Pinball FX | Is It Way Too Expensive OR The Best Value in Gaming?
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- Опубликовано: 13 фев 2024
- Pinball FX is one of my favorite games or from another perspective it's 120 of my favorite games but is it really worth $468?
Thank You BlahCade Pinball Podcast for the comment and the compliment
• BlahCade Pinball # 269...
^ The episode referenced in the video with the C.O.O. of Zen Studios
***********The Many Talented Mr. Jefferson************ 
Игры
Excellently researched, and nicely articulated. Well done,sir. Tip of the hat 🎩
Great video here! I'm definitely on the side that Pinball FX/M is actually some of the greatest value in gaming. I'm going to be dumping countless hours into all these tables over the next several years at least, so a $200-300 outlay is not remotely unreasonable. I actually bought them all without any sales, just because I love digital pinball and want to support the product as best I can. Zen is pretty much the only mainstream company providing commercial-level digital pinball these days, and I want them to keep it up as long as possible.
One addendum, to FX3 owners, is the Legacy Bundles that are provided on Steam. Most of these have a 50% starting discount and will stack at any point during a sales event, so you can see them discounted as far as 83%. For the upgrade, especially at that cost, it's an absolute steal.
This video hits all the nails right on the head. Pinball FX isn't perfect, and it certainly had its bumps on the road. I've had my fair share of critiques as well, in other areas.
Here's for a successful year 2 and beyond.
Good shout.
The only tables I don't own are the Pinball FX3 duplicates which aren't a part of the current sale but since I already own every Pinball FX version of those tables they should be super cheap when they do go on sale.
The amount of hours you can put into each table for the price is just unbeatable. I have all the tables on pinball FX3, FX, M and star wars pinball as well as all the Pinball arcade and stern pinball arcade tables and all the Zaccaria pinball tables and demon tilt all on my switch. I know it's the weakest system but I can play on the go with the flip grip on the switch or place it in the dock mounted to my AtGames legends pinball machine to continue playing at home. That's over 250 tables to play any time and they have more than paid for themselves over the years
I have a decent PC but I can't get Pinball Arcade to work properly for the life of me. It moves at 1/4th speed for me at best.
Xenotilt and Demon's Tilt are amazing tables, especially for the switch because they don't look like they take too much processing power making them ideal tables for a handheld.
You've gotten me re-addicted to pinball again
My best pinball so far is Rollers of the Realm
I am immediately reminded of Early Access, and the laborious amount of number crunching that I did regarding the often-maligned at the time “Tickets system”, which you may or may not have seen floating around as a Google Doc somewhere on Reddit early last year.
Pinball FX was supposed to use a model similar to live-service titles where rather than buying tables outright, you were instead (outside of exceptions like Indiana Jones) buying currency (Tickets or currently called Pinball Coins) to buy tables, either individually, or adding them in a cart. There was also an automated system that slashed the price on a per table basis; say you bought any 10 tables, say they were 5 Williams, & 5 Star Wars tables at 45 Pinball Coins each for example: You would receive a 26% off quantity discount, and an additional 10% percent brand discount because you also wanted to buy 3 or more tables from a brand, (that obviously had more than 3 tables) that would turn the equivalent of $45 to about $32 (not including any other sale taking place). In addition to that because the game was also going to be cross-platform with said purchases, this meant it was a one & done, meaning if you wanted to play on more than one platform, (say PC, in addition to PS5, whilst moving to Xbox Series X) you don’t need to repeat the same purchases twice or thrice. It wasn’t perfect, I feel like the existence of Premium Collectables would had off-loaded leftover coins, but it felt like Zen threw the baby out with the bathwater while buying new clothes for it at the same time. When the model was changed to what it is now due to backlash.
People vehemently hated that system at the time because of the changes, people hated premium currencies, and were panicked about DRM, ownership and the fear of the service shutting down. When it was changed to what we now know, some foolishly believe it was the change was “adding more options” (while Steam kinda did this it's not the same everywhere else), anytime some people like me try to argue in defense to this model sometimes are met with people arguing how it would hurt Zen’s bottomline, argue about it being a moot point early adopters scam, (though the Founder’s Form might have something to say about it) or the blunt “Shut up, cope & seethe, and enjoy some great pinball”. In short; the backlash was understandable, but fickle, and somewhat hurt the game in the long run.
