Pinball Arcade better than real pinball?

[utblick]

A game on a real pinball machine is "the real thing" with real physics of the ball, flippers and nudge. Also a real 3D environment with movement of the head to see all action well on a table.

But at the same time after playing for a while I’m getting sore wrists. Tables are expensive to buy and it's an effort to keep them in good shape. A really admire guys that restore pinball machines, but that is not my cup of tea. And it´s getting harder to find pinball machines to play, you have to go to a bowling alley or similar places to find a table. If you find a place then playing for an hour or two will cost a bit of money.

A good simulation like Pinball Arcade is the alternative. Play on a big screen, a computer or a handheld device. Play when you like. Play as much as you want. Select a table in the moment from large number of tables.

I must confess (to you and myself) that I´m now so used to Pinball Arcade that for most of the time I enjoy playing pinball more on TPA. I just sometimes need to reconnect by playing on a real physical table, then back to TPA again.

 

[Pinballfan69]

It is a good alternative but in now way can compare to a real life table. I had the opportunity to play several tables I have never played before and learned to appreciate them much more than what you see on youtube and Vimeo form Pinside. Paragon, Fathom on the bally polls. I voted for Fathom which I'm glad I did it's a really cook table and challenging. Firepower is just as unforgiving shooting at the targets to light locks. Thought TPA is good it's no replacement for the real thing.

Yeah I do respect those that do have real tables in their homes. I'll be in the Market for 1 soon but not till Spring of next year. Probably will try getting Firepower or Space Shuttle as those were tables I played back in the 80's.

 

[Fungi]

I've been spoiled by TPA's lack of weak flippers, bumpers and slings. It may just be a simulation, but I enjoy TPA more. Blasphemy? Perhaps. Fun? Most definitely.

 

[Kolchak357]

I love TPA, truly I do. But if you put a real life White Water in front of me and give me the choice of playing that or my ipad version? No contest, I'd rather play the real machine. More exciting, cooler feel and sound, just an overall more intense experience.

 

[Chris Dunman]

Personally, I don't think you can beat a well maintained real life pin. TPA comes very very close though and, is miles cheaper

 

[Björn Wessman]

If you find a place then playing for an hour or two will cost a bit of money.

Actually, I was thinking just the opposite the other night when me and a friend went to an amusement park to play pinball. One game still costs 5 kr here in Sweden which is less than a dollar. It's the same price as when I was playing during lunch breaks in junior high in the early 90's. Me and my friend spent three hours using only a little more than ten dollars each. I would say real pinball is still a very inexpensive way of spending quality time.

 

[Nightwing]

I agree with the sore wrists, and dealing with a badly maintained machine. I also love TPA for what it is. But if I had the space,money,& the knowledge to fix and maintain a real set of pinball tables,then nothing else compares. TPA does a great job for what it does - but it's just not a real table...

 

[sotie]

Pinball Arcade better than real pinball?

Nope. I absolutely love TPA but it's not the real thing.

 

[norbert26]

i enjoy TPA (and others) as well. Real pinball is nice but now you have to get a pocket load of quarters and find sometimes unpleasant places to go play (bar for example). Then theres gas to get there. The PINS they have i may not desire. And now its like 75 cents / $1.00 a play so you need to bring lots of quarters. For $4.99 a can buy the latest table pack and play all i want in the comfort of my home not some public place i may not want to be. As far as the pinball "collector" hobby thats not for me. i don't have space to host those tables and i don't want to spend more time maintaining them then i do playing them. Then there the issue of moving them . I can fit hundreds of tables on my hand held / lapable iPad and it takes up very little space.

 

[ER777]

Pinball Arcade better than real pinball?

Nope. I absolutely love TPA but it's not the real thing.

I agree. TPA is a great simulation but playing a reasonably well-maintained real machine is so much better.

 

[DeeEff]

I prefer tube amplifiers, paper maps, a Westclox alarm clock, vinyl records, the 150-pound version of the Enclopaedia Britannica, crystal radio, carburetors, the library's card catalog, physical playing cards (for solitaire, blackjack, poker, etc.), and real pinball machines.

Not really - give me digital any time, all the time. If every table existed in TPA, I would never play a physical machine.

One could say that real pinball is a richer experience, but one could also say that digital pinball is a richer experience - beauty in the eye of the beholder and all that.

 

[MonkeyGrass]

Uhmmm..... Love me some TPA and PHOF.

Real tables, they are not. Awesome digital recreations, but they to real pinball as MP3's are to Vinyl. Good enough to enjoy when you can't get the real thing, but still imitations that don't convey the entire experience of a real table. Nudging in particular.

 

[Carl Spiby]

In answer to the topic, absolutely not.

 

[shutyertrap]

Nothing beats the real thing.

I get what the OP is saying, the convenience of TPA and the consistency of quality versus the scarcity of real tables and then them not being properly maintained. Yes, rather than drive for miles only to be disappointed and feel like you wasted quarters on a bum game, in that instance, TPA wins. But that's comparing apples to oranges.

Here's my challenge situation to you. In front of you is your table of choice (whatever it may be) and it is in peak condition, and right next to it is TPA set up however you wanna play it (on a TV, on a tablet, in a fabled virtua cabinet) and both are set to free play. Now be honest, which are you going to choose?

 

[brakel]

The only place that I've found decently maintained machines recently is the Pinball Hall of Fame in Vegas. So for playing a decent game any day of the week I can't beat TPA. If I lived in Vegas I would spend a lot of time there.

 

[DarkAkatosh]

TPA is severely dumbed down so no.

 

[Mick Morry]

Real is better. I still love TPA, FX2, and Zaccaria for coming close to real, and for being cheaper.

 

[spoonman]

Both have their advantages/disadvantages.

You can't really beat a real table if you like the mechanics of pinball, but it's sometime nice to hear the music and sounds through a nice pair of headphones.
I was hearing things in Monster Bash that I hadn't noticed on the real thing. I can only imagine how great the newer tables would sound this way.

It's also nice to see a well rendered tables on a large screen HD display. The PS4 should make this even more interesting.

 

[Baramos]

I think with me its simply a scarcity issue--there are literally only three pinball machines (outside of an amusement park that might have some, I haven't been there in years) within driving distance of me (White Water, Road Show, and Mario Andretti), so TPA has been a life-saver.

 

[Mick Morry]

I completely agree. While I love real tables it comes down to availability and variety. In both cases TPA comes through with flying colours. I love playing on a real table, but truthfully...they can take my Ipad with TPA on it....out of my cold dead hands!