TPA on Wii-U is officially dead?

[StarDust4Ever]

No updates since day one 2016. No PAL version at all.

I spent $120 for the first 4 seasons. Half of season 5. No season pass.

I backed the Dr Who table on Kickstarter for Wii-U option. My backer reward remains unfulfilled.

No cross buy for switch. No evidence that a Switch version will ever come.

Season 7 started today. Paragon is an awesome table, but I fear I won't ever be able to play it. What happened to the rest of season 5?

Disappointed Farsight. Very disappointed.

I got fooled on Ouya, fooled on Wii-U. You won't fool me again.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I am done.

Goodbye. Much as I'd love to support you on a third platform, I just don't see that happening. Is it so much to ask to simply support the consoles you claim to support on the site? Outside of mobile and PC, it's like you do not care.

Anyone else who supported the Wii-U version only to see it die a slow death, also feeling burned by Farsight? If so, post below...

 

[rehtroboi40]

No updates since day one 2016. No PAL version at all.

I spent $120 for the first 4 seasons. Half of season 5. No season pass.

I backed the Dr Who table on Kickstarter for Wii-U option. My backer reward remains unfulfilled.

No cross buy for switch. No evidence that a Switch version will ever come.

Season 7 started today. Paragon is an awesome table, but I fear I won't ever be able to play it. What happened to the rest of season 5?

Disappointed Farsight. Very disappointed.

I got fooled on Ouya, fooled on Wii-U. You won't fool me again.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I am done.

Goodbye. Much as I'd love to support you on a third platform, I just don't see that happening. Is it so much to ask to simply support the consoles you claim to support on the site? Outside of mobile and PC, it's like you do not care.

Anyone else who supported the Wii-U version only to see it die a slow death, also feeling burned by Farsight? If so, post below...

You are really missing out on all of the new bugs FarSight keeps introducing with each update.

Seriously, I bought the XBox 360 version on day one, and each of the first three packs on their first day of availability. Then Crave went out of business and FarSight could no longer bring TPA to the 360 without a publisher. They spent the next couple of years lying about finding a publisher and claiming updates were coming soon, when there would be no update until May of 2015 (the last one). I almost went and got an Ouya because of this.

Seriously, FarSight needs to decide exactly which platforms they are going to support. Zaccaria is doing just that, with just iOS, Android, and PC versions of their pinball app. Although Zaccaria pinball is janky as heck, at least there's a continuous stream of support and updates make actual improvements.

But don't worry, you're not missing much from SPA either. Last update on steam was back in December 2016. FarSight doesn't even touch that one-even with Stern lending their name to it.

 

[thefly0810]

But don't worry, you're not missing much from SPA either. Last update on steam was back in December 2016. FarSight doesn't even touch that one-even with Stern lending their name to it.

Do you think Stern looks back on this deal and thinks "You know, maybe FarSight wasn't the best option to go into business with..."

 

[rehtroboi40]

Do you think Stern looks back on this deal and thinks "You know, maybe FarSight wasn't the best option to go into business with..."

That would make sense. If I were running things, I'd be, at minimum, wondering what I got us all into.

I was simply trying to illustrate that WiiU owners were far from alone in their lack of support from FarSight. StarDust4Ever also mentioned the Ouya in his post. I mentioned SPA to illustrate how aloof FarSight seems to be with supporting their own programs. I mean, they did advertise TPA as being available on the WiiU and Xbox Live for many years before they were actually available-and now the 360 and WiiU get no support whatsoever. I doubt we'll see a Switch version-FarSight can't even keep up with the PS4 and XBox One. Should a TPA Switch announcement be made, hopefully owners won't have to wait four years for it like the WiiU owners did.

My WiiU Pinball Arcade "brown flag" is worn out from all of that waving.

 

[thefly0810]

I was more surprised that it was actually released on the WiiU than if it hadn't been released there at all. It was so late into the WiiU's sputtering life cycle, and with the confirmation of the next platform coming, I was shocked that it wasn't dropped and postponed to Nintendo's next console generation, which turned out to be the Switch. In hind sight, it probably would have been the better decision to make that "switch" in order to catch those earlier adopters, and taking advantage of the limited amount of launch titles. I understand why they didn't do it since no one knew what the next system was at the time, and even though it wasn't a huge success, the WiiU still had a 10-11 million install base.

 

[StarDust4Ever]

I was simply trying to illustrate that WiiU owners were far from alone in their lack of support from FarSight. StarDust4Ever also mentioned the Ouya in his post. I mentioned SPA to illustrate how aloof FarSight seems to be with supporting their own programs. I mean, they did advertise TPA as being available on the WiiU and Xbox Live for many years before they were actually available-and now the 360 and WiiU get no support whatsoever. I doubt we'll see a Switch version-FarSight can't even keep up with the PS4 and XBox One. Should a TPA Switch announcement be made, hopefully owners won't have to wait four years for it like the WiiU owners did.

