Stately Balls Of Steel

#215

Well, I have gotten every star there is to get in Zen Pinball party. With no local leaderboards and no trophies there isn’t really much left for me to do with the game other than try to better my online positions and play the few tournaments on offer. Interestingly, there are still some cosmetics for me to earn, which suggests that there will be more tables coming,

I did find a friend leaderboard, though it was a bit convoluted. I had to go into settings and hit the achievement tab, then the leaderboards were in there somewhere.

#216

Zen Pinball Party has updated a couple times to add in more IPs like Peanuts and Garfield. I wish so badly this integrated into the main app (and that the main app got some QoL updates).

#217

Snoopy is by far the best of the bunch for the new tables. The modes are actually fun to play. Garfield was okay.

#218

This past weekend was the Southern Hemisphere pinball championships, though with covid restrictions it was essentially the national championships this year. The host had a private collection of over 100 tables (which I could list, but it’d be excessive). He repairs and restores electro magnetic pinball machines (ie old ones) which formed maybe half of his collection.

Some of the highlights for me were 3 generations of Star Trek tables, all built in their relevant era. A Star Trek original series table, a next generation table, and the newer movie reboot table. I also got to play on a Jurassic park with its adventure mode, a Rick and Morty table with its excellent theme integration in its mission mode, and a brand new Mandalorian, and Godzilla.

I’m surprised how much I enjoyed the electro magnetic games, and how well suited they were for tournament play. They play fast and the high scoring areas of the table can quickly be figured out by the other players. On more modern tables the mission modes can be a bit convoluted if you don’t know the table. The electro magnetic games also require an entirely different method of nudging, which I observed the top players doing and look forward to practicing it in future. They’re basically constantly slapping the table lol

Anyway, there were 3 tournaments, and I placed 32/62, 16/53, and had a bit of a blow out on the last day and ended up 38/54.

Going into the lions den that is the national championship, I was expecting bottom third places in all 3 tournaments. I exceeded this in 2 of the tournaments, even ending up in the top third of one tournament. Really pleased for my results, and looking forward to the next batch of tournaments.

4 Likes
#219

This is not breaking news but as I just got a PS5 it is news to me:

The Zen Pinball / Pinball FX platform has rebranded yet again to simply Pinball FX. It is available on new gen systems as well as Switch and PC.

And you have to rebuy every single table. That’s right, nothing transfers.

And to make it even better, you don’t buy tables with cash, you buy them with tickets, which conveniently sell for amounts that don’t round evenly into table prices.

I have grown to despise this company beyond words, and it is a shame because I used to love their tables.

1 Like
#220

I’ve been talking to the proprietor of Wellingtons dedicated pinball parlour from inception to the final finished product, and he has exceeded all expectations.

I don’t think you even have to be a pinball fan to appreciate the gaming space he has created right in the centre of New Zealand’s capital city

(Lots of awesome pictures inside)

1 Like
#221

The lit up playfields behind the machines are really cool. Looks like a real labor of love for the owner. Very cool!

#222

Very much so. Hamish (the owner) has a background in high end domestic AV and entertainment system installation, so he’s got the expertise, the passion and the means to pull off something really spectacular like this

#223

I’ve been playing some of Zen’s offerings and Champion Pup is easily in the running for one of my most hated tables ever. It’s extra galling that the score threshold to earn three stars is so high that I have to play the table over and over and over…

#224

The board game pack (Gloomhaven, Terraforming Mars, and Exploding Kittens) is out along with a new Star Trek pack of tables. Pinball M (their “mature” or “R” rated platform for new tables) also released a week or two ago.

2 Likes
#225

How is Zen’s offering on other platforms? They’ve lost my trust on iOS. I never tried on PlayStation but if I recall they’ve released a couple versions of the game and tables didn’t transfer between them or something egregious like that. It’s a shame because I love their pinball.

1 Like
#226

Yeah. I haven’t really played much until very recently because my preferred platform is playing on my iPad and they seemed to have abandoned it or released ftp crap like the Williams app. Also their latest iteration on other platforms confusingly called pinball fx (we went from fx3 to just fx?) has not supported importing your previously purchased tables into the new platform. I recently paid like $100 during the black friday steam sale to rebuy the most of the old tables I’ve played and also all the new tables that have been exclusive to the new fx platform. Probably like 60-70 tables. Snotty thought I was building a virtual pinball cabinet. I wish. I’ll probably wait to see if there is going to be a christmas sale on these new packs before I purchase them. I’m not certainly not lacking in new tables tomplay.

1 Like
#227

I’ve been in the irl pin scene long enough to see a few virtual pins. It’s just a tv in a box with some buttons. A bit of woodworking (with plywood of all things) and some very basic electrical skills to attach the buttons. Make a back glass to your taste (doesn’t have to be glass, any decal will do) and you’ve got yourself a stand up pinball table and conversation piece. Its a totally doable home project, or just buy one outright.

Then once you’ve got your first machine, start filling every square inch of your house with pins like the other pinheads I’ve met

2 Likes
#228

I played the terraforming mars table on my free pinball pass. It’s pretty good. Between the loops, ramps, mission mode, and side mission mode, there’s plenty going on even though the gameplay is pretty straightforward.

I don’t like that the rover hides the mid table flipper until you advance the rover, and how the skill shot is incredibly hard to get unless it spawns in the right spot.

Overall, I think this table is welcome in the pantheon of pc based space tables

2 Likes
#229

Zen has a new game on iOS through Netflix. I haven’t been keeping up with Zen as much lately but the tables look new to me. They certainly aren’t tables I’ve seen in Zen Pinball or Pinball Party.

I’m a bit sour on Zen, even though they are by far my favorite provider of digital tables. It’s like the y have tried every distribution scheme available to them at the expense of longtime fans. I own every table in the original app but it hasn’t been touched in years. Instead we’ve had the IAP/unlock nightmare of the Williams app, the Party app locked behind Apple Arcade that shows that Zen can update their UI and tournament functionality but won’t do it for the old app, and now a new app with new tables locked behind yet a second subscription. Meanwhile, there have been shenanigans with them releasing newer platforms for their tables on consoles without allowing purchases to transfer. It’s a shame.

2 Likes
#230

I don’t have Apple Arcade at the moment, as I had gotten bored with what was there, I will likely pick it up again later this year. Netflix on the other hand, we are watching still regularly, so this is very welcome and I am DLing right now.

Also, I have like a lot of Zen tables on my Xbox 360, but never again will I buy from them table by table.

#231

I don’t know why the tables on Zen Pinball Party and this new Pinball Masters app look like trash on my iPad. It looks so blurry with low res assets. Maybe it’s optimized for just the iPhone? It’s annoying that the now abandoned original Zen Pinball app looks better than the new tables. And I agree with you Mirefox, I don’t understand why they are locking all the new tables behind subscription services instead of just the good old fashioned develop your own app and buy tables with real money like every other version of their games on other platforms.

#232

I could put up with them jumping aboard the subscription bandwagon if they disnt completely abandon their cornerstone app to do so. It hasn’t been updated in 4+ years. I want the game to actually fit my screen. I’d also like some of the tournament support they have added to all their other platforms.

#233

As a total ADD gamer, I am very fond of the subscription gaming model.

2 Likes
#234

I think they used a new game engine for all the new “fx” tables so I don’t think they can just update the old Zen Pinball app, as much as I would like them to,