So Guys, if you had to choose...

[Mark W**a]

Given the reality of the situation with Xbox 360 DLC, if you guys had to chose between these two scenarios, which would you chose and why? The scenarios are as follows:

1 Getting packs 4,5, and 6 within the next few weeks, but having to wait another 3 months or longer for Twilight Zone OR

2 Waiting a month to a month and half from now, but you'll get packs 4,5,6, Twilight Zone, and maybe even pack 7.

Which would you rather have?

Personally I'm all for option #2. I'm dying to play Creature, Taxi, Elvira, and No Good Gofers on my 360, but at this point, I say just wait a little longer and get Twilight Zone in there for one nice, big Holiday update. Twilight Zone is a big deal, that's what everyones been dying to play since earlier this year with the kickstarter campaign. If we actually got that on time I think people would get over the delays thus far, and it would make waiting for TNG and the next 3 or 4 packs a lot more bearable.

Yes I said bear-able. Like a bear. Barable isn't a word. Bare-able? bareable. ehh **** it.

 

[Kevlar]

I'm just glad I have my iPad as well as a 360 because I would be very unhappy by now. Anyway, back to the topic I think FS should aim to get TZ out on time as pledgers have already paid for it and if that was late too it would be a real kick in the nuts.

 

[12 Oz Mouse]

I would go with option 2, though it would be quite a large load of tables at once I think I would still try to scrounge up the money to get packs 4-7 day one. I do just have 1600 points laying dorment in my account so hopefuly no xbla games come out that are too tempting

 

[karl]

We would not get all the packs at once even if microsoft get's them. They wil probably spread them out over a month like ps is doing in europe now, but to answer the question: option 2 of course. It's the only real option here. Pack 7 will be finished in 3 weeks and TZ probably a couple of weeks after that. Since Farsight has promised TZ in November and many people have payed up front, they will do all they can to get that one out as soon as possible (at least before Christmas). That means 9 new tables late November-December. AND YES, the IPAD will be my savior also until we get it for PC. If the pc version comes out in november I am set for a long long time (might even abandon it on consoles altogether)

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

TZ would have to be in submission now for it to release on the 360 in November. Bobby just stated in answering the recent set of poll questions that the "emulation/engineering work as well as the artwork is underway", which means it's not finished yet, so it can't be in submission. And then you still have to allow time for internal testing and the kickstarter's 15 beta testers to have their go at it.

 

[mark21667]

I want Funhouse fixed so I can post a ridiculous score. Also want MB fixed and leaderboards reset. Both of those before any dlc.

 

[Volitar Prime]

I'm not that concerned about when they will release the next batch of DLC packs. I'm more concerned about when they will patch the inevitable bugs. I've learned my lesson and am not buying any more DLC until it is out for a while and the community feels that it is relatively bug free (something that hasn't happened yet) or it finally gets patched. I still haven't bought DLC #3 but will once it gets patched.

 

[Rudy]

Option 2 sounds delicious.

Yes there would be a four month wait for the other tables, but it's nowhere near like the problem we had waiting for other DLC. We only had four tables for about 4 months before we got another four, then we waited another month and a half for another two. Now we've been waiting for new DLC for another two (three when it comes out) months.

Whereas we'd have about 6-9 new tables at once, depending on what gets released. That's almost double the current amount of tables we currently have access to and would easily keep us entertained until around March.

 

[Mark W**a]

I want Funhouse fixed so I can post a ridiculous score. Also want MB fixed and leaderboards reset. Both of those before any dlc.

What's broken on it? I have close to 200 mil although my strategy is very rinse and repeat, I pretty much do everything there is to do on the table. Only thing I've noticed with it is that no matter how I plunge on the second plunger in the "Steps", it always give me the middle bonus (super dog yum yum).

I thought it was one of the most polished tables on the whole game :/

-edit- found your post in the FunHouse section. That sucks man. My friend has 700mil, he's top in the world, I'll have to ask him if he ever encountered the bug and or how he got around it.

 

[Worf]

I don't mind waiting. I've had good times with the tables on the 360, unlike say, iOS...

 

[Danzig]

Well I was really hoping for some nice new tables to play during Halloween, but at this point and with the issues with Microsoft, I'd just as soon wait and maybe have a real nice Christmas present with lots of new tables including hopefully Twilight Zone.

