Top 100 Rated Pinball Tables not in Pinball Arcade

KayTwo

New member
Apr 19, 2016
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Over the past few weeks, I've been compiling a list of top 100 pinball tables from Pinside and IPDB (Solid State machines only, the EM rankings are much less consistent).

I've compared the list of tables in the top 100 to the list of tables already released (or soon to be released) on Pinball Arcade (PA). Of the tables that haven't been released, I've broken the list up to tables which would have licensing issues, and those that shouldn't have any licensing concerns (at least that I can easily determine).

There are multiple reasons for licensing concerns; a table is tied to a specific TV show/movie (Spider-man, Simpsons), musical performer (Guns N' Roses, Elvis), vehicle or event (Corvette, World Cup Soccer), or that FarSight doesn't have a license from the table manufacturer (Jersey Jack, Capcom).

At a summary level for the Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) and the Pinside top 100 lists:
Code:
                       IPDB	Pinside
Available in PA 	47	45
No license issue	12	7
License issue   	33	38
Total           	92	90
(The reason the total isn't 100 is that I've removed multiple editions of the same table).

The list below indicates tables which are missing from Pinball Arcade, and which shouldn't have any additional licensing issues (I've included Mousin' Around, as I really like the table).

Code:
Name		Manufacturer	Year Pinside   IPDB	AVG
Revenge f Mars	Bally		1999	38	31	34.5
Stargate	Gottlieb	1995	88	35	61.5
Fathom		Bally		1980	76	61	68.5
Banzai Run 	Williams	1988	77	88	82.5
Sorcerer	Williams	1985	100	81	90.5
Swords of Fury 	Williams	1988		59	
Joker Poker 	Gottlieb	1978		74	
Devil's Dare 	Gottlieb	1982		78	
Eight Ball Dlx	Bally		1980	80		
Centaur II 	Bally		1983		84	
Laser War 	Data East	1987		86	
Space Station 	Williams	1987		92	
Paragon		Bally		1978	94		
Time Machine 	Data East	1988		100	
Mousin' Around	Bally		1989	121	103

Based on the list above, it seems like most of the tables are early SS tables; either Numeric (1977-85) or Alphanumeric (1986-1990). The only exception is Revenge from Mars, which, due to its Holographic display, would be hard to emulate, and Stargate (only top 100 Gottlieb DMD not in PA).

Listed tables that get routinely requested in this forum, and that I would also like to see emulated, are:
Fathom: Bally 1980
Mousin' Around!: Bally 1989
Eight Ball Deluxe: Bally 1980

Looking at Seasons 3, 4, and 5 of PA; typically 3 tables per season are released from this era. I would hope that FarSight would increase the rate at which early SS tables (and EM tables) are emulated in future seasons, with fewer DMD machines (but understand that I am in the minority of table purchasers, but probably in the majority on this forum).

The list below indicates the licensed tables from the Top 100 not yet emulated in PA. While we can moan and complain we want them, it is up to FarSight to be able to get licenses for a reasonable amount of money. In addition, with the Stern app being released this year, a bunch of the 21 century tables should be released separately. Licensed tables I would like to see emulated include:

Stern (Metallica, Spider-man, Simpsons Pinball Party, Star Trek)
Data East/Sega (Guns N' Roses, Jurassic Park)
Bally/Williams (Indiana Jones: TPA, The Shadow, World Cup Soccer)

I'd predict that the only tables from my list that will ever make it into PA are Jurassic Park, World Cup Soccer, and The Shadow. Other more likely tables include Congo, Tales from the Crypt, Indianapolis 500 and Corvette.

Code:
Title			Manuf		Year	IPDB	Pinside	AVG
Indiana Jones: TPA 	Williams	1993	5	7	6
The Lord of the Rings 	Stern		2003	14	5	9.5
Spider-Man		Stern		2007	17	12	14.5
The Simpsons Pinball 	Stern		2003	20	20	20
The Wizard of Oz 	Jersey Jack	2013	23	19	21
The Shadow		Bally		1994	26	28	27
AC/DC			Stern		2012	48	9	28.5
Star Trek		Stern		2013	38	24	31
Guns N' Roses		Data East	1994	36	39	37.5
Pinball Magic		Capcom		1995	43	37	40
Congo			Williams	1995	37	46	41.5
Tales from the Crypt	Data East	1993	39	52	45.5
Jurassic Park		Data East	1993	33	70	51.5
Metallica		Stern		2013	98	8	53
Iron Man 		Stern		2010	77	31	54
Batman 			Stern		2008	51	57	54
Indianapolis 500	Bally		1995	68	43	55.5
World Cup Soccer	Bally		1994	73	49	61
The Who's Tommy Pinball Data East	1994	58	72	65
Corvette		Bally		1994	57	74	65.5
Star Wars		Data East	1992	46	91	68.5
Johnny Mnemonic		Williams	1995	69	71	70
Batman Forever		Sega		1995	75	78	76.5
Demolition Man		Williams	1994	76	82	79
The Walking Dead	Stern		2014		25	
TRON: Legacy		Stern		2011		26	
Game of Thrones		Stern		2015		32	
Pirates of the Caribbea	Stern		2006		42	
X-Men			Stern		2012		45	
Big Bang Bar		Capcom		1996		47	
Family Guy		Stern		2007		51	
Disney TRON Legacy 	Stern		2011	52		
The Hobbit		Jersey Jack	2016		53	
Full Throttle		Heighway	2015		60	
Transformers		Stern		2011		65	
Flash Gordon 		Bally		1981	65		
KISS			Stern		2015		66	
WWF Royal Rumble 	Data East	1994	79		
America's Most Haunted	Spooky Pinball	2014		79	
James Cameron’s Avatar	Stern		2010	83		
Apollo 13 		Sega		1995	87		
Farfalla 		Zaccaria	1983	90		
Baywatch 		Sega		1995	93		
The Flintstones 	Williams	1994	95		
Dirty Harry		Williams	1995		95	
Goldeneye		Sega		1996		96	
Shrek			Stern		2008	96
What are your predictions?
 

