The Humble Weekly Sale: Zen Studios

[Fungi]

I didn't think I was either but I did a complete 180 pretty much. I bought the bundle thinking, eh, why not, at worst it's more pinball, how bad is that? Ended up really liking a couple of the tables so it was a pleasant surprise. I'm more prone to buy the pack since its more tables at a slightly higher discount. I suspect the X-men table will be decent. As for FF adjectives... How about... Fa.. bulous?

The X-Men table IS decent. I bought it for the 360 but have yet for the PC, due to the fact that I'm not so big a fan of the rest of the pack. Then again, at $5, why not? That's what I pay for TPA packs. Alright, you talked me into it. Sheesh.

 

[Jeff Strong]

Bookmarked the link too. Thanks Espy.

So what's the deal with Agent, Buccaneer, Extreme, Nightmare Mansion, Rocky & Bullwinkle, and Speed Machine? Do they suck and that's why they haven't been released? I've only ever played on PS3 and now PC, so these are new to me. I know for me, tables like Street Fighter and Ninja Gaiden are absolutely horrific for me to look at, and some of these listed look similarly blah.

Rocky & Bullwinkle is actually one of my favorites because it actually feels the most like a real pin. Seems harder than a lot of the others too.

 

[Tabe]

I think Sorcerer's Lair is the closest to a real pin of the Zen tables. I have a PS3 so Rocky & Bullwinkle and others like that aren't available to me. But Socererer's Lair is and it's awesome. It's easy but it everything on it could easily be done in real life.

 

[Xanija]

There's a steam sale happening now, PBFX2 tables are 50% off. Thinking about rounding out the Marvel tables.

As always with steam sales: Wait until the last day (Dec 3rd in this case) before purchasing. Games which are discounted for the whole period might come into a flash sale or into a 24 hours offer during that time with an even higher discount. This has happened during other sales frequently.

 

[shogun00]

Zen do actually host in depth PDF guides to their table. Not sure if they're made by a fan or a staff member, but they certainly do the job. Only thing is they don't come out the same time as the table, you can see the most recent SW tables don't have guides yet.

They are made by members and approved by Zen. The Balance of the Force guides should be up in the first week of December from chatting with STTC. Also, the early Marvel Pinball guides (Blade, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Iron Man and Fantastic Four) will be getting updated soon. The current ones are incomplete.

The reason why Zen doesn't make in-depth table guides is because most of the table designers don't know a lick of English. Zen Studios is located in Hungary with a small branch in US (only 3 people) to handle sales, marketing and CS to the English speaking crowd.

 

[netizen]

Bookmarked the link too. Thanks Espy.

So what's the deal with Agent, Buccaneer, Extreme, Nightmare Mansion, Rocky & Bullwinkle, and Speed Machine? Do they suck and that's why they haven't been released? I've only ever played on PS3 and now PC, so these are new to me. I know for me, tables like Street Fighter and Ninja Gaiden are absolutely horrific for me to look at, and some of these listed look similarly blah.

ZEN doesn't own the rights to those tables. Their publisher was Microsoft, and they likely sold their rights to get enough dosh to do PBFX2, plus they have an exclusivity contract for certain releases to go to certain platforms. Look at the re-releases and how they are trickling them out to mobile, but flooding them out to steam, where they are still being published by Microsoft.

I asked their support team about this via an email and that was their answer, but the support team via the forums will not ever admit it.

 

[jkonami]

As always with steam sales: Wait until the last day (Dec 3rd in this case) before purchasing. Games which are discounted for the whole period might come into a flash sale or into a 24 hours offer during that time with an even higher discount. This has happened during other sales frequently.

Of course, I always do. Like I said, just thinking on it and I love just getting opinions on the tables. I am a little doubtful PBFX2 will make a daily or flash sale, though.

I Was watching Green Lantern again tonight with my girlfriend, and even though it's not the movie I hoped it would be, I'd love to get some DC tables. How well would a Batman table sell? They should work on getting those rights..

 

[Espy]

Should I get the Vengeance and Virtue pack (Thor, Moon Knight, Ghost Rider, X-men) for $4.99 or get Captain America, Fantastic Four, and Civil War for $1.49 each? Civil War probably interests me the most but I plan to get all of them eventually. Not terribly interested in Star Wars or Ms. Splosion Man.

I would say Vengeance & Virtue. Captain America and Fantastic Four are more in line with the core Marvel pack in terms of complexity, Civil War and Vengeance & Virtue are more in line with Avengers Chronicles. Long story short, V&V and Civil War are more complex, the other two are a bit more basic. But Fantastic Four has amazing flow.

 

[superballs]

I think Sorcerer's Lair is the closest to a real pin of the Zen tables. I have a PS3 so Rocky & Bullwinkle and others like that aren't available to me. But Socererer's Lair is and it's awesome. It's easy but it everything on it could easily be done in real life.

I love the whole concept of Sorcerer's Lair along with the multi game advancement.

Wolverine is an awesome table and I can really buy into the animated action outside the pinball itself. Spiderman has some really cool ramps going on but i don't know the table worth crap.

 

[Espy]

I love the whole concept of Sorcerer's Lair along with the multi game advancement.

Wolverine is an awesome table and I can really buy into the animated action outside the pinball itself. Spiderman has some really cool ramps going on but i don't know the table worth crap.

Spider-man is very easy, just learn how to activate and beat the four villains (of which J Jonah Jameson is one, hah) and you can get on a roll with it. It's a very easy table, too. I can easily get a game of over half an hour on it.