Pinball Arcade better than real pinball?

[Vyrastas]

Real tables are better... there's much more subtle gameplay involved in a real table vs TPA, and when you get good at it, it's much more fun to me.

However, I find TPA fun as well, and think it's a great tool for learning the rules of a table. I do so much better on a real table for the first time if it's something I've played on TPA... at least then I already know the rules, and you can spend a lot of time experimenting without wasting a ton of money.

 

[MontanaFrank]

Real pinball machines are the best by far. They are a physical experience, the palm of hand hitting the bottom crossbar- using the body to physically nudge a ball, where TPA involves dexterity of the hands. The one advantage of TPA tables over the real machines is that a pinball machine in real life is available as a pinball table to all of us twenty four hours a day - seven days a week to play on The Pinball Aracade.

 

[QuiGonJ]

In Los Angeles, most pinball machines are poorly maintained these days. The Transformers pinball at a local comics shop barely works, and same goes for the machines at Disneyland Park (Cyclone, TRON Legacy LE, and Indy across from the Indy ride). If I could play well maintained machines, cool, but I am enjoying TPA quite a lot.

 

[Mick Morry]

It sucks to see great pinball tables not maintained well. The pinball tables in my town are few and rare, and most are in less than stellar shape.

 

[Mark W**a]

no

 

[Jeff Strong]

Real pinball machines will always be better, but TPA does have a couple advantages for me personally: one is that it's much easier to see. I was in an automobile accident 15 years ago in which I broke two vertebrae and became paralyzed from the chest down, so I've been in a wheelchair ever since. Playing real pinball sitting down is rather tricky. Maybe you've tried playing while sitting on a barstool, which isn't so bad, but a wheelchair is much lower. Not only is the viewing angle quite different, but you also get a ton of reflection from the backglass. Often the whole top half of the playfield is a mystery to me because it's covered in backglass reflections. I also have to lean forward, which really kills my back (I have two rods in my upper back, one on either side of my spine). So yeah, it can be quite tricky, and it's nice that I don't have to worry about those things in TPA .

 

[Jim O'Brien]

Played some real pinball last weekend and it's better than TPA, Pinball Arcade is easier and more convenient though and has a lot of older machines you would never see in such great playable condition except for a few locations of course.

 

[jbejarano]

Sure, IF I had the money to buy real pinball tables, and IF I had the space to store real pinball tables, and IF I had the technical expertise to maintain real pinball tables in tip-top shape or enough additional money to pay someone else to maintain them, THEN sure, real pinball is better than The Pinball Arcade. And, yes, an occasional trip over the bridge to the Pacific Pinball Museum is always a treat. But, meanwhile in the real world, lacking all of the above provisos, yes, I actually do enjoy The Pinball Arcade more when taking all of those practicalities into consideration. The tables are cheap. I can store all of them on a single hand-held device. The machines never need maintenance. (Sure, the occasional bugs rear their heads, but FarSight usually eventually addresses them.) Plus, and this is seldom mentioned as an advantage, The Pinball Arcade tables come with full instructions on what the heck I'm supposed to do. The little instruction cards on real pinball tables never really address that in any detail. Indeed, reading the instructions on The Pinball Arcade so I understand what's happening actually has helped me play real pinball tables on occasion.

So, yes, in a just-won-the-lottery, fantasy, dreamy, utopian world, real pinball tables are better. In a practical, every-day, really-have-to-live-in-it world, it's hard to argue that The Pinball Arcade isn't at least as good as playing on real pinball tables.

P.S. Have you ever tried to play a game of High Speed with a weak upper-right flipper? You may as well not bother. This is yet another reason why I so constantly bang the drum for High Speed's inclusion in The Pinball Arcade.

 

[Fungi]

P.S. Have you ever tried to play a game of High Speed with a weak upper-right flipper? You may as well not bother. This is yet another reason why I so constantly bang the drum for High Speed's inclusion in The Pinball Arcade.

Yes I have and boy is it a waste of time and money.

 

[yuriijos]

Not even close but definitely a lot cheaper.

