Another IGN failure!

In pondering where to make this post here in the forum, I decided to place it here because it deals with the game as a whole and is not off topic in my eyes. The same exact review is in place at IGN for the XBOX 360, PS Vita, and PS3!

Here is a quote from IGNs review of The Pinball Arcade ....

Even then, the issues are microscopic. There are only three camera options, none of which are static; tracking the ball can be disorienting. The ball slips by the flippers or through the sides with suspicious regularity, which gets frustrating. Quests end with unceremonious praise. Such issues only stand out because there aren't any upsetting issues worth addressing in Pinball Arcade.

Now let me take a moment to address all three of IGNs complaints about the game ....

1. There is static camera options for each of the three main camera options!

2. Quests end with what ever ceremonious praise the original designers of the tables intended there to be. Should Farsight had chosen to inject their own ceremonious praise for completing a quest it would have detracted from the authenticity of the game.

3. Pinball machines, as with early video game machines, were designed to kill the player and yet entice them just enough to put another quarter in the machine to see if they could last a little longer or reach just one more goal ...

I am glad that the reviewer gave this game an 8.5 / 10.0 rating but more and more, I am finding the reviews of games on IGN contain false "FACTS" about games which may deter someone from buying them. As you can see, and we all know, there is a static option in the game! Had the reviewer taken the time to lean all the options, they may have given the game a higher score. This reminds me of how the reviewer of Hustle Kings on IGN made several false statements about the game and gave it a 7 / 10 rating .... in my eyes both THE PINBALL ARCADE and HUSTLE KINGS both deserve 9 / 10 ratings.

To be fair, I think the "quests end with unceremonious praise" bit was referring to the notifications of completion of FarSight's Standard and Wizard Goals, which are an external construct of their own making. It's hard to deny that those are pretty sterile. I don't know if IGN was expecting a light show or fireworks or something, but I suppose the point has some limited merit.

As for the third one, it's true that real pinball machines were intentionally designed to keep ball times low, but it doesn't necessarily follow that that model makes for a fulfilling home pinball experience. Thing is, though, I think FarSight actually did make these tables easier than real life. But I can see how someone who's reviewing the game for the general public might want to warn those who may not be hardcore pinball fanatics that they may find this particular aspect of the gameplay frustrating at times.

There's no excuse for the first one, unless they were supplied a review copy that didn't include the feature. You could also make the argument that FarSight didn't do a very good job of providing the player with information regarding what the camera options do exactly, but that's different from outright claiming that the option doesn't exist.

IGN writers don't understand arcade games. The fact that the reviewer didn't even play the game long enough to figure out how to lock the camera shows that he just phoned it in. Arcade shoot-em-up fans know this better than anybody (It only had five levels, and if you just keep continuing you can see the whole game in 30 minutes!) Oh well, 95% of people only look at the score anyways.

The goals had a little more pop when you completed them in the Williams Collection, but I prefer them to be non-distracting like they are in TPA. The other two complaints aren't even valid, they are seriously complaining that the ball too often drains in a pinball game? A PINBALL GAME!? Do they have any idea how pinball works? All three of the camera modes can be set to static, so here they are just blatantly wrong. As the old saying goes: You can't spell ignorant without IGN.

The actual microscopic issues are the fact the the ball sometimes phases through the flippers and the fact that the flippers always hit with 100% power making some techniques difficult or impossible.

TheTenthEnemy said:

The goals had a little more pop when you completed them in the Williams Collection, but I prefer them to be non-distracting like they are in TPA. The other two complaints aren't even valid, they are seriously complaining that the ball too often drains in a pinball game? A PINBALL GAME!? Do they have any idea how pinball works? All three of the camera modes can be set to static, so here they are just blatantly wrong. As the old saying goes: You can't spell ignorant without IGN.

The actual microscopic issues are the fact the the ball sometimes phases through the flippers and the fact that the flippers always hit with 100% power making some techniques difficult or impossible.

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This +1

I get so mad reading some of their reviews, sometimes I wonder just how much time they put into anything before slouching back to CoD or whatever the huge blockbuster EA circle-jerk item they happen to be on at the time

On the bright side at least they reviewed it! I've seen many games over the years I've absolutely loved not even get a mention at all. plus they got a really good score. They tend to be pretty ruthless with emulation/classic games. On the other hand they were actually rather supportive of the original Williams collections.

A truly static camera shouldn't move during multiball.

FurVid said:

A truly static camera shouldn't move during multiball.

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I hope this is fixed with the next update or two. I'm going to keep throwing this out there until FarSight corrects this issue...and yes, it is an issue, one that many have addressed well before The Pinball Arcade was released on Android and iOS. FarSight please allow us to disable the multiball camera.

PiN WiZ said:

I hope this is fixed with the next update or two. I'm going to keep throwing this out there until FarSight corrects this issue...and yes, it is an issue, one that many have addressed well before The Pinball Arcade was released on Android and iOS. FarSight please allow us to disable the multiball camera.

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Agreed. Any word on this, Farsight?

Bowflex said:

On the bright side at least they reviewed it! I've seen many games over the years I've absolutely loved not even get a mention at all. plus they got a really good score. They tend to be pretty ruthless with emulation/classic games. On the other hand they were actually rather supportive of the original Williams collections.

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I'll give them that, but still, if you are going to say that there's no way to do something, you should at least look through the options, controls etc. It's not like TPA has an insane amount of menu options.

You know, I would think if you were a video game reviewer, you would double check, even call the company who created the game, before you go ahead and say something like there is no static option or as was the case with Hustle Kings, say that the game was strangely off putting because of the music ... it would play rock one minute then jazz then techno ... but the reviewer never looked at the options of the game in which you can change the music settings.

I do see your point that the reviewer is referring to Quests as TABLE GOALS, but if you are reviewing a game, get your terminology correct!

as far as losing your balls too often ... haha ... that is like complaining you will die too quickly playing the good old arcade classic DEFENDER, sure you will die quickly without much practice, but on the other hand, I have seen people play DEFENDER for a very, very, long time ... and so it is with pinball as well ... you need to practice the game and if death was not around every corner, it simply would not be pinball ... that is the beauty of the game.

Looks like IGN dropped the ball here.

RetroBlast said:

1. There is static camera options for each of the three main camera options!

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It wasn't until I read the thread on this forum regarding "favourite camera angles" that I realized this. When I first got the game (Xbox360), I went into the help menu on controller mappings, and remember seeing that both the red and blue button are mapped to "camera angle", with no indication of their different functions.

I just initially assumed they cycled through the available cameras in different directions.

I probably would have figured it out eventually myself, but I'm hardly surprised a game reviewer didn't realize this.

I figured it out immediately. One thing must be considered here, as it is with many new games that are budget priced, not every detail is explained and you must explore. As a reviewer, you should look at the controls and test each one of them. Even if you assume the both buttons are used for scrolling, it is your job to actually test them. If I paid $50.00 for this game, I would expect every detail to be outlined, but for $9.99, a picture of the PS Vita, and the controls mapped out on them is enough for me. You and I could make the mistake of assuming what the buttons do, reviewers do not have the luxury of that, they need to test them all ... that after all, is their job ... if they want to complain in their review that the controls could have been explained better, that is another story.