Topic: Pinball Arcade loses the license for Bally and Williams tables...

[ejamer]

This is a pretty big blow for the Pinball Arcade games, and applies to all versions of the game.
If there are any Bally/Williams tables that you want, best to grab them before June 30th when the license expires.


Official announcement:
https://www.facebook.com/pinballarcade/posts/1791386990882353


List of games being removed:
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2018/05/08/pinball-arcade-loses-all-bally-and-williams-tables.aspx


I'm pretty bummed out about this and hadn't heard until just today - people probably talked about it and I just missed the article. Anyway, as a big pinball fan I generally enjoy recreations of real tables more than all digital ones (although both are good). There are about a half dozen tables on the list that I don't own yet but am keen to play... guess it's time to make some tough financial choices.


 

[broodwars]

Pretty much all the tables I kickstarted are going away.

I pretty much stopped paying attention to Pinball Arcade after Season 3 when they jacked up the price for tables (from $20 a season to $50 a season) & cut their table releases by 2/3 or more each season, but it was good while it lasted.

Shiny. Digital. Future. -_-

[ejamer]

Well, I don't have this.

And now you never will... 

Man, this still stings.  Even though I owned a bunch of tables, there were at least a dozen there I would've enjoyed playing and didn't get to before the licenses disappeared.

Still a good reminder to go enjoy what I've got though... Love some pinball action.

[broodwars]

Well, I don't have this.

And now you never will... 

Man, this still stings.  Even though I owned a bunch of tables, there were at least a dozen there I would've enjoyed playing and didn't get to before the licenses disappeared.

Still a good reminder to go enjoy what I've got though... Love some pinball action.

Unfortunately, we now know what happened to those tables: Zen Studios bought the license, so now we can look forward to shitty recreations of them in Zen Pinball/Pinball FX.

Seriously, I hate Zen Studios' fantasy tables. They tend to be overcomplicated & have astoundingly poor audio production values.

[ejamer]

Really, Zen Studios bought the rights?  Totally missed this news!
I don't know how to feel about this.

Zen Studios has done some interesting stuff. Their fantasy tables are a mixed bag in my opinion, and they are one of the few teams out there who seem serious about creating interesting pinball experiences. At the same time, there are some problems with several of their releases that have lingered - stuff like one of the Star Wars tables on 3DS being literally broken, with no intent on their end to fix it. (I know that's a low value release for them, and that it's on underpowered hardware. It should still work.)

Having one studio work on preservation of classic tables and creation of new content seems odd. Maybe consolidating will make them the resident experts and ensure they are a big enough company to do a good job on both fronts. Maybe not, in which case we'll end up with a bunch of shitty ports as broodwars fears.

[broodwars]

Here's the original tweet where they announced the acquisition.

https://twitter.com/zen_studios/status/1036962206305460225?s=19

Besides the poor production values & overcomplicated tables, I just don't like the ball physics in Zen's tables. Pinball Arcade was so much tighter.

[ejamer]

..., I just don't like the ball physics in Zen's tables. Pinball Arcade was so much tighter.

Tend to agree. Zen state that they have a new physics engine for these recreations, and it's supposed to be more realistic. I won't judge without trying the games... but even if the physics are great, it'll be a tough sell to switch over and re-buy everything. Proof will be in the pudding, I guess.

Hopefully they are serious about preserving the games, and give them the love that is deserved.

[ejamer]

So any comments about how Zen is handling things, now that vol 1 is out and vol 2 on the near horizon?
The censorship issue is absolute bullshit, the distribution model not ideal, and the efforts that Zen Pinball made to "update" the tables... well, saying I'm not impressed is putting it mildly.

Personally, I'm left pretty disappointed. But maybe that's not really fair? Would love to hear what others here think.