Marvel Pinball / Zen Pinball 2 : cross-app table purchase? (PS3)

[Tann]

Hi, long time no see.

Currently on PS3, all Marvel tables are on sale (-50%).

But I don't know if, let's say, I buy a table in Marvel Pinball, is the same table unlocked for free in Zen Pinball 2 ?

It was the case when I purchased a Star Wars table in Zen Pinball 2, the same table was unlocked for free in Star Wars Pinball (Zen Studios blog post about this: https://blog.zenstudios.com/?p=3319), Star Wars Pinball being released AFTER Zen Pinball 2.

But Marvel Pinball was released BEFORE Zen Pinball 2. And it seems that if a Marvel Table is purchased in Zen Pinball 2, the table is not unlocked in Marvel Pinball (https://www.playstationtrophies.org...2533-marvel-pinball-tables-not-cross-buy.html)

Does it mean that a table has to be purchased first in Marvel Pinball, so it can be imported for free in Zen Pinball 2?

I don't find the answer except in an archived blog post of Zen Studios (http://blog.zenstudios.com/wp/?paged=12):

"The tables can only import from Zen Pinball 2 > Zen Pinball 2. You cannot import from Marvel Pinball or Star Wars Pinball on PS3 > Zen Pinball 2 on PS4. You CAN import from Marvel or Star Wars Pinball on PS3 > Zen Pinball 2 on PS3 and then > PS4."​

It's a mess...

Can someone confirm the way to unlock "cross-app" table purchases in Marvel Pinball / Zen Pinball 2 on PS3?

Thanks!

 

[Captain Caveman]

I remember that any tables I bought in marvel pinball were automatically unlocked in Zen 2 way back when I still used my PS3 but I can't confirm if that still happens.. those same tables were unlocked in FX3 on the PS4.

 

[tomwaits]

The cross-buy conditions listed in the Zen blog post were correct at the time. I purchased one of the Marvel tables (Civil War) for ZP2 and it didn't unlock in Marvel Pinball so I had to re-purchase the Marvel Pinball version. All my other tables were purchased in Marvel Pinball first and imported to ZP2 for free.

No idea if they've changed the cross-buy conditions since then, or if the delisting of ZP2 on PS4 may have broken the import chain. I think some of the Marvel tables have been regrouped into new packs on PS4 which might have also affected the import chain.

If you're buying for PS3 now, I'd start with just a single table/pack on PS3 Marvel Pinball and see if you can import it to ZP2 on PS3, then import it to ZP2 on PS4 (if you installed it before the delisting) or PFX3 on PS4.

 

[Captain Caveman]

There was one table I didn't own that was moved to a new pack on the PS4 and I owned the others in the pack so I bought it on my PS3 in zen 2 and then imported it to fx3 and that was around February this year..

 

[MarkItZeroSmoky]

The cross buy only works from Marvel Pinball to Zen Pin 2. It will not work from ZP2 back to Marvel Pinball. So you must purchase them in the Marvel Pinball game on PS3 and they will import to ZP2 on PS3 if you want both seperate games. You must have them in ZP2 on PS3 in order to import them to FX3 on PS4. They will NOT import to ZP2 on PS4 any longer. The import function is broken there. If you dont want Marvel Pinball by itself (its the first physics anyway) just buy them in ZP2 on ps3 and they should import to FX3. Also, I believe there are a few that are only available in ZP2, so if you're getting them in Marvel you'll have to buy the last ones in ZP2 to have them all in FX3.

 

[Tann]

Wow, thanks @ everybody for the detailed answers!

So I think I will go for buying them on Marvel Pinball first, then import them in ZP2, and in a near future, import them in FX3.

And yeah, there's a bunch of tables that are exclusive to ZP2, and it seems some Marvel Pinball tables can't be purchased anymore in ZP2 directly (Civil War and Fantastic 4, as ZP2 add-ons, are listed as "Unavailable" in the PS Store... weird).

