Making the big investment before June 30....Steam or IOS?

[mightym7]

Hey Everyone,

I've decided to pull the trigger and purchase all 7 seasons before the Williams/Bally deadline. Before throwing down a few hundred bucks, can you give advice on whether Steam or IOS is the better way to go, and why?

Thanks!

P.S.- I have Steam, but it's on my MacBook Pro. Just FYI.

 

[Pinballwiz45b]

If you decide to get a gaming PC in place of the Macbook, get it on Steam. This platform has Steam and Mac covered in one purchase.

 

[Pod]

While having them on the go is great. Pc is the better game. Looks better. Better controls.
Both versions have minor niggles. But pc wins out for me

 

[mightym7]

Good deal. Thank you both for the feedback!

 

[Pete]

you want it on PC for sure. although your saying you have steam on your macbook... so that's not pc that's mac. im pretty sure steam on mac doesnt play the pc version of pinball it plays the mac version.

 

[Pinballwiz45b]

you want it on PC for sure. although your saying you have steam on your macbook... so that's not pc that's mac. im pretty sure steam on mac doesnt play the pc version of pinball it plays the mac version.

That is true. Just saying, if he opts to get a gaming PC, the Steam version is a two-for-one purchase.

 

[Gorgias32]

As someone who has nearly all the tables on Android as well as seasons 1-3 on iOS, I love playing mobile, but if I was today having to buy the whole shebang, I would go with Steam. The only reason is that I think your investment is safer on Steam than on a mobile platform.

I'm dreading the day that say iOS version x comes out and requires apps to upgrade to 128-bit or something, and Farsight just decides it's too costly to do the work to upgrade all the tables that they can't sell anymore. I have had apps that have just disappeared after an iOS upgrade (Out of the Park Baseball 15 and Bloodmasque come to mind). It definitely can happen.

Steam, because it already has to support so many hardware platforms, and because Microsoft is generally good about backward compatibility, is just a more stable platform for your investment.

 

[Kolchak357]

I stick with ios for the convenience factor.
But if I wanted the best version (imo), I would have gone with steam.

 

[mightym7]

Excellent points...Thanks!

So...all of that being said, here's one more quick question: Since I'm on a MacBook Pro, is it worth installing Windows via Bootcamp for the "better" version of Steam and PBA?

 

[shutyertrap]

My podcast partner jaredmorgs has been mobile on Android for the entire run until just this last month when he got a Surface Book Pro. He thought he knew what to expect visually, but then was completely blown away by how much better it looks on Steam. As everyone is pointing out, Steam is the best long term bet. I do know however that people have complained about the MacBook version of TPA and even if you did install Windows onto it, does it have a video card that can handle DX11 version? If not, and you don't plan on getting a PC with good vid card, buying iOS version might do you best.

 

[Alex Atkin UK]

I'd say Steam, because if for some reason the iOS version stops being updated the chances of it running on new iOS versions is slim to none, whereas I can't imagine the Steam version suddenly breaking as PC backwards compatibility is fairly solid since DX9. (and further back in many cases, especially if you know what you are doing)

You can even run the Steam version on Linux thanks to WINE, so there are always options to get it working vs iOS where if it breaks you'd be stuffed.

 

[GLRob]

I'd agree on Steam having the best longevity, and also in case you'd want to use the tables in a virtual pin cabinet (as I'm planning to do).

That said, I am debating buying most/all of the pro seasons but I just realized that it might be a good idea to make a new Steam account for these items, assuming I ever get my virtual pinball table built. Otherwise, if someone is using the main gaming PC it would disable the table, right? (And I can always use family share to play the pins on my gaming PC, I think....) Am I on the right track?

 

[blindpeser]

Is there a VR mod/upgrade/dlc/version coming to steam before June 30th?

 

[Beatfox]

Is there a VR mod/upgrade/dlc/version coming to steam before June 30th?

I'm not aware of one. But if one did show up at a later date, I imagine it would work universally for any tables that you own, regardless of whether those tables are still available for sale.

 

[blindpeser]

I'm not aware of one. But if one did show up at a later date, I imagine it would work universally for any tables that you own, regardless of whether those tables are still available for sale.

Thanks for the response. Maybe it is going to be like that. Maybe there is no release planned. And maybe it is planned and FS needs 5 more years to make it happen. I do not plan to gamble. If it is there, I invest a lot of money. Otherwise I pass.

 

[Beatfox]

Thanks for the response. Maybe it is going to be like that. Maybe there is no release planned. And maybe it is planned and FS needs 5 more years to make it happen. I do not plan to gamble. If it is there, I invest a lot of money. Otherwise I pass.

Totally understandable. As someone stated in another thread here, it's wise to base your buying decisions on the current state of the software, not on what it might have in the future.