My WiiU Pinball Arcade "brown flag" is worn out from all of that waving.

All excellent points. For the record, I still do not own an Android or iOS device, and IMHO touch screens lag horribly, so I'm better off with discrete inputs as from a game controller. That was one of the reasons why I jumped on board with Ouya when it first came out, and one of few reasons why I kept Ouya plugged in for so many years. And Razor Forge currently is just as dead as Ouya was IMO, so no reason upgrading, though presumably my Ouya purchases would carry over and give me access to updates.

PC won't due because sitting on the desktop to game is very uncomfortable. Also I don't own a steam account and I don't really like their "always online" DRM that comes with every software download. Your internet router kicks out, say goodbye to your games...

And there's hardly anything currently in the dearth of PS4/Xbox One that I could possibly want. I do own a PS3, but it's in it's twilight years now and I don't see much support going into the future.

It's just frustrating for any platform, to be promised updates and then buy all of the software only to get marooned or waiting for months with nothing while others are promised tables. I may not fit the cookie cutter definition of your stereotypical gamer, with my funds split between retro and modern platforms, but I love pinball and not having access to updates as I have in the past has been a bit tough to swallow.

Knowing what I know now, I may not have spent $120 on TPA the instant the Wii-U version went live had I known it would not get support. Even the ball textures like the 8-ball are still messed up.

My devices listed are Ouya and Wii-U of all things, two woefully undersupported devices. I was actually shocked at the frequency of updates to Ouya given it's abysmal install base, coupled with the fact that most owners never or rarely spent any money in the shop. Yet it, having the smallest install base of any device, got monthly updates while more popular platforms such as PSN / XBLA did not.

Maybe I am missing something. Perhaps with the endless rollout of tables and bugfixes, Farsight has too many platforms and too many tables to support given it's staff. I love the preservation work they have done, but the execution leaves a bad taste. Give me a reason to support you again, please.

 

[dtown8532]

Has FarSight ever officially announced that they were discontinuing support for a system? I don't remember that ever happening. It's like the person who quits their job by just not showing up to work anymore.

 

[rehtroboi40]

Has FarSight ever officially announced that they were discontinuing support for a system? I don't remember that ever happening. It's like the person who quits their job by just not showing up to work anymore.

That's the heart of the problem IMO. People who spend considerable amounts of money on an app only to be held in limbo on updates have every right to know what the situation is. I'm not sure at this point that FarSight completely expected to support TPA as long as has played out. I also believe they were caught off-guard by the sheer number of platforms people were willing to support TPA on, each one with different system architecture and rules for updates.

FarSight already seemed to be stretched way too thin by the number of platforms for TPA, and only made their problem worse with the ill-supported SPA. Something has got to give, and bluntly, I'm surprised that it hasn't happened yet.

I know what it's like to be burned in this manner. The XBox 360 was my initial console of choice for TPA. I respect anyone else who has been slighted in this manner, as I don't have money to burn either. If I did, I would have a much more powerful computer than I currently use for TPA, though it still works just fine IMO.

 

[yespage]

I can appreciate being disappointed with a system being left behind, but why would anyone think Farsight would automatically release Seasons 1 - 7 on the Switch?

 

[shogun00]

PC won't due because sitting on the desktop to game is very uncomfortable. Also I don't own a steam account and I don't really like their "always online" DRM that comes with every software download. Your internet router kicks out, say goodbye to your games...

You could do what I did. Buy a gaming laptop, hook it up to the TV via HDMI, and plug in a Xbox/PS controller into the USB port. I play TPA on the comfort of my own couch with an Xbox One controller.

As for Steam's DRM, it's not that bad. There's an offline mode and you only need to check into Steam once a month. In other words, you can do your monthly login and download the latest table at the same time.

 

[thefly0810]

Shogun - What kind of gaming laptop did you buy, out of curiosity for potential future purchase. Thanks

 

[shutyertrap]

I'm not here to slight your frustration. I do think it's slightly amusing though that you supported the 2 systems I think were most obviously destined to lack continued support. I wish FarSight would do what I just saw happen to my son playing Terraria on PS3; an announcement of one last patch to fix and stabilize as many bugs as possible, but support would no longer continue on the platform. Instead all their efforts would go towards PS4 / Xbox One with a massive update that among other things included the final boss. So yeah, the PS3 version won't even be complete! But at least he knows now, there's no wondering about the future.

We just had this massive fix done to TPA. If FarSight were to push out one final patch for PS3 and pull the plug on it before Season 7, do the same for other last gen systems, there'd be an outcry but at least people would know. Stringing people along I think almost is worse. Plus, it's not like there's still games being made for PS3 or 360, and sure as hell not for Wii-U. I don't think anybody, including FarSight, expected to be making this game all these years later. Lack of foresight for FarSight has made situations like this a bitter pill.