Reminder (for myself), and to see which tables are worthy to purchase:

Marvel Pinball table packs:

- Marvel Pinball Core Pack (1.99€) [Spider-Man, Wolwerine, Iron Man, Blade]
- Civil War (1.49€)
- Avengers Chronicles Pack (4.99€) [The Avengers, Fear Itself, Infinity Gauntlet, World War Hulk]
- Fantastic Four (1.24€)
- Captain America (0.99€)
- Vengeance and Virtue Pack (3.99€) [Ghost Rider, Moon Knight, Thor, X-Men]

Zen Pinball 2 Marvel Tables (exclusive):

- Women of Power (3.49€) [Champions, A-Force]
- Ant-Man (1.49€)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (1.49€)
- Deadpool (1.49€)
- Doctor Strange (1.49€)
- Guardians of the Galaxy (1.49€)

OK, time to dig up some reviews! ^^ (from memory, I only know that Fear Itself is a sure choice, and that Vengeance and Virtue pack contains some of the worst tables ever released by Zen).

 

[shutyertrap]

Marvel Pinball table packs:

- Marvel Pinball Core Pack (1.99€) [Spider-Man, Wolwerine, Iron Man, Blade]
- Civil War (1.49€)
- Avengers Chronicles Pack (4.99€) [The Avengers, Fear Itself, Infinity Gauntlet, World War Hulk]
- Fantastic Four (1.24€)
- Captain America (0.99€)
- Vengeance and Virtue Pack (3.99€) [Ghost Rider, Moon Knight, Thor, X-Men]

Zen Pinball 2 Marvel Tables (exclusive):

- Women of Power (3.49€) [Champions, A-Force]
- Ant-Man (1.49€)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (1.49€)
- Deadpool (1.49€)
- Doctor Strange (1.49€)
- Guardians of the Galaxy (1.49€)

OK, time to dig up some reviews! ^^ (from memory, I only know that Fear Itself is a sure choice, and that Vengeance and Virtue pack contains some of the worst tables ever released by Zen).

I'm a fan of the Core Pack because Wolverine has a playfield like you'd find on a real table, Blade is interesting in a good way, and Iron Man is devilishly hard. I'm just meh on Spider-Man.
I love Fear Itself, but the others in the Avengers Chronicles are dependent upon what kind of layout you enjoy. World War Hulk looks like nothing you'd ever find with a real table. Infinity Gauntlet really plays with 'digital only' pinball.
Vengeance and Virtue features some very odd game mechanics in terms of what to shoot to activate something else, but Moon Knight is the standout.

Ant-Man is a really good table, plays like all the newer stuff Zen put out on FX3.
Deadpool is very humorous and worth the purchase just for that.
Guardians is a lot of fun too, lots of flow like a Steve Richie table.
The Women of Power pack, I like Champions but can't get into A-Force. Like Ant-Man, they both play really well.

 

[Tann]

I'm a fan of the Core Pack because Wolverine has a playfield like you'd find on a real table [...]

You sold it to me, thanks for the feedback.

I read a lot of user reviews/feedbacks, my memories were kind of wrong, as Vengeance and Virtue tables are not generally considered as bad tables. On the other hand, Civil War was quoted very often as a really bad table, and Iron Man aswell.
Deadpool was praised for his tone (with the voice actor Nolan North doing a good job as always), but not so much for his game mechanics (I think it's what you mean too )

Well, I think I'll pass on Civil War, Captain America, Women of Power (not fan of Champions art direction, and you say A-Force is meh, so...), and Avengers: Age of Ultron.

 

[Gorgias32]

I would not say Vengeance and Virtue is bad - in fact, X-Men is one of my favorites.

