You know you're obsessed with Pinball Arcade when...

[Sean DonCarlos]

Pinball snobs! If its not got twenty modes and three multi balls its not worth their time

Nah, even that's passe. Now you have to have a scoring system like AC/DC's, where it takes a year and a half after release before anyone figures out how the progressive shot values work.

 

[Mark W**a]

 

[Sumez]

The important part of a scoring system is that it forces you to make a wide variety of shots if you want the big rewards, and make choices that offer risks vs. rewards.
I like really deep systems (or at least to the level of MB and RBION), but that doesn't mean they can't be easy to pick up and understand. In fact, they should be.

Of course, in the end, what really matters on a pinball table (a real one anyway, the feeling isn't quite as spot on on TPA tables which tend to feel a bit similar) is how the ball flows and how the shots feel.

 

[Mark W**a]

 

[Sumez]

Psycho Pinball was so much better than Dreams Also really loving the Crush/Crash series.

This video pinball, though, is one for the history books:

 

[StarDust4Ever]

Man, don't get me started on classic pinball sims. I started collecting cart versions of Pinball in 2012. My 8-bit pinball collection is complete and my 16-bit pinball collection is getting there:

Atari 2600:
Video Pinball
Midnight Magic
Bumper Bash (very rare)

NES:
Nintendo Pinball
Pinbot
High Speed
Rock n' Ball
RollerBall
Pinball Quest (RPG/Pinball hybrid)
Family Pinball (Famicom version of Rock n' Ball with Namco licenses)
Super Pinball (Famicom only)

SNES:
Super Pinball: Behind the Mask
Pinball Fantasies
Pinball Dreams

Genesis:
Virtual Pinball
Sonic Spinball
Crueball (Motley Crue theme)
Dragon's Fury
Dragon's Revenge

Wii Virtual Console TG-16:
Alien Crush
Devil's Crush

Wiiware:
Alien's Crush Returns

I'd love to get my hands on Psycho Pinball for the Genesis, but sadly it's PAL-only and I'm not going to mod my Genesis to get it to work. Maybe I'll import the cart when they release the Retron5.

PC:
3D Pinball collection by Sierra. 3 games in one. That was the game that spiked my interest in Pinball simulation back in the late 90's. The installer is broken on 64-bit Windows, but the main excecutables will work strait off the CD and you can copy the files to a directory and run them off the hard drive. For some reason, any attempts to enable "high quality" sound and video modes cause the app to crash, and full screen also doesn't work.

I'll need to pick up a copy of Microsoft Pinball Arcade as well (assuming there isn't any DRM or 16-bit installers preventing me from running it on Windows 8), since none of those tables are available on TPA.

 

[Sun Vulcan]

Man, don't get me started on classic pinball sims. I started collecting cart versions of Pinball in 2012. My 8-bit pinball collection is complete and my 16-bit pinball collection is getting there:

Atari 2600:
Video Pinball
Midnight Magic
Bumper Bash (very rare)

NES:
Nintendo Pinball
Pinbot
High Speed
Rock n' Ball
RollerBall
Pinball Quest (RPG/Pinball hybrid)
Family Pinball (Famicom version of Rock n' Ball with Namco licenses)
Super Pinball (Famicom only)

SNES:
Super Pinball: Behind the Mask
Pinball Fantasies
Pinball Dreams

Genesis:
Virtual Pinball
Sonic Spinball
Crueball (Motley Crue theme)
Dragon's Fury
Dragon's Revenge

Wii Virtual Console TG-16:
Alien Crush
Devil's Crush

Wiiware:
Alien's Crush Returns




I'd love to get my hands on Psycho Pinball for the Genesis, but sadly it's PAL-only and I'm not going to mod my Genesis to get it to work. Maybe I'll import the cart when they release the Retron5.

PC:
3D Pinball collection by Sierra. 3 games in one. That was the game that spiked my interest in Pinball simulation back in the late 90's. The installer is broken on 64-bit Windows, but the main excecutables will work strait off the CD and you can copy the files to a directory and run them off the hard drive. For some reason, any attempts to enable "high quality" sound and video modes cause the app to crash, and full screen also doesn't work.

