I agree 100%. i became such a pinball snob in the 80's, if I didn't see the Williams "W" on it, I didn't play it.

 

[Adam]

Not a big fan of Sorcerer myself...I'll take it over most anything Gottlieb pooped out, but I hope they don't waste time doing the table over. I'd rather they work on something new. I feel this way about most of the tables on PHOF since the physics are just fine on the 80's tables (the 90's ones are the screwed up ones), but Sorcerer really isn't worth the time or money. On that note, I still don't understand why they're bothering with Strikes & Spares...I really hope they change their minds on that.

 

[ND3G]

Not a big fan of Sorcerer myself...I'll take it over most anything Gottlieb pooped out, but I hope they don't waste time doing the table over. I'd rather they work on something new. I feel this way about most of the tables on PHOF since the physics are just fine on the 80's tables (the 90's ones are the screwed up ones), but Sorcerer really isn't worth the time or money. On that note, I still don't understand why they're bothering with Strikes & Spares...I really hope they change their minds on that.

If Farsight has already obtained a physical Strikes & Spares table than it is pretty likely that they will release a reproduction of it at some point. Personally I want them to hurry up and announce White Water.

 

[PiN WiZ]

UPDATE With FarSight recently downgrading the status of Strikes 'N Spares by stating, "...although we may do Strikes 'N Spares in the future, it is not one of the next tables," I have removed it from the confirmed tables list. My tables list consists of tables that should be released within a 12 month period at any given time.

 

[superballs]

UPDATE With FarSight recently downgrading the status of Strikes 'N Spares by stating, "...although we may do Strikes 'N Spares in the future, it is not one of the next tables," I have removed it from the confirmed tables list. My tables list consists of tables that should be released within a 12 month period at any given time.

Thank god,

Compared to the much better Triple Strike, Strikes 'N Spares is just horrible.
If they release a bowling game and it's not Triple Strike, it might be the first table i pass up unless it's bundled with a must buy, or a bonus table or something.

Edit:

In fact, I will put it up the Challenge.
If you haven't already, and you are a member of VP forums, download Rawd's amazing recreation of Triple Strike and put a couple hours of play into it. Simple, fast, unforgiving, and more addictive than high grade heroin. Tilt means game over, no nudging means quick drains. It also is a shining example of what VP is capable of. If you are really hard core, get the B2S version and play it in dual monitor.

I'm not a fan of EMs overall, but this is one of those special tables that should NOT be passed up. And it's a Williams table

 

[Richard B]

Glad to hear it about SNS.
Triple Strike is a standard pinball with a bowling theme, and is not comparable to SNS, which is a bowling game with flipper controls instead of a puck or ball you handle manually.

 

[Actionball]

I don't get the Sorcerer hate. For its time I think its a great game, that fast curvy flow is so unforgiving and yet soooo sweet when you are in the groove. Personally it ranks above Jive Time (of course), Firepower and way above the worst table on WPHOF, Space Shuttle. Space Shuttle, the game that really gives you the feeling of space travel...boredom, tedium and repetition.

Putting out the do-overs of PHOF makes sense from a keep the content flowing standpoint since its basically already finished product but I hope they trickle them out slower. If I want to play Funhouse or MM I own those already, so when (if) the first 2 DLC makes it to PS3 its 50% nothing from my perspective.

 

[bavelb]

Remaking PHOF tables makes sense both from "keep content flowing" as well as "I don't have them on my android/iDevice" POV in the grander scheme of things for TPA. I have 2 copies of PHOf (1 wii, 1 360) and am still glad with the updates of these tables. I can't play TotAN or MM on my 360 anymore as it looks so grimy and plays so slow and floaty.

In fact I would like Taxi and NGG in the coming 2 DLC. Would I like to see all phof tables? Well no: not a fan of Gorgar and Space Shuttle, albeit important from a history perspective, they haven't aged well. All others I don't mind plunking down 2 bucks a table for. In this assessment I'm completely ignoring Jive Time for obvious reasons

 

[Richard B]

It's not that we hate Sorcerer, it's just that Farsight seems bound and determined to release all the PHOF tables, except for Jive Time and maybe Sorcerer. There's a lot of other tables I'd like to see them leave off but they won't, so if we can stop them from releasing just this one mediocre table, then we've done a small kindness that will contribute to a happier planet.

 

[Fuseball]

... But the sound on Sorcerer is so good. Played one IRL last year and was surprised by how engaging (and pretty) it was. I would take Sorcerer above Gorgar any day. Only great thing about Gorgar is the backglass, and you can't see that while playing it anyway!

 

[Richard B]

... But the sound on Sorcerer is so good. Played one IRL last year and was surprised by how engaging (and pretty) it was. I would take Sorcerer above Gorgar any day. Only great thing about Gorgar is the backglass, and you can't see that while playing it anyway!

There's also the heartbeat and voice in Gorgar. If I could play a Sorcerer IRL, I'd probably like it better. Any table is good in real life.

 

[Fuseball]

There's also the heartbeat and voice in Gorgar. If I could play a Sorcerer IRL, I'd probably like it better. Any table is good in real life.

I'll give you that. The sound on that era of Williams tables is something special.

 

[an ox]

hey Fuseball don't you be dissing Gorgar or I'll tell EBJ on you .

I know he's not everybody's fave but I have a lot of love for Gorgar, they had one at uni when I was there. I still play it from time to time on VP and on the PSP Williams collection that I've got on my Vita until PA comes out for Vita in Europe.

So I'll be very happy to see Gorgar arrive in PA myself .

 

[Fuseball]

Hehe. I think my opinion of Gorgar has been somewhat coloured by the fact that my local pool hall replaced it with Black Knight and *that* was the game that really made me fall in love with pinball.

I'm still a recovering multiball addict.

 

[PiN WiZ]

UPDATE Added info to the "Next Kindle Fire Update Details" section plus added "Posting Offline High Scores To The Online Leaderboards" under "Features, Additions And Improvements Coming In The Near Future."

 

[RetroBlast]

I am very happy about posting offline high scores to the leaderboards, seems some of my best games were played while on the subway witout an internet connection on my PS Vita.

 

[Richard B]

UPDATE Added info to the "Next Kindle Fire Update Details" section plus added "Posting Offline High Scores To The Online Leaderboards" under "Features, Additions And Improvements Coming In The Near Future."

Is the high score change across all platforms, or just some? My best 360 scores were when my Live connection disconnected.

 

[PiN WiZ]

Is the high score change across all platforms, or just some? My best 360 scores were when my Live connection disconnected.

FarSight is looking to implement this feature across all platforms and devices in the near future.