Stern Pinball Arcade first impressions

[EldarOfSuburbia]

not sure it is "Convinience" when you can not control a ball/table and trying to watch over small display. and it is not a game which is harder - it is just uncomfortable and have physics which even less real.
but any way - it was rhetorical question, i know every pros and cons of mobile and pc versions.

I can't take my PC on vacation with me. I also consider "gaming laptop" to be a hilarious oxymoron. A lot of tablet players have controllers; there are even controllers small enough for a keychain.

Sent from my SM-T710 using Tapatalk

 

[Heretic]

who you callin a oxi moron ive never taken hillbilly heroin in my life! but my rant on the whys of laptop buying would need a thread and a few essays

 

[tyche]

I tried it on ps4 yesterday. Maybe my tv has worse input lag than I thought but other games including shooters I have no timing issues with. This game, I'm pushing the flipper button when the ball is in the middle of the playfield and I still miss it. It felt like I was lifting 50lbs weights to flip. Just terrible response time and unplayable for me. I am really excited to get some of the modern Sterns and will happily buy them for iOS.

 

[dtown8532]

No lag here but I never had that issue in TPA like I've heard others have. I have a seven year old 720p Panasonic Plasma.

 

[Crunchewy]

There is a little lag I think but it's not bad for me on PS4. Star Trek is real fun in spite of it being dark. So far I'm happy enough with the purchase.

 

[Trackball]

So, to make sure my ears weren't deceiving me, I got Last Action Hero on Visual Pinball, so I could compare and contrast the music and sound without the mechanical noises getting in the way.

Holy cow, you guys were right--it DOES sound really different there. The main theme is still recognizable as AC/DC's Big Gun, but the instrumentation is so different than what we hear in TPA.

Is there some audio incompatibility issue with the emulators used in TPA and SPA, making both of them sound different from the real thing? I don't understand.
It can't be licensing--we have the AC/DC license now...unless, maybe it was only for the 12 songs used in their machine, not Big Gun.

I have my doubts there, because the high-score theme is EXACTLY the way it's heard in TPA...but not SPA, which uses a different one that doesn't sound like a chiptune.
It's like it came straight from the movie soundtrack. It's hard to explain.

Either way, I owe you guys an apology. It is different. You were right, I was wrong. I'm sorry.

 

[HotHamBoy]

Seriously - are you not entertained?
SPA is a fun game. For $40 I got 10 pinball tables. I can now play Star Trek anytime I want.
I can finally learn the rules for ac/Dc and develop a coherent strategy for next time I play it in a tournament.

Sending positive thoughts for a PSVR add on so I can look around the table and maybe actually see the rollovers behind the car toy on mustang

A lot of us already own 7 out of 10 of those tables on TPA and SPA doesn't improve them.

Of course it's nice to have something rather nothing, but this is lacking features and is not up to quality standards.

We previously got ~18 tables for $30. Then 10 tables for $30. For those of us who have dutifully kept up with TPA, we are now looking at 3 tables for $30. I would be sort of okay with that if the software wasn't so lacking in features and presentation.

 

[Trackball]

We previously got ~18 tables for $30. Then 10 tables for $30. For those of us who have dutifully kept up with TPA, we are now looking at 3 tables for $30. I would be sort of okay with that if the software wasn't so lacking in features and presentation.

I don't care if it's one table for $50. It's still preferable to paying upwards of $8,500 for a real, physical machine--twice that if it's Cirqus Voltaire.

The nearest place with more than one pinball machine (and is not a private residence) is an hour's drive from my house. I have to keep things in perspective.

I do wish there was a Pro Menu, though...but beggars can't be choosers.

 

[dtown8532]

So, to make sure my ears weren't deceiving me, I got Last Action Hero on Visual Pinball, so I could compare and contrast the music and sound without the mechanical noises getting in the way.

Holy cow, you guys were right--it DOES sound really different there. The main theme is still recognizable as AC/DC's Big Gun, but the instrumentation is so different than what we hear in TPA.

Is there some audio incompatibility issue with the emulators used in TPA and SPA, making both of them sound different from the real thing? I don't understand.
It can't be licensing--we have the AC/DC license now...unless, maybe it was only for the 12 songs used in their machine, not Big Gun.

I have my doubts there, because the high-score theme is EXACTLY the way it's heard in TPA...but not SPA, which uses a different one that doesn't sound like a chiptune.
It's like it came straight from the movie soundtrack. It's hard to explain.

Either way, I owe you guys an apology. It is different. You were right, I was wrong. I'm sorry.

I emailed FarSight when LAH came out. Their response was that they didn't have the AC/DC license. Why it's still that way now that they have if for Stern's AC/DC, I don't know.

 

[kaworu]

I don't care if it's one table for $50. It's still preferable to paying upwards of $8,500 for a real, physical machine--twice that if it's Cirqus Voltaire.

may be we should stop doing stupid things like comparing prices of real things with digital games? because 1. they give completely different experience, 2. how about auto simulators like forza - may be you would be agree to pay 100$ for each car in dlc because it is still 1000 times less than real one?

