Topic: PINBALL FX3 buyers guide

Great news for me, as Hurricane is one of my all time favorite tables! I’m a fan of White Water, too.

@HobbesGrrr I own a ton of discontinued Williams/Bally tables in The Pinball Arcade on PC/Steam, but I’ve been buying everything that Zen Studios has released in Pinball FX3 on Switch. I also own all the tables that are currently in The Pinball Arcade on Switch, for that matter.

Anyways, I would say that TPA physics in general feel more accurate to me, but the new physics for the Williams tables in PFX3 feel plenty fine for me, I never get mad at it and it doesn’t feel weird/off to me. And I’ve played almost all of the PFX3 tables in real life, so I know how they are suppose to feel.

I personally never got much into playing TPA on my iPad, I never liked using the touchscreen for the flippers. For some reason it just feels better to me to play with a controller. My personal preference for playing digital pinball is definitely on Switch, as I can play in landscape or portrait (TATE, as they often like to call it). I have a FlipGrip, which works wonders playing pinball on Switch in handheld. I like the HD Rumble feel that Pinball FX3 has incorporated, too.

I decided to go all in long ago with pinball on Switch, but I don’t feel comfortable telling you that you should too. If you’re happy playing your old tables on mobile, maybe that is best for you. I’d say keep playing the free tables that you have, and grab a Williams pack if you are enjoying playing on Switch. One thing I forgot to mention are the tournaments in Pinball FX3, which I think are cross-platform with Xbox, PC, and maybe mobile (PS4 is definitely out, since Sony is still being a jerk). The community aspect of tournaments and leaderboards is a really great added bonus for Pinball FX3 compared to The Pinball Arcade, which is pretty much non-existent and completely broken at this point.

I use virtual pinball as a way to feel calm and relaxed, so I guess that’s a big factor of me going all-in with pinball on Switch. It’s my favorite gaming device, I always have with me, and I want Zen Studios (and FarSight Studios for that matter) to continue putting out high quality replicas of real tables, so paying $10 every few months for more tables makes me feel like I’m voting with my money, so to speak.

I play and enjoy all of the digital pinball games on Switch - PBFX3, TPA, STERN PINBALL, ZACCARIA PINBALL. They all offer variety and a diiferent game-play feel. However, I would personally say the new ‘deep engine’ Zen has incorporated into these Williams tables since gaining the licence from TPA is totally revolutionary in terms of how superior it is to what has come before. The classic-arcade and classic-tournament physics are the closest to real-life pinball I’ve ever played.

I don’t play on my iPhone or iPad so can’t speak to the physics on apps. I haven’t got my own virtual pinball cab so I can’t compare the Zen ‘deep engine’ to Virtual Pinball software for vpincabs physics engine.

But IMHO all the Williams Volumes are must-own in PBFX3 for Switch.

For anyone playing on PS4. The EU PSN store has some tables discounted including Williams Volume 3.

Any thoughts on the new tables?

@rockodoodle Zen did a new physics engine for Williams Vol 4 pack, and it feels fantastic! Much better than FarSight ever had. I’ve heard that Zen is hoping to go back and get the new physics engine working on the previous Williams packs.

I really love Hurricane (both the real table, and Zen’s digital version), but based on what I see online I’m in the minority of fans for that table. White Out and Red & Ted’s Road Show are both very fun to play, too. I personally think each pack is worth the $10, but I’m a pinball nerd so don’t trust me.

I have the first two- how do they rate against those? On the fence here.

@madmatt213 Agree, HURRICANE has really surprised me with how good it plays in Volume 4. Another great pack from Zen and Deep’s refined flipper physics just further prove how much of an MVP he is in the world of digital pinball development.

By the way, we have a tournament set-up in game for HURRICANE. The user name who created it is @CW13 and the password to join is: pikmin

More details on these weekly tourneys here: https://www.nintendolife.com/forums/nintendo-switch/digital_p...

Hope you can take part and look forward to seeing your name on the leaderboards.

@rockodoodle I feel like pinball tables are very subjective. It’s easy for one little thing on a table to make or break it, I feel, so I am never comfortable telling someone one table it better than another. I think your best bet is to look up the tables themselves online to see if you think you’d like them. There are tons of resources and videos online for all of these tables.

**Volume 1
Fish Tales
The Getaway: High Speed II
Junk Yard
Medieval Madness
**Volume 2
The Party Zone
Black Rose
Attack from Mars
**Volume 3
Theatre of Magic
The Champion Pub
Safe Cracker
**Volume 4
White Water
Hurricane
Red & Ted's Road Show

@madmatt213 Sent you a Switch friend invite, in case you fancy playing some digital pinball together. Noticed you joined the HURRICANE tourney. Nice one!

Williams Volume 1 and 2 for Switch on sale 50% off until July 18th!

There is a Monsters and Creature from the Black Lagoon pack. Only two tables, but I couldn't resist.

@rockodoodle A great pack. MONSTER BASH especially. Some of Zen’s best work to date with the WMS tables licence (and Universal).

Another pack released today....talked of the Arabian nights, cirquis Voltaire and no good golfers....dang, I have spent a lot on this game... But I do play it a lot.

Im late to the table shall we say, just got Pinball FX3 and a bunch of tables, is this still as popular as it once was? Is DLC still being made for it? no idea what the newest table is.

@Ninhydrin As far as I can tell there hasn't been any new content since the end of 2020. According to the Zen website there's a new game coming this year though - confusing just called Pinball FX - that'll be early access on Epic store soon (if it isn't already) and releasing on other platforms, including Switch, later in the Summer.

Seems you won't be able to import old tables into the new game though, but they say they are working on ways to make it "easier and more economical" to play legacy tables - whatever that means. Personally, I'd hold off buying more for FX3 until they clarify that.

@dmcc0 Wow thats great news, I have got a few tables to keep me going till the summer.
Looking forward to see what happens

@dmcc0 "According to the Zen website there's a new game coming this year though - confusing just called Pinball FX - that'll be early access on Epic store soon (if it isn't already) and releasing on other platforms, including Switch, later in the Summer.
Seems you won't be able to import old tables into the new game though, but they say they are working on ways to make it "easier and more economical" to play legacy tables - whatever that means. Personally, I'd hold off buying more for FX3 until they clarify that."

Thank you for that information!
I've been eyeing the FX3 DLC tables and glad I learned of a new game engine coming in the summer.

I already own all the Zen/Pinball FX tables for the Switch and Wii U, so I'm hesitant to invest again on this platform. And it seems silly that I'd have to toggle between Pinball FX apps on the same console. The new Pinball FX launch preview offered little more than an improved interface and greater customization options for your virtual game room. At this point, I'm getting a good deal more enjoyment from Zaccaria Pinball.