Round 3: Q&A With Bobby King

Sean DonCarlos said:

Basing your opinion of modern Sterns solely on RBION and Metallica is like basing your opinion of 90s B/W's solely on No Fear and NBA Fastbreak.

Hunt down and play a few games on an AC/DC (Premium or LE), Lord of the Rings and/or The Simpsons Pinball Party and see if your outlook on modern machines improves. Stay away from X-Men and Avengers though, or you will continue to slide into depression.

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I've played Simpsons PP before, it's at my local arcade. I do enjoy that one. I guess I never bothered to check the release date on that table.

I'm sure I jumped the gun, but like I said, I'm much more focused on the stuff I grew up with and the stuff from my time that I've never been able to play before. I'll always worry about those before I ever worry about anything new. The same goes for Pinball Construction or even Farsite original tables. I think both are fantastic overall ideas, but nothing I'd have much interest in.

As for newer tables, I'd be excited to play an X-Men table, it the artwork was based on the 90s cartoon or 80s-90s comics. (A rareity for me as I usually never care about art work). I wasn't ever a fan of Tron, didn't really care for any of the POTC movies, and didn't have interest in LOTR either, so I couldn't care less about either of those. I'm not saying they're bad, just that they don't hold much interest to me.

I'd definitely like to check out the AC/DC one, it looks amazing! As for Metallica, it just looks horrible. The art for Metallica is more based on the modern era days of the band, with the stupid, goofy Metallica guys artwork. I was hoping for art based on the golden years of the band when I first heard such a table existed. I was disappointed to say the least.

Even though I only enjoyed the first one, I think a SAW table would really be cool. Just imagine the possibilities!

Another great table idea that never got made is "Ghostbusters". Again, imagine the possibilities, ESP with today's pinball technology. I can already see a mini ECTO-1 with flashing lights in one corner, the Stay Puffed Marshmallow Man in the other! A video game of catching ghosts with proton packs using the flippers, Slimer screaming at you in glee as the ball drains.

*Sigh*

One can dream.

Rudy Yagov said:

Wish you guys asked about the megapatch in regard to the Vita version. It needs it way more than the PS3 does.

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This was answered in a post by FarSight on their Facebook page today, responding to a question about fixing Tee'd Off camera angles on Vita:

The Pinball Arcade We just fixed it, but vita won't get the fix until the mega patch... the good news is that it will get better hardware button control in portrait mode with that same patch.

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Great job. The length was about perfectly matched to my subway ride home! I also loved the music clips. Big balls is always perfect for pinball.

No huge blockbusters about content but great tidbits about technical upgrades. I am very excited for the features in the next gen systems.

spoonman....why the hell didnt that click ok that could be the outro and I loved road rash 3D!

shutyertrap said:

The flip side to that though is, people can stop requesting these type of tables. What starts out as a request soon turns into a "when the hell are they gonna get to it!"

Instead we can all just get to wondering what 80's and 90's tables are coming.

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Agreed, SYT. In fact, most of those 80's and 90's tables are the ones I'm most looking forward to. The Pinball Arcade's biggest appeal for me has always been the nostalgia for tables I used to play growing up. Granted, I've grown an appreciation for other tables that I wasn't familiar with (mainly newer DMD tables), and I love that facet about The Pinball Arcade as well. But, the nostalgia is what takes The Pinball Arcade from "hmm... nice game" to my being a member of Pinball Arcade Fans, contributing to Kickstarters, and following the progress and development of the game so closely.

Again, nice interview, SYT and Jeff. Well done. If you do another interview, and have some time to ask, can you please ask them if they are looking to create some sort of single-player multi-table challenge mode (e.g. pick some tables at random, achieve so many points on each to advance to the next, earn challenge points along the way... that sort of thing). Thanks again.

I didn't have time to listen to this until today. Very nice interview guys! I thought it was interesting that they're still working on the launch version for the PS4. The version I played at the Chicago Expo a couple of weeks ago seemed ready to go and could be released now if it had to. For Bobby to say he wasn't sure if it would be ready for a launch day release seems like a bit of theatrics. Obviously with what Sony has been releasing lately about launch day titles, they think TPA will be there.

Nice job on the interview and podcast guys. I don't visit this forum nearly as often so it's good to catch up on news with your interviews. I like that he mentioned Pingolf and would love to see this implemented. Hopefully, locally as will as online. I didn't want to buy a PS4 right away, but I might have to when I see how TPA turns out.

Sean DonCarlos said:

Basing your opinion of modern Sterns solely on RBION and Metallica is like basing your opinion of 90s B/W's solely on No Fear and NBA Fastbreak.

Hunt down and play a few games on an AC/DC (Premium or LE), Lord of the Rings and/or The Simpsons Pinball Party and see if your outlook on modern machines improves. Stay away from X-Men and Avengers though, or you will continue to slide into depression.

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Pretty much spot on. Although having said that, even the best Stern tables of recent years (namely Metallica and AC/DC*) still feel cheap and light compared to basically any of the Williams/Bally machines of the last 30 or so years. Designs are one thing, but I'm yet to play a Stern table that feels as hard-wearing as even the most worn-in Williams tables.

*Notice they're the tables that have the most simplistic, fast layouts? Bugger stuff like X-Men where there's crap all over the table... give me a nice open playfield with some flow and I'll be happy.

Metallica has a "simplistic layout without crap all over the table"??

I think Metallica is a prime example of Stern bling, crammed full of gadgets and pointless bells and whistles. It's much more of a toy than a game. A great toy, but the complete opposite of what the new Star Trek appears to be, which is exactly a simple, back-to-the-basics pinball table with a great flow and a sense of challenge.

Sumez said:

Metallica has a "simplistic layout without crap all over the table"??

I think Metallica is a prime example of Stern bling, crammed full of gadgets and pointless bells and whistles. It's much more of a toy than a game. A great toy, but the complete opposite of what the new Star Trek appears to be, which is exactly a simple, back-to-the-basics pinball table with a great flow and a sense of challenge.

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The pro version is quite basic, it's the one I've played. The only toy I can remember is the snake scoop and the electric chair, which is just a bash toy really, so nothing outlandish. I actually thought it was a bit sparse for my liking. The premium has the hammer and the rising gravestone, so a bit extra bling.

I guess I only tried the premium