I play the game casually, I bought 2 years worth of Pinball Pass that is set to expire in December of this year. I had been buying tables when they were on sale, but it’s what’s on Switch, and not what I already bought on Epic Games during Early Access, that happens to be on sale. Outside of pre-resequite Pin-Hall collectables, I don’t feel incentivised to play online events, or even the questlines. I kinda look at a game that’s very aimless in direction and inconsistent in design. (I know that sounds hyperbolic, but that’s just my opinion.) I feel like making Pinball Coins a prize for completing events, offering tables in-game, or adding cosmetics to Balls, Ball Trails, & Flippers ala Pinball M, (which the game itself feels kinda pointless similar to what Stern Pinball Arcade was to The Pinball Arcade, with it’s table line-up philosophy, and eventual backporting) would make me a little more invested.
I'm new to this and still only have the free table (Fishtales) but the reason I'm interested in this is because of the real tables like Indiana Jones, Getaway and Adams Family. So I originally downloaded FX3 on xbox series X and played Fishtales and was going to get the tables I mentioned but they are too expensive IMO for a casual player, so I'm still playing just Fishtales.
I did download FX Pinball and tried it out, but the graphics are a little worse on this and most of the tables are more expensive then fx3, so its hard to know which one to get or to know why they needed to change the engine when FX3 looks amazing already, but I know newer games aren't coming out anymore on that version right?
FX3 is a totally different game engine so I do not expect them to make any new tables for it.
I have heard FX looks worse than FX3 on Xbox Series X. I play on PC and I think it looks fantastic. Pinball FX has 3 free tables and you can still claim the Super League Football table on PC right now making it a 4th free table. I will be hosting weekly Pinball FX tournaments soon as part of a podcast I'm hosting so there are 2 good reasons to download FX, there are 2 other free tables included with the base game and it's cross platform so you would be able to join those tournaments when they start happening.
I believe there are 3 more Williams tables coming at the end of the year too for Pinball FX.
@@JeffersonRedeyes but I only have a Xbox and don't like PC's, I've always been a console fan 😁. I've never been a big pinball fan but played a couple at places growing up to pass the time and was hoping just to play these only. I tried some Zen ones when I owned either the xbox 360 or PS4 and I really didn't like them, but I love the Fishtales game (because I remember playing this one a few times as a kid) and im sure I would enjoy the other real life ones also.
I was going through the different ones on Xbox and they also have one called Stern Pinball. It doesn't look too good and the graphics aren't good but it has another 2 games I remember, The Last Action Hero and ACDC. Does FX have the licence for these games by anychance?
Also, if you are on PC, why don't you just play Visual pinball? I heard this is a really good emulator and thst way can play any real life game. I was searching for a way to play Indiana Jones pinball and came across this.
@@johnmiceter I haven't messed around with Visual Pinball at all but it has been recommended to me. I just don't feel like figuring out how it works just now.
Pinball FX does not have any Stern Tables. It looks like Farsight Studios has those licenses BUT Farsight used to have the Williams licenses for Pinball Arcade before they wound up moving those tables to Pinball FX so it may be possible Stern might eventually move over too. Pinball Arcade runs terribly on my PC and I'm pretty sure Stern Pinball did too.
Zaccaria has their own pinball platform too and that one actually runs decently so that's where you'll find those tables.
@@JeffersonRedeyes ok thanks for that. If I had a PC I reckon I would try that visual pinball that way I could have all the games I like in one, but being a emulator, maybe you get glitches. But overall being on Xbox, you would recommend FX Pinball and not FX3? I looked and couldn't even see Adams Family on that one, but Getaway and Indiana Jones are both on fx3.
@@johnmiceter Visual Pinball is not like a video game, it's a tool like a video editor and it needs to be configured and you need to work a lot harder to get it to do what you want. It's not like buying a DLC for Pinball FX. There are a number of real world tables I want to look at but there is something like 140 unique tables across FX3, FX and Pinball M and I have barely played half of them. Eventually the new podcast I'm starting will talk more about physical tables like the Godzilla table one of the other hosts has access to and I will want to learn how to use Visual Pinball so I can experience those tables we're talking about but I have more tables than I can handle at the moment and I haven't even played Xenotilt or Demon's Tilt in months and I absolutely love those games.
