Buying a PS4 just for Pinball Arcade

mpad said:

Look into steam boxes. Great little gaming PCs with console feel.

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True-but they run on linux, rendering them useless for TPA and SPA, if I understand the specs correctly. That's why I passed on them.

The steam controller is also very wonky with PC pinball in general. Get any controller but that one-all I know is that most Steam boxes will also support xinput. Not sure about PS4 controller hacks on those boxes though.

Many can be found for fractions of their initial release price. Now about that Linux thing......

rehtroboi40 said:

IMO, the PC has the largest selection of available Pinball simulation games. If you want to go the legal route, you have TPA and SPA, Pinball FX2, Zaccaria, Timeshock Ultra, and many others. The last two are not on any console and I'm not sure they're going to be.

BTW Mr. Trap, do you remember playing video pinball with the old NES/Genesis/or TG-16 controllers? You know, the left D-pad for left flipper and right button for right flipper?
Bonus points (or you're in your forties, like me) if you remember moving the 2600 joystick to use flippers.

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Not only the largest selection, but they go on sale all the time. When I bought my first wave of Zen tables, I picked up 24 from a Humble Bundle offer for like $6, and then another 12 from Steam at 75% off. TPA goes on sale for seasons 1-4 now at half price during the winter or summer sale. My biggest thing though is that when it comes time for yet another generation of consoles, I won't care because all these tables will still play on the PC, and they will always be the best version possible.

I do remember playing pinball on Atari 2600, if you can call it that. Talk about not feeling a thing like pinball! Had more in common with Breakout or Arkanoid. I don't believe I played any pinball on TG16 or Genesis or 3DO or Jaguar. But yeah, those controllers! Not exactly ergonomic. I hated Intellivision's controller, and remember thinking ColecoVision's was awesome compared to that and Atari's. And then Coleco introduced that funky as hell sports controller that just confused me to no end. And what was up with that trend of having the little insert that went over the pad? Intellivision, ColecoVision, and Jaguar all had 'em.

rehtroboi40 said:

True-but they run on linux, rendering them useless for TPA and SPA, if I understand the specs correctly. That's why I passed on them.

The steam controller is also very wonky with PC pinball in general. Get any controller but that one-all I know is that most Steam boxes will also support xinput. Not sure about PS4 controller hacks on those boxes though.

Many can be found for fractions of their initial release price. Now about that Linux thing......

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You are right. I actually think the initial concept with Linux or steamOS pretty much failed. But it made Hardware developers build small and beefy (and bit pricey) gaming PCs, which they are still putting out. You can run win 10 on it and use steam in big picture mode, that gives you a pretty good console feel...
I have to admit I use Xbox controllers, so no idea about the steam one.
I use it for other games (got a cab), but I am very satisfied with the living room gaming experience.

I have a new $750 laptop and it won't even open TPA so avoid that headache. "Unknown error while updating TPA"

Rage said:

I have a new $750 laptop and it won't even open TPA so avoid that headache. "Unknown error while updating TPA"

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Try running the DX9 version. The one thing I like about the Steam release is that you get two versions of the game (DX9 and DX11).

Rage said:

I have a new $750 laptop and it won't even open TPA so avoid that headache. "Unknown error while updating TPA"

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I've noticed a lot of people on the boards who may just now be getting TPA on Steam are reporting this problem. Mostly within the last couple of months. Hopefully, the next update fixes this problem.

Funchords, been drawn to your post for two reasons. I would stick with your PS4 plan as it is a simple plug and play option. Plus Zen pinball is a great option and new release is due. Also never seen anyone spell their name the same way as me. Stay frosty.

Robb

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

rehtroboi40 said:

I've noticed a lot of people on the boards who may just now be getting TPA on Steam are reporting this problem. Mostly within the last couple of months. Hopefully, the next update fixes this problem.

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It now finally works after all these months. All I need now is a sale.