I'll need to pick up a copy of Microsoft Pinball Arcade as well (assuming there isn't any DRM or 16-bit installers preventing me from running it on Windows 8), since none of those tables are available on TPA.

You should look into these games:

GBA:
Pokemon Pinball - Ruby & Sapphire
Sonic Pinball Party
Mario Pinball Land

DS:
Metroid Prime Pinball

PS1:
Kiss Pinball
Austin Powers Pinball

PC:
Balls of Steel

 

[Sumez]

Metroid Prime Pinball is supposedly really great, but I think that's from a non-typical pinball player perspective.

 

[Sumez]

I'd love to get my hands on Psycho Pinball for the Genesis, but sadly it's PAL-only and I'm not going to mod my Genesis to get it to work. Maybe I'll import the cart when they release the Retron5.

Why not? It's a really simple mod.
Are you sure the game is even region locked? A lot of Genesis games aren't, and the cart is one of those unofficial ones, so it sounds possible to me.

 

[StarDust4Ever]

Why not? It's a really simple mod.
Are you sure the game is even region locked? A lot of Genesis games aren't, and the cart is one of those unofficial ones, so it sounds possible to me.

I just did a quick Google search and found this:

Playing PAL Mega Drive games in NTSC (WIP)
Examples

Introduction (JUE switch, JPN cartridges (Golden Axe 3), Streets of Rage 2)
World cartridges (Sonic 1 & 2, Revenge of Shinobi, Lion King)
Region free (Psycho Pinball, Zero Wing, Pitfall)
Region locked but well-behaved (Rocket Knight Adventures, Mean Bean Machine, Sonic 3 & Knuckles)
Working but imperfect (Aladdin, Earthworm Jim 1 & 2, Eternal Champions)
Game Genie unlockable (Street Fighter II SCE, Maui Mallard, Shinobi III)
50 Hz optimized (Virtua Racing, Toejam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron)
Simply doesn't work (Comix Zone, Another World)

mdpal60

Instant buy on eBay from a UK dealer. Thanks, guys! The game should play super hardcore too, running it at 60Hz with 20% NTSC speedup.

You should look into these games:

GBA:
Pokemon Pinball - Ruby & Sapphire
Sonic Pinball Party
Mario Pinball Land

DS:
Metroid Prime Pinball

PS1:
Kiss Pinball
Austin Powers Pinball

PC:
Balls of Steel

Yeah I also have Mario Pinball GBA in my collection, as well as Metroid Prime Pinball w/ DS rumble pak. I'll have to hunt down Sonic Pinball Party as well. Pinball is such a niche genre yet most titles sell pretty well, so it's quite easy to rack up a complete set of Pinball themed games.

Goes without saying, I also own Gottlieb collection (Game Cube) and Williams Collection (Wii).

 

[Jim O'Brien]

I'd love to get my hands on Psycho Pinball for the Genesis, but sadly it's PAL-only and I'm not going to mod my Genesis to get it to work. Maybe I'll import the cart when they release the Retron5.

Can you use emulators on OUYA ? They have this game on GENPLUSDroid trying it right now on my Nexus 7.

 

[StarDust4Ever]

Can you use emulators on OUYA ? They have this game on GENPLUSDroid trying it right now on my Nexus 7.

I mainly bought the Ouya for playing Indie games. Emulators are just a bonus. I enjoy collecting carts, but emulators are great for super rare titles that can't be had for a reasonable price (EarthBound, for instance), as well as protos, hacks and homebrews. Actually, I also have flash carts to play ROMs on the original system too, and I support the original developers when possible by repurchasing games through licensed services like Wii/Wii-U virtual console. I don't have a issue with people who emulate discontinued systems and I often do it myself, but nothing beats real hardware if you have the time, money, and space to collect. In fact, retro gaming is usually far cheaper than modern gaming, with consoles selling for $50 or less and tons of games for $5 a pop. It's also good to keep an old CRT laying around for playing old systems on, and the only way to play lightgun games. It does get a little cluttered however if you've ever tried to hook up ten retro consoles to a single CRT TV. Owning and maintaining a real life pinball table, on the other hand, is something I simply can't afford atm.