X-Men - classic layout, lots of modes, good "real pinball" feel
Thor - fun, but a long-player. Modes are fairly easy to complete. The S-shaped cross shot where you have to hit the start button to drop the ball to the upper flipper is hard to get down, otherwise the shots feel pretty good
Moon Knight - an odd table for an odd superhero, but very well executed, modes are not too tough to complete. Lots of interesting shots and you can get a great flow going.
Ghost Rider - this is the only one I have trouble getting into. The multiple upper/lower playfields make it seem like you are always shooting at something directly in front of you.

I'd definitely recommend not passing on Captain America, it's one of the best looking Zen tables of all (with the WWII look and feel) and also has a lot of interesting modes and shots. It can be a very long player as well.

The real stinkers in my opinion are Civil War (I rate it as the second worst Zen table, just a hair better than V12) which has a really strange ball return mechanic as well as super short timed modes and hard-to-aim shots. I like A-Force (it's the first table I beat the wizard mode on) but Champions is just all right, pretty forgettable. And Age of Ultron I also find to be really hard to get into, it has a lot of very short timed modes that I tend to lose over and over without making much progress.

 

[shutyertrap]

You sold it to me, thanks for the feedback.

I read a lot of user reviews/feedbacks, my memories were kind of wrong, as Vengeance and Virtue tables are not generally considered as bad tables. On the other hand, Civil War was quoted very often as a really bad table, and Iron Man aswell.
Deadpool was praised for his tone (with the voice actor Nolan North doing a good job as always), but not so much for his game mechanics (I think it's what you mean too )

Well, I think I'll pass on Civil War, Captain America, Women of Power (not fan of Champions art direction, and you say A-Force is meh, so...), and Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Everybody does love hating on Iron Man, but I really like it for some reason. Other than the music. I tend to turn it off specifically for that table. But it’s got a ton of shots to complete and getting to wizard mode feels like a real accomplishment.

 

[Tann]

I'd definitely recommend not passing on Captain America, it's one of the best looking Zen tables of all (with the WWII look and feel) and also has a lot of interesting modes and shots. It can be a very long player as well.

The real stinkers in my opinion are Civil War (I rate it as the second worst Zen table, just a hair better than V12) which has a really strange ball return mechanic as well as super short timed modes and hard-to-aim shots. I like A-Force (it's the first table I beat the wizard mode on) but Champions is just all right, pretty forgettable. And Age of Ultron I also find to be really hard to get into, it has a lot of very short timed modes that I tend to lose over and over without making much progress.

OK, I trust you.

In fact, I can re-add Captain America to the wishlist, as I have a 20€ PSN card. All 22 tables for a total of 25.63€, so I have to cut 5.63 bucks.

So Woman of Power (-3.49€), Civil War (-1.49€), Avengers: Age of Ultron (-1.49€) = -6.47€ (total: 19.16€, 0.84€ left in the wild)

What's good with single table packs, is that one can pass on them without regrets, rather than buy a whole 4-tables pack, with 1 or 2 tables being really bad in it, to finally never play it (who said Star Wars: Master of the Force ?!? )

 

[Tann]

Hello, I use this topic, rather than create a new one, for a question:

I played all my new Marvel tables in Zen Pinball 2 not being signed in PSN. So, all the highscores were made offline.

The next day, I logged in PSN, launched Zen Pinball 2, and surprisingly, all my scores done offline were sent to the online leaderboards ?!?

I thought that Zen (like TPA) does not update a player's highscore in the online leaderboards afterwards, if the highscore was made offline.

Moreover, a few weeks ago, I beat my highscore on Alien Isolation and Han Solo, while being offline. But my previous highscores are still displayed in the online leaderboards, as I speak.

Is there a trick I'm not aware of ?

-------------------------------

PS: I played the infamous Iron Man table. And I'm with shutyertrap about it. Yes, the presentation is cheap, graphics are not the best taste, and the voice acting is terrible. But as a pinball table, it's OK, and even fun to play.

In fact, ATM, I'm rather disappointed by the more recent Marvel tables, like Guardians of the Galaxy, Deadpool, etc... Great presentation and graphics, awesome tunes (1), but as pinball tables, I don't know, something is off...