 

[Björn Wessman]

​

Real pinball tables are mechanical. It's just not possible to fully recreate the feeling of magnetic or other mechanical gadgets in a digital remake. In a videogame you can create anything, there's no limit of physics like in the real world. What i love most about pinball is the amazing things that can be created using mechanics. I like TPA a lot, but more than anything, it makes we want to play the real thing.

 

[DoX]

I think this question is the same as someone asked is it better to drive real Ferrari or the one in Gran tourismo, or such driving sim. Nothing can beat the real thing. But the real thing, in this case a pinball machine, is expensive to buy, expensive to maintain, and you must have some place where you will put the pretty big machine.

I had Ted & Red's Roadshow in my apartment, and had to sell it after a few years. I really loved the machine, but it needed some new parts I couldn't find here in Croatia. And if I would somehow find them (import from USA or somewhere) they would be pretty expensive, and then I would had to install them myself because here I couldn't find someone that does such jobs. Not to mention that I live in a skyscraper apartment, so my neighbor from below wasn't very delighted with the table's shaker. Once she even called a police when I played late night...

So the conclusion is - the real thing is the real thing, if you have the money, the time, the space, and knowledge to maintain the machine, or know someone who does (you can read this as "if you live in the USA" because pinball is unfortunately long time dead in Europe).

For everyone else there is TPA. Period.

 

[Jeff Strong]

Real pinball machines will always be better, but TPA does have a couple advantages for me personally: one is that it's much easier to see. I was in an automobile accident 15 years ago in which I broke two vertebrae and became paralyzed from the chest down, so I've been in a wheelchair ever since. Playing real pinball sitting down is rather tricky. Maybe you've tried playing while sitting on a barstool, which isn't so bad, but a wheelchair is much lower. Not only is the viewing angle quite different, but you also get a ton of reflection from the backglass. Often the whole top half of the playfield is a mystery to me because it's covered in backglass reflections. I also have to lean forward, which really kills my back (I have two rods in my upper back, one on either side of my spine). So yeah, it can be quite tricky, and it's nice that I don't have to worry about those things in TPA .

After going to the PHOF in Vegas last week, I was reminded that the backglass reflection problem is not an issue on EMs and older SS machines because they don't have as much backglass lighting as the newer pins. It had been awhile since I played the older stuff since it's hard to find those machines in good condition out in the wild. It was a real treat to actually see the whole, entire playfield. I tried playing AC/DC, but couldn't see anything above the middle

 

[FurVid]

After going to the PHOF in Vegas last week, I was reminded that the backglass reflection problem is not an issue on EMs and older SS machines because they don't have as much backglass lighting as the newer pins. It had been awhile since I played the older stuff since it's hard to find those machines in good condition out in the wild. It was a real treat to actually see the whole, entire playfield. I tried playing AC/DC, but couldn't see anything above the middle

If you're able to get your own machine, might be worth splurging for Jersey Jack's Invisiglass. Haven't seen it myself, yet, but sounds amazing.

 

[Matt McIrvin]

Real pinball machines are best if they're well-maintained and not broken. A neglected machine with weak flippers and half the switches out is not worth playing at all, and TPA is better than that.

Real pinball is hard. By playing TPA you can get accustomed to a table's ruleset, but when you encounter the real machine you have to learn it all over again, to get accustomed to the quirks of the particular instance you're playing and to the greater unpredictability of real physics.

 

[Shaneus]

It's better in terms of selection, but that's about the only area it truly excels at. IMO it still has quite a ways to go as far as "simulation" goes (flipper rubbers, ball spin, flipper fluttering/live catches, better mechanical sound) but if you don't have any other alternatives, then it does an alright job of quenching the thirst.

 

[Timelord]

Real pinball machines are best if they're well-maintained and not broken. A neglected machine with weak flippers and half the switches out is not worth playing at all, and TPA is better than that.

Real pinball is hard. By playing TPA you can get accustomed to a table's ruleset, but when you encounter the real machine you have to learn it all over again, to get accustomed to the quirks of the particular instance you're playing and to the greater unpredictability of real physics.

Quoted for truth !!!
But I don't have the space to have all these tables IRL so it's got that going for it.

Timelord ..