Topic: The Pinball Arcade or TPA for short

So I got lucky and have a DL code for this. First thing I noticed is Tales of the Arabian Nights is free. Second thing I noticed was these leaderboards seem to be across all formats not just Wii U. After only my second game I went to check my place and I was somewhere in the 600k range lol. Those boards may be part of the reason it took so long to get here. They seem to work better then Zen's by far but its too early to tell for sure.

Update: So the pricing seems to be exactly the same as any other format as well! You can buy the entire first season for 30$ US. That's 22 tables or you can buy packs of two in the first season for 5$. Where it gets a bit more ridiculous is season 3 which also cost 30$ but only has 10 tables or 5$ per table. Season 5 is only about 5 tables so far but you can only buy each individually. So if you want all the tables you're looking at about 150$. I think i will wait for some sales and buy the first season only for now.

Definitely buy the Whitewater pack, that's my favorite pin of all time, and it also comes with Space Shuttle, which is also a classic!

Yeah, so excited to see this launch, but was not expecting the immediate urge to drop $100 on tables off the bat... Makes me a little sour it took this long because it feels like I'm going to have to wait on a sale to get all the tables I want. Also the bundles are frustratingly big, since I would be happy to drop $15 or so on the handful of tables I NEED right now, but knowing they are included in a bundle... Being a pinball junkie makes it hard to jump in on the individual packs because I know someday I'll likely want them all.

Then there's the fact that I can technically still pop in my Wii versions of the Williams and Gottlieb collections (which include many of these tables)... Although playing pinball on the Gamepad is undoubtedly the ideal format.

And looking at Zen Pinball, we've gotten maybe two or three sales over all these years...

Nooooooooo! The frustration of waiting years to play these classic tables on the Gamepad and... They got the controls wrong. This game forces you to use the R2/L2 triggers when the L/R buttons feel so good as bumper buttons. Why force one or the other when they could have just used all four buttons is utterly beyond me.

There is also no way to change any of the controls and the game doesn't even support the Pro controller in case you are having issues with your Gamepad (God knows I've put enough wear on those triggers from the past year of nonstop Splatoon...). It doesn't support the Wiimote+Nunchuk combo which felt pretty great on Farsight's Wii pinball collections.

Now I'm not even sure I want to spend any money on something do limiting. The triggers just don't feel right to me as bumper buttons...

I actually like the controls better this way but I also quickly changed Zens to the same set up. It feels more relaxing to use the back 2 buttons then the front for me. It is however very limiting to some like yourself and doesn't make much sense. I'm just glad we got the app to begin with but I can see where they can make some improvements. No friends scores kinda bites.

@Spoony_Tech: When I first got Zen, I felt the same, but I pretty quickly realized how well the L/R buttons mimicked actual bumper buttons along with the width and screen combining together to make the Gamepad feel like a handheld pinball table. It's the best format for video pinball I've found in many years of searching.

When you mention relaxing, it really emphasizes to me why the Wiimote+Nunchuk should be supported because that was as chill as could be using Z/B. That was another great setup, but unfortunately the Wii versions are missing many of the standouts...

Don't get me wrong, I can always adapt, but it's especially frustrating for me personally since my Gamepad's R2/L2 buttons already stick a bit...

I also completely agree on friend scores as those are more engaging to me than global rankings... which reminds me that I have to check if it even lacks local scoreboards, which irks me to no end in games like these.

I love how Pinball Arcade recreates actual classic tables so perfectly, but I can't justify the price tag on the DLC packs.
Not sure why they can't go with the Zen model of just buying the tables you want.

@CharlieSmile: Well Zen doesn't fully do that either. They have a good deal of 4 packs only for 10$. Some come in 2 packs as well like the South Park tables. At least they do have more choices for single tables and at a better price point then 5$ a table.

@Spoony_Tech:
Oh, I kinda just assumed ZP2 for Wii U had the same model as the mobile version.

Honestly, I think the controls are fine, since the L/R buttons on the GamePad are of abysmal quality and they feel very fragile (at least, in my hands). I played a lot of Zen Pinball on WiiU and I could feel the L/R buttons just cracking under my index fingers. I'll happily double dip on TPA once it arrives in EU, so I can get the newer tables that they didn't release on 360.

I'm sure they'll eventually fix the button thing and the leaderboards though. Drop 'em an email - they always reply.

Bought seasons one and two on Vita. Also have Star Wars and several other Zen games. Wish both generally had better pricing structures.....

That said, I play video pinball more than any other games except smash or mario kart...

AHHHHH!!!! Zombie thread!!!

Also there is a newer thread hear that we've been discussing the same thing in.

https://www.nintendolife.com/forums/other_gaming/pinball_discu...

....At least it's not from 2012 or something...