(1): BTW, Ant-Man main theme (here at 0'45) is greatly inspired from Faster Than Light OST (here at 0'10) ^^

 

[shutyertrap]

PS: I played the infamous Iron Man table. And I'm with shutyertrap about it. Yes, the presentation is cheap, graphics are not the best taste, and the voice acting is terrible. But as a pinball table, it's OK, and even fun to play.

In fact, ATM, I'm rather disappointed by the more recent Marvel tables, like Guardians of the Galaxy, Deadpool, etc... Great presentation and graphics, awesome tunes (1), but as pinball tables, I don't know, something is off...^

Yes, a convert! That makes me happy.

GotG is sort of like No Fear, where you are shooting at lanes rather than objects. I know I tire of that as I like bashing things, so maybe that’s part of no feeling it. Deadpool is one of those you have to learn what it wants you to shoot and in what order. It’s not a good flail about and figure what to do on the fly table. That means putting time into something that doesn’t grab your interest right away.

 

[Firefox2000]

Hello, I use this topic, rather than create a new one, for a question:

I played all my new Marvel tables in Zen Pinball 2 not being signed in PSN. So, all the highscores were made offline.

The next day, I logged in PSN, launched Zen Pinball 2, and surprisingly, all my scores done offline were sent to the online leaderboards ?!?

I thought that Zen (like TPA) does not update a player's highscore in the online leaderboards afterwards, if the highscore was made offline.

Moreover, a few weeks ago, I beat my highscore on Alien Isolation and Han Solo, while being offline. But my previous highscores are still displayed in the online leaderboards, as I speak.

Is there a trick I'm not aware of ?

-------------------------------

PS: I played the infamous Iron Man table. And I'm with shutyertrap about it. Yes, the presentation is cheap, graphics are not the best taste, and the voice acting is terrible. But as a pinball table, it's OK, and even fun to play.

In fact, ATM, I'm rather disappointed by the more recent Marvel tables, like Guardians of the Galaxy, Deadpool, etc... Great presentation and graphics, awesome tunes (1), but as pinball tables, I don't know, something is off...

(1): BTW, Ant-Man main theme (here at 0'45) is greatly inspired from Faster Than Light OST (here at 0'10) ^^

Were you signed into Zen, because i think as long as your are signed into Zen then it does not matter if your are signed into the console online service or not because even when you are signed out on the console the internet is still working and avalible on it, so Zen could still use the internet through the console to access its leaderboards.

 

[Tann]

Were you signed into Zen, because i think as long as your are signed into Zen then it does not matter if your are signed into the console online service or not because even when you are signed out on the console the internet is still working and avalible on it, so Zen could still use the internet through the console to access its leaderboards.

Well, on PS3, you're not really signed into Zen Pinball, it just uses the PS3 local user ID when not connected to PSN. I was signed off PSN, and my router was turned off (so, absolutely no internet connection).

That's why it is weird... It seems once Zen get an internet connection the next day (through the PSN sign-in, or the PS3 internet access as you say), the game sent the highscores afterwards.

Maybe it works only when there is no online highscores at all set by the player (it was the first time I played the Marvel tables and it was offline), but after that, the game does not check if there is a better local highscore than the one in the online leaderboards (if a player set a new highscore offline).


So, for a player on a given table:

- No online highscore, best local highscore is automatically sent (even if it was made offline) afterwards
- Online highscore already registered, a possible better local highscore (made offline) is not sent

It's the only explanation I can think of.

 

[Cloda]

Well, on PS3, you're not really signed into Zen Pinball, it just uses the PS3 local user ID when not connected to PSN. I was signed off PSN, and my router was turned off (so, absolutely no internet connection).

That's why it is weird... It seems once Zen get an internet connection the next day (through the PSN sign-in, or the PS3 internet access as you say), the game sent the highscores afterwards.