 

[kaworu]

Star Trek is real fun in spite of it being dark.

Star Trek have HUGELY messed Klingon MB feature. and other tables have their own problems - just look in master issue list on forum.

 

[Trackball]

may be we should stop doing stupid things like comparing prices of real things with digital games? because 1. they give completely different experience, 2. how about auto simulators like forza - may be you would be agree to pay 100$ for each car in dlc because it is still 1000 times less than real one?

You can find cars anywhere.
You have to use pinballmap.com to find a pinball machine.

 

[kaworu]

You can find cars anywhere.
You have to use pinballmap.com to find a pinball machine.

strange argument. you cant drive lamborghini even if you will find one until you'll buy it.

 

[PeacemakerPIN]

Star Trek have HUGELY messed Klingon MB feature. and other tables have their own problems - just look in master issue list on forum.

Star Trek halfway looks like the real thing with it's lighting setup

It's weird though, Farsight has nailed the look of other tables like T2, Addams Family, and F-14 Tomcat.

Star Trek could also uses more reflections, but I wonder if that might effect performance. (Shouldn't be a problem for PC though)

 

[kaworu]

Star Trek halfway looks like the real thing with it's lighting setup F

It's weird though, Farsight has nailed the look of other tables like T2, Addams Family, and F-14 Tomcat.

on its start T2 had purple skull (and here were loooot talking about there), TAF has changed art of fester on playfield (because they did not can deal for actor's likeness), F-14 had no many visual issues, but it could not registered 250K WG sooo long and it affected me so much what i just cant forget and forgive that.

 

[HotHamBoy]

I don't care if it's one table for $50. It's still preferable to paying upwards of $8,500 for a real, physical machine--twice that if it's Cirqus Voltaire.

The nearest place with more than one pinball machine (and is not a private residence) is an hour's drive from my house. I have to keep things in perspective.

I do wish there was a Pro Menu, though...but beggars can't be choosers.

$8,500 for a real, physical machine that provides an experience that digital pinball doesn't even come close to providing. We all play digital pinball because it's fun for what it is and it gives us a taste of the game. It is by no means a replacement for real pinball. I'm never going to choose to play the digital verson of a game over the real thing.

You cannot judge the value of a digital pinball game by the same standard that you judge the value of a real pinball machine. That's just silly. That's like saying a $10 Ferarri DLC in a racing game is a good value because a real Ferarri costs $200,000.

Likewise, you cannot give a product a free pass on criticism just because there are no competitors.

Edit: lol, I didn't realize that kaworu made the same car comparison. Trackball, I'm glad you are happy, but a lot of us aren't so complacent.

 

[ShakinRaven]

I'm happy with it all around...despite some of the flaws and issues.

I for one have only been able to play broken and nearly unplayable versions of Star Trek, as Pinball PA doesn't have it in their collection. For me its pretty awesome to get to know the modes and rule set, in the unlikely event that I come across one in the near vicinity.

AC/DC...not really my cup of tea, but I enjoy it. I still don't get Mustang, nor did I even know it existed until this release, so far for me at least its been MEH.

I did buy both bundles for the sake of buying both bundles, so far the 40.00 has been worth Star Trek...10 fold. Would have paid more for just that table....and the upcoming Ghostbusters.

CHEERS!!!

 

[HotHamBoy]

The ball has a little more weight and a little more bounce around the flippers, right? Just judging from Frankenstein. It's pretty subtle.

Very disappointed in the lack of demos, especially considering the price and the fact that the tables are already downloaded to your system. It was the same for the Gear VR version but I was hoping the console version would have them. I don't like gambling with Farsight's quality control.

 

[Stemage]

Hey kids,

I just did an interview on a podcast with Farsight re: SPA. It should be going up in the next few days, and I'll link it here. We covered a lot. A few notes for you guys now though:

- lighting features and adjustments (via sliders) are coming in the next patch for SPA
- Pricing of AC/DC was a mistake. Should be fixed today/tmrw
- They are not changing the schedule of TPA tables to account for the new Stern pipeline
- Stern code rollouts on physical machines will make its way to SPA swiftly re: newer machines
- They have about five newer Stern tables in the office now that they are working on (no specifics on which ones)
- The disc version of the game has nothing different than what the bundles contain. So you can buy both bundles OR the disc and get the same stuff.

Tata for now.

 

[Xanija]

- lighting features and adjustments (via sliders) are coming in the next patch for SPA

Very important.

- The disc version of the game has nothing different than what the bundles contain. So you can buy both bundles OR the disc and get the same stuff.

Which is interesting, as it says 'Exclusive "Star Trek" and "Back in Black" & "Let there be Rock" Limited Editions' included on the package picture, while the PS4 shop has the Premium Editions.