FX has Adams Family, Getaway and Indiana Jones. I cannot make a recommendation on FX vs FX3 on Xbox because I do not have a console, all I know about the console versions comes from comments on my pinball videos.
Can you maybe do a review on the best and worst maps in order for pinball fx sorry if you already made one I couldn’t find it
I had been considering doing that but I don't feel like I've experienced the tables enough yet but then again I could speak from a relative newcomers point of view which might have it's own value.
I'm currently working on reviews for the free tables and I think I might do a top 10 list. There is only one table on the worst list and it's garfield which suck because I'm literally about to play that table to get my friends list high score back
Great video Geoff, you should turn down the volume a bit more on the game in future videos. I found it really distracting and hard to hear you with hearing two voices at once in many parts of the video.
Marvel pack 1 currently £6.99 which is great value. I'll buy (re buy) all the fx3 stuff I already own when on sale. They DO need to fix the pinball m thing. The free table on pinball M should be free on fx if its allowed to be on both platforms
JefferBall shows his Pinball Prowess.
Shodan wasn't inspired by max headrum, It was inspired by an old horror anthology called "Nightmares"
Correction,
System Shock the game was inspired by Nightmares but the Bishop of Battle lacked the distinctive AI audio glitching and personality that Shodan is best known for and those elements can be traced directly back to the stuttering, manipulative and slightly sinister Max Headroom who was based off late night talk show hosts.
While the bishop's of battle and Shodan's faces look somewhat similar I believe that comes down to pretty much any face drawn in vector graphics in that era was going to look similar and probably be that particular shade of green and the fact is that the bishop's face looks a lot like the Master Control Program from Tron which came out a year earlier than Nightmares and who also lacked the distinct audio glitching that can be traced back to Max Headroom.
people have to be right and bitch...or think they are right about everything...no humility any more. I think Pinball FX is amazing, and created by amazing talented people. I love playing it, and I buy what I want. They don't force anyone to make so many purchases. This is an updated game...don't like it, play the old game. I think this is the best pinball simulator ever. I play on PS5.
I have seen people complain about Super League Football which was a free table and is a really good one too. It has some bugs that's I've run into but still... free table.
Psvr2 please 😂
Get them on sale, amazing tables and well worth it
Just get a pc and pirate the whole thing for free and get everything😂
Sure, if you want the whole thing to die. Pinball FX is a live service, it requires upkeep which generates expenses.
No income = no game and no new tables. Support the the things you want to exist.
Better than spending 4K-10k on a physical table and only having 1 game lol.
For the love of god I can't believe I didn't make that comparison....
There's one problem with that, though. You can't ever beat the feeling of the real mechanics.
@@pinballwiz45b I suppose that is a problem but I never claimed they were better than real machines.
However the big caveat is, machines cost thousands of dollars, need maintenance, take up a ton of space, any budling named "arcade" these days is more likely to have slots, video poker than pinball tables, and the tables cost per play, virtual pinball has made huge strides in VR gameplay and virtual tables now exist which are a physical machine using a virtual playfield so the same machine can act as multiple tables in one but yes, if you happen to be lucky enough to live near a place like the pinball hall of fame in Chattanooga, TN then you should totally play the machines there because virtual pinball can't compare to the thing it's mimicking. However the same $20 you would pay for the entrance fee spent on Pinball FX would net you about 15 tables which you would own and have access to in your home to play indefinitely. That's still a superior value if not a superior experience but you really shouldn't be expecting lobster and fillet minion when you go to a cheap buffet.
The 15 tables thing isn't hyperbole either, one of of my friends who I just got back into pinball literally spent $20 on 15 FX tables this week.
@@JeffersonRedeyesexcellent point and examples! Yes, physical is a much more in-depth feeling, the solenoid, the lights, the amazing engineering behind such an incredible machine. Personally, Pinball FX gives me the perfect pinball scratch when I am craving pinball until I get the ability to go to a pinball arcade/bar which is unfortunately 1 hour plus drive from me.
It’s funny because playing the Williams tables on FX and learning the modes, has helped me significantly score much higher when I get the chance to play the physical tables.
Dude you don’t have to do the RUclips voice, your audience aren’t children.