Maybe it works only when there is no online highscores at all set by the player (it was the first time I played the Marvel tables and it was offline), but after that, the game does not check if there is a better local highscore than the one in the online leaderboards (if a player set a new highscore offline).


So, for a player on a given table:

- No online highscore, best local highscore is automatically sent (even if it was made offline) afterwards
- Online highscore already registered, a possible better local highscore (made offline) is not sent

It's the only explanation I can think of.

I'm recently on Xbox One but previously I played Pinball FX2 on my Xbox 360 for years. I live in South Africa and I have not always had the most reliable internet connection. It has never prevented me from posting scores online though as the game always updated my scores online when I connected again. It did though sometimes take a long time before the scores were updated i.e. not as soon as I connected to the internet, but it eventually reflected my highest scores (including improvements). I don't know if it is similar with FX3 on the PS3 (or Xbox One for that matter now that I have a stable internet connection), but thought I'll mention it.

As an aside, Gorgias32 mentioned a few tables and his comments reminded me that beating Loki on Thor in the Wizard mode is just about as tough as beating Ultimo on Ironman and a true achievement if you do (eventually in my case) get it right (pity achievements are watered down in FX3 compared to FX2). Moon Knight is also one of my favourite tables (that I haven't played in a long time) and it took me a long time to get a Billion+ score at a time when I found FX2 quite easy... basically, you have to work real hard to put up a great score.

My favourite table of the early releases is probably Fantastic Four; it pays off to play strategically (activate kickbacks and negative zone ball save), a wizard mode that is worth going for score wise with tough but relatively straightforward missions; and off course awesome stackable multi balls!

 

[Firefox2000]

Well, on PS3, you're not really signed into Zen Pinball, it just uses the PS3 local user ID when not connected to PSN. I was signed off PSN, and my router was turned off (so, absolutely no internet connection).

That's why it is weird... It seems once Zen get an internet connection the next day (through the PSN sign-in, or the PS3 internet access as you say), the game sent the highscores afterwards.

Maybe it works only when there is no online highscores at all set by the player (it was the first time I played the Marvel tables and it was offline), but after that, the game does not check if there is a better local highscore than the one in the online leaderboards (if a player set a new highscore offline).


So, for a player on a given table:

- No online highscore, best local highscore is automatically sent (even if it was made offline) afterwards
- Online highscore already registered, a possible better local highscore (made offline) is not sent

It's the only explanation I can think of.

It might be saving your off line score then uploading them once you go online again......it is weird to send offline scores to a online leaderboard.......i have no idea what is happening there, i would just take it and run. lol

 

[Tann]

I'm recently on Xbox One but previously I played Pinball FX2 on my Xbox 360 for years. I live in South Africa and I have not always had the most reliable internet connection. It has never prevented me from posting scores online though as the game always updated my scores online when I connected again. It did though sometimes take a long time before the scores were updated i.e. not as soon as I connected to the internet, but it eventually reflected my highest scores (including improvements). I don't know if it is similar with FX3 on the PS3 (or Xbox One for that matter now that I have a stable internet connection), but thought I'll mention it.

Mmmhhh... thanks for the info.

I beat some highscores offline in May, and it never updated on the online leaderboards. Maybe it works only on Xbox360.

Well, it's not a big deal, the real achievement in Zen is to get the (hard) trophies, not really to set a huge highscore. (on the other side, getting the hardest trophies induces automatically a big score lol )

 

[Tann]

I do not want to brag (not at all, I swear), but why "Beat Ultimo" trophy is considered as an insanely difficult trophy? (one of the ultra-rarest trophies on psnprofiles btw)

Yesterday night, I launched Zen 2 to achieve "complete Whiplash and Mandarin missions" and "Complete all Tony Stark missions" missions. Once done, I decided to go facing Ultimo, without much hope to beat him, as I read everywhere it was nearly impossible and required a lot of luck.