 

[thefly0810]

Plus, it's not like there's still games being made for PS3 or 360, and sure as hell not for Wii-U. I don't think anybody, including FarSight, expected to be making this game all these years later. Lack of foresight for FarSight has made situations like this a bitter pill.

I agree with your points about moving on. With Sony ceasing production on the PS3 and Nintendo with the WiiU, it makes sense. Yes, the writing has been on the wall for a while but it's on Farsight to be more upfront with their communication with their customers. And I really do feel bad for the customers that made the investment based on the pretense that their system of choice was going to be fully supported. Not everyone can afford to switch to another platform.
I think the thing that blows my mind the most with Farsight is that it's been over 5 years since TPA's initial release (Feb 9, 2012) and they have yet to figure out a way to adequately support multiple platforms. I think the credit goes more to their loyal customers sticking with them for as long as they have.

 

[shogun00]

Shogun - What kind of gaming laptop did you buy, out of curiosity for potential future purchase. Thanks

Although I call it a gaming laptop. It's just a Dell Inspiron 5559 (Intel i7 processor with 12GB of RAM). The graphics card is just a standard Intel HD card, but it behaves similar to a recently released Nvidia card. TPA works great on it and that's the Directx11 version.

I bought it last year at Office Max for $500 (normally $800).

 

[steven120566]

Back to Stardust's original post.

I have 3rd degree burns. Over a hundred bucks in the Wii U version.

All I asked for was a promised update featuring pro controller support on the WiiU and the fix for the lighting issues. That's it. When they acknowledged these two main issues, and said they were gonna fix them, it was right after the release and I was hopeful. I don't even care about new tables any more, just want to be able to PROPERLY play what I bought.

Now it's just 3rd degree burns. I like TPA but am no longer spending any money on tables because it's all going to Solarcaine

 

[Tann]

Yeah, Farsight could at least say: "We're done with old-gen platforms, support is discontinued at this date".

Blizzard did it with Diablo III-Reapers of Souls on PS3 and X360 and people knew what to expect when buying the game (i.e. nothing lol) on these platforms.

I'm on PS3, so in same boat than Wii-U owners.

It's like "Hey, buy our DLC stuff that we still release on PS3, and maybe there will be an update someday... But don't count on this. But who knows. Crossed fingers. Or not. By the way, did you buy our new DLC stuff?"

For my part, I consider TPA to be dead on PS3. I didn't purchase anything since season 4 last table and only play it from time to time (what's the point to compete in the leaderboards when there is now so much discrepancies between versions?).

If there's a final sayonara-mega-patch (with physics 3.0 goddamit!), I will go for season 5 and 6.

Otherwise, thanks Farsight for these years of great pinball entertainment and good luck for the future.

 

[FullTilt]

This was an unfortunate thing to happen to most WiiU titles. The console sold so badly they try to act like it never happened, which is just bad for business. I will admit, I have one that i barely played and when I tried to play some cross platform games on it they were ported badly and the controls were very confusing. Farsight and Nintendo really need to come to an agreement for how to handle this going forward, I don't think people spent more money on any one game for the WiiU then for Pinball Arcade.

 

[steven120566]

This was an unfortunate thing to happen to most WiiU titles. The console sold so badly they try to act like it never happened, which is just bad for business. I will admit, I have one that i barely played and when I tried to play some cross platform games on it they were ported badly and the controls were very confusing. Farsight and Nintendo really need to come to an agreement for how to handle this going forward, I don't think people spent more money on any one game for the WiiU then for Pinball Arcade.

Yeah, I guess that's why I feel they owe myself and others the update at least. I have never said the Wii U deserved endless new tables. If they want to stop putting tables out there on the system, that happens and I am OK. Then say "At this time the viability of the legacy systems Wii U, PS 3, and Xbox 360 will no longer continue to publish new tables these systems going forward. We will continue to support TPA on X, Y, Z, znd A, B, C platforms"

BUT you cannot skip THIS PART: They DID promise to fix the lighting and allow us to use the real controller to play. I get all the "problems" they have with overcommitment and what not. But every flawed release.....MUST have the severe flaws fixed. do the update, so our game works the way it was promised. Then say goodbye.

Farsight's work was brilliant, but I can live without it. If I felt thet they genuinely did care about supporting a product, I'd go with XBone and re-invest. But I don't believe IN THEM at this point. Make my Wii U investment complete and I would do that. But unless they do actually follow through, I have pretty much determined that (except for Steam/PC fans and players), TPA is glaringly unviable. They tried to be a console game, but they can only seem to afford to do any work on the steam version, or mobile. For some reason, and I think this is why people get ticked, they can't EVER admit that their resources are limited to support PC only. JUST. ADMIT. IT. Farsight. Please.