First off, that's my normal reading voice. I stream live so you can tell it's not far off from my normal voice but I script and I speak differently when reading as does literally everyone else ever. I'm not a voice actor, I couldn't change my vocals very much even if I was trying to but my focus is mainly on enunciating so I can be clearly understood clearly over the background sounds in the video and not stuttering or coughing because I have terrible sinuses which might be a contributing factor to whatever you call a "youtube voice" but the fact is that most of my videos have edits mid sentence and are stitched together in odd places between words because of a cough and what people call a RUclips voice is often the result of reading a script which will very understandably change a person's speaking cadence because it's a totally different activity from holding a conversation which is what I do live when interacting with chat. One is "read and and recite" action, the other is a "read and respond" action which are fundamentally different activities.
Second, statistically speaking some of my audience are children. I don't know why the voice I speak with would be any more or less appealing to children because from my understanding they tend to be drawn to higher pitched vocals like on SpongeBob or My Little pony which are actually trying to appeal to children. I don't even particularly like being around children, the demographic I'm aiming for is 25 and older and I'm not exactly making Fortnite and Minecraft videos here; I'm making videos and tutorials about a hobby that was already old when I was a kid but I expect there might be some appeal to some younger individuals who discovered the hobby but that's an outlier and not the core demographic. At any rate clearly communicating is first and foremost on my mind but in the future I'll try to mumble a bit more just for you.
You own the tables until zen loses the licences or goes bankrupt as happened with Farsight studios(who made more accurate tables)
Oh you're talking about Fairlight Studios makers of Pinball Arcade which I own and runs like total dogass on the same PC that I use to play Pinball FX.
The UI outright sucks, the game runs about about 1/4th the speed it should on a PC that can run much more demanding games with no problem and I'm having a real problem finding any game updates that weren't new table releases. I wouldn't be able to tell you how accurate the tables on Pinball Arcade are because the game flatly doesn't work for me and if I was Williams you're damn right I'd yank the license for my tables from a game this janky and put them on a platform that at least runs smoothly.
Meanwhile Embracer lost 100 million on Saint's Row, it cost them a 2 billion dollar investment, Zen studios had at least 3 rounds of layoffs due to a game they didn't even make and just got sold off to Saber Interactive and what is the big news this week? UI updates, prioritizing table fixes and 4 great new table announcements. No wonder they have the Williams/Balley licenses.
I felt like I might be being unfair to Pinball Arcade and I downloaded it again and I was right, I was being unfair. It actually runs at about 1/8th the speed it should be and if it ain't working now, it wasn't working back when they had those licensing agreements. Pinball Arcade made their products look bad, that's why Williams pulled out.
Fake news, I still have ALL my FX2, FX3, and TPA tables.
I think overall Pinball FX is great value but having to re buy the tables is and always will be bulshit. The "visual uogrades" and physics changes are part of the new platform anyway, more or less nothing has been done to change the tables themselves.
On the other hand, physics changes can influence how one plays the game. Shots that were once considered safe can now be dangerous to aim for, for example.
Does the non transfer of tables hurt or help the developer? the fact that my purchases didnt transfer over guarantees i will never play the game again. and I wonder how many others feel the same way? sure you made a couple extra bucks, but you also shrunk your fan base
Let me weigh the options here
on one hand you can give away the licensed tables, not make any money for the license holders and risk alienating those licenses holders the way that Pinball Arcade lost like 40 Williams tables they can no longer sell which would probably kill Pinball FX completely
OR
You can sell those tables again generating revenue to pay your employees who converted those tables to a new engine, new revenue to invest in new table designs, generating revenue for license holders like Disney whose marvel and Star Wars tables make up at least 50% of the game's content but the result is you alienate a couple of fans who bought the tables on an older out of date version of the game and refuse to upgrade
I know I'd go with the option that doesn't cost me my business. Customers will always find something to complain about but you can't sell Spiderman without Disney's approval and they like money so while I appreciate that you literally want Zen to make a move that would most likely result in the total destruction of their business I think I'd prefer the option where Zen can continue to exist and create more tables I can play but that's just me.
Pinball M and this game got me back into pinball, I even bought an atgames pinball legends because of it. I don't understand why people this its expensive to buy these tables over again I had hours of fun with the free tables only and most packs go on sale frequently.