But I beat him, wacking the balls as crazy, and to be honest, not understanding what was going on (only that taking a ramp ignited the ball, and then, hit him with it several times). There was four balls at the beginning, but suddendly, only two balls remaining, although there wasn't any drains (STDM or outlanes)???

Whatever, I thought I was extremely lucky, but I was kind of pissed off, as there is no "Beat Ultimo" trophy in Zen 2 (I noticed that only AFTER I had beaten him, I thought there was actually a trophy for it, so I did it for nothing). Damn FUUUUUUUU....KKKKK.

So I launched Marvel Pinball and the Iron Man table, with even less hope to beat Ultimo. I thought my insane luck has passed.

When starting the fight, I was like "Ok, it is almost sure I will mess up completely, as I know now what I have to do, and that I won't be as lucky than the last time. And it's goddamn long to reach the wizard mode, if I lose, I won't be patient enough to try again".

But then again, I beat him.

Like in Zen 2, four balls, but suddendly only two balls with no drains, I was shooting the Stock Market ramp with the right flipper as I found it was the easiest way to ignite a ball, and once ignited, I was just hitting Ultimo with a backshot from the right flipper (the ball can't pass Ultimo on his right, so no time loss). Catch the ball, rinse and repeat.

What the fu....??? Should I buy a lottery ticket? Beat him two times in a row...

There's something I don't understand. Either the trophy is not THAT hard, or God/Hanuman/Allah/Yahve was with me all night long. XD Maybe if I try again, I won't never beat him again. NEVER.

I find Blade or Fantastic Four wizard trophies way harder (near impossible for me), and these are silver trophies, unlike Ultimo which is only bronze...

 

[Tann]

beating Loki on Thor in the Wizard mode is just about as tough as beating Ultimo on Ironman and a true achievement if you do (eventually in my case) get it right

I do not want to brag (not at all, I swear), but why "Beat Ultimo" trophy is considered as an insanely difficult trophy? (one of the ultra-rarest trophies on psnprofiles btw)

Yesterday night, I launched Zen 2 to achieve "complete Whiplash and Mandarin missions" and "Complete all Tony Stark missions" trophies. Once done, I decided to go facing Ultimo, without much hope to beat him, as I read everywhere it was nearly impossible and required a lot of luck.

Then I beat him, wacking the balls as crazy, and to be honest, not understanding what was going on (only that taking a ramp ignited the ball, and then, hit him with it several times). There was four balls at the beginning, but suddendly, only two balls remaining, although there wasn't any drains (STDM or outlanes)???

Whatever, I thought I was extremely lucky, but I was kind of pissed off, as there is no "Beat Ultimo" trophy in Zen 2. In fact, I noticed that only AFTER I had beaten him, I thought there was a trophy for it in Zen 2, so I did it for nothing. Damn Fuuuuuuu....kkkkk.

So I launched Marvel Pinball and the Iron Man table, with even less hope to beat Ultimo. I thought my insane luck has passed.

When starting the fight, I was like "Ok, it is almost sure I will mess up completely, as I know now what I have to do, and that I won't be as lucky than the last time. And it's goddamn long to reach the wizard mode, if I lose, I won't be patient enough to try again".

But then again, I beat him.

Like in Zen 2, four balls, but suddendly only two balls with no drains, I was shooting the Stock Market ramp with the right flipper as I found it was the easiest way to ignite a ball, and once ignited, I was just hitting Ultimo with a backshot from the right flipper (the ball can't pass Ultimo on his right, so no time loss). Catch the ball, rinse and repeat.

What the fu....??? Should I buy a lottery ticket? Beat him two times in a row...

There's something I don't understand. Either the trophy is not THAT hard, or God/Hanuman/Allah/Yahve was with me all night long. XD Maybe if I try again, I won't never beat him again. NEVER.

Whatever, I find Blade or Fantastic Four wizard trophies way harder (near impossible for me), and these are silver trophies, unlike Ultimo which is only bronze...