 

[Butterkins]

I don't mind waiting. Whatever's best for FarSight.

I'd like to see them tell Microsoft to get stuffed, but we live in the real world (the one with NDAs, lawyers and mortgages to pay).

Not that the other giant multinational corporations are any different.

Look at Apple: it costs very little upfront costs to get your product on iOS platforms, but you lose 30% of your revenue to Apple. For that you get zero publishing support (unless you are picked by Apple for a front-page spot), you wait in Submission Hell for every single application update, your app is lumped in to a pretty useless Store where it is soon buried amongst hundreds of thousands of bits of trash, and Apple can reject your app or update for any reason it chooses.

And Nintendo are legendary for their poor third-party developer support.

And Sony are legendary for losing their customer's credit card details to hackers.

And Android: has anyone ever sold a copy of an app, on Android, ever?

 

[Richard B]

I don't mind waiting. Whatever's best for FarSight.

I'd like to see them tell Microsoft to get stuffed, but we live in the real world (the one with NDAs, lawyers and mortgages to pay).

Not that the other giant multinational corporations are any different.

Look at Apple: it costs very little upfront costs to get your product on iOS platforms, but you lose 30% of your revenue to Apple. For that you get zero publishing support (unless you are picked by Apple for a front-page spot), you wait in Submission Hell for every single application update, your app is lumped in to a pretty useless Store where it is soon buried amongst hundreds of thousands of bits of trash, and Apple can reject your app or update for any reason it chooses.

And Nintendo are legendary for their poor third-party developer support.

And Sony are legendary for losing their customer's credit card details to hackers.

And Android: has anyone ever sold a copy of an app, on Android, ever?

If only we could have one platform open up that isn't a bastard to developers. Surely someone sees the merit in treating developers well? Yeah, just like there are politicians who would do a good job running this country, but never seem to be able to make it into office.

 

[Worf]

Well, there's always PC .

Problem is, it's REALLY HARD to do payment systems on the PC (and piracy is a big issue, hence why most developers are going Steam). Then again, 30% cut is probably close to what Steam's gonna grab from ya as well - to help pay for the servers, and the payment systems that fuel the back end. And it's a lot less than Sony or Microsoft's cut normally (all in it's easily 50+%).

Anyhow, there is no perfect platform. An open like PC or Android just means headaches elsewhere (e.g., piracy, having to do your own payment handling system, etc). Closed ones like iOS and Mac App Store mean the developer is at the whim of the store, but they often handle a lot of the hard stuff as well. It's a continuum from full openness to closed, and each has advantages and disadvantages. Developers have to weigh the benefits.

So you can go from full open Windows/Linux/Android development (and do the DRM/payment system yourself), Steam which is more closed (they don't allow anyone on) (but they handle payment, hosting and DRM), walled garden like Apple (approvals, but they have a profitable platform, and have a payment and DRM system), to full closed systems (consoles - but they provide everything, including gameplay testing to ensure things work right).

And remember, an open-to-developers-but-closed-to-users model w ill never work out because users can become developers.

Well, you could just open source the darned thing and release it on Linux - free support, no need to worry about DRM. Though feeding yourself is a bit harder.

 

[Nik Barbour]

I've gotten into Visual Pinball this past week.
Tried it before but couldn't get it working with Vista.
Tried again this week, as I was going to play.expo and wanted to practice TZ & STTNG before getting my hands on the real tables.
Figured out I needed to turn UAC off and hey presto.
Got to say, I wasn't expecting much, but was gobsmacked how good some VP tables are.
Having spent all day on 60+ real pins on Saturday, i came home, and downloaded all my favourite tables from the day.
VP nailed the feel of the real tables more accurately in difficulty terms.
Eg Black Knight is running the genuine rom, and doesn't have glitches in collision detection that my Android version has.
I'm really impressed with this. What it lacks in polish, it makes up for in accuracy of feel.
Still learning on this, but already love Grioni's TZ. All the Jpsalas tables I've tried are amazing!
I might have found my alternative to xbox dlc.

Sorry for the off topic, but I'd go option 2 if asked to choose, re initial question.

 

[Adam]

Option 1. I really just want Creature from the Black Lagoon. I can wait longer for all the other tables as long as I have that.

 

[Carl Spiby]

Option 2 here.