EldarOfSuburbia

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Feb 8, 2014
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Not sure how you're counting Stargate as unlicensed, since it was a major movie and spawned two long-running TV shows!

Also Centaur II is exactly the same as Centaur, except in a different cabinet.
 

DA5ID

New member
Aug 27, 2014
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thanks for researching and compiling the list - interesting read.

my top license (that is reasonable -meaning no kickstarter) is Congo - unlicensed would be Banzai Run.
Hoping Farsight can work out a capcom deal - and that the pending Stern Pinball Arcade can accommodate the bigger asks.

I think you can take off Farfalla as it emulated beautifully on Zaccaria Pinball (ASK Homework) - and is becoming available on multiple platforms.
 

KayTwo

New member
Apr 19, 2016
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Not sure how you're counting Stargate as unlicensed, since it was a major movie and spawned two long-running TV shows!

Also Centaur II is exactly the same as Centaur, except in a different cabinet.

Sorry, I goofed on Stargate, I completely forgot about the movie/TV show. I guess it wasn't very memorable.

Regarding Centaur II, I saw the Buffalo Pinball guys playing it on last week on their twitch stream, and noticed that it was very similar. Didn't know that only the cabinet was different.
 

Snorzel

New member
Apr 25, 2014
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Nice lists. What is the licence issue with Capcom machines? Just getting the makers licence? If so, they should go for them and Street Fighter II while they are at it
 

Crawley

Member
Mar 25, 2013
706
4
Nice lists. What is the licence issue with Capcom machines? Just getting the makers licence? If so, they should go for them and Street Fighter II while they are at it

They did say Capcom tables were in the realm of possibilities. So still have my hopes up Pinball Magic, Breakshot, and of course Big Bang Bar will make its way in to the game.
 

invitro

New member
May 4, 2012
2,337
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Nice lists. What is the licence issue with Capcom machines? Just getting the makers licence? If so, they should go for them and Street Fighter II while they are at it
I'm pretty sure they have the license for Capcoms already. The issue is EMULATION, of the company software and ROMs. Capcom has a whole different system, and writing code to emulate a new system is big-time hard, indeed, I'd guess it's the most difficult thing that Farsight does. Guessing again: emulating Spike is the reason why Stern Pinball Arcade has taken a long time, and will take quite a while longer. (I would think emulating Capcom should be an order of magnitude easier than Spike, due to size.)

I wouldn't think TPA's license for Capcom tables (if they have one) would cover Street Fighter.

PS Crawley you missed the best one: Airborne! :) The rare Kingpin (9 produced) would also be manna from heaven. As would the unproduced Red Line Fever, but I don't think more than a whitewood exists of that one.
 
Last edited:

vikingerik

Active member
Nov 6, 2013
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What system is Phantom of the Opera? Farsight pulled that off without any big deal on the emulation. IPDB says it's "DE/Sega version 2", and nothing else in TPA was on that or versions 1 or 3 or 3b either. LAH and Frankenstein have been added since, but at the time POTO's emulation was new. If that was doable, Capcom should be.
 

invitro

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May 4, 2012
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Good point on PotO. They also seem to have emulated Alvin G. I'm basing my guesses on:
- I'm pretty sure someone from Farsight mentioned the difficulty of emulating Capcom's software as the stumbling block for their tables,
- The same for SAM/Spike, with additional difficulty of getting the emulation of those to run fast enough on mobile devices,
- I believe Farsight paid, and perhaps is paying, the author of PinMAME for his emulation code. Someone posted that he was still listed on Farsight's payroll, maybe in his LinkedIn profile or something like that. Maybe he didn't do code for all systems. Wild guessing here.

I'm sure Capcom is doable, I just don't know if it's yet a high priority. But, their tables are unlicensed, and DMD, two big positive points, and quite a bit more well-known than, say, Alvin G. (I'm still surprised or even shocked that Farsight is doing an Alvin G table, I guess the player-vs-CPU angle was too good to pass up.) Of course I really really hope that Capcom tables will eventually come to TPA, all of 'em. (And that the more highly rated Alvin G tables do.)
 

shutyertrap

Moderator
Staff member
Mar 14, 2012
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With Capcom it's not the difficulty of emulation FarSight stated, but they think it is CPU heavy which would limit the platforms it could release on. Now that Mobile is up to snuff, it may no longer be a problem, but they are fearful of PS3 and Xbox 360 not being able, strangely enough.

The other issue with Capcom is the availability of the machines themselves. There's not many, and they are really expensive.

Steve, the pinMAME guy, indeed is behind the emulation code, but it is not the same as what is used for PinMAME. Legal reasons meant he had to come up with something different.
 

KayTwo

New member
Apr 19, 2016
8
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The reason I've been looking at these tables, and the number of licensed tables available, is to try and predict if the future will see a shift to more 1980's (Numeric/Alphanumeric) and EM machines. I prefer the more simple machines when I play virtual pinball.

Judging by seasons 3-5, Farsight seems to release 6-7 DMD machines per season. In season 3, one was licensed, in season 4, two were licensed, and in season 5, four were licensed.

Based on the fact that all top 100 tables which are unlicensed (if you ignore Capcom) are already in Pinball Arcade, Farsight has several alternatives:
- Increase the number of licensed DMD in future seasons (which they are already doing). As other's have mentioned, I don't think there any many tables left that a Kickstarter would help them.
- Start using tables that are more obscure and lower in the listing (this is already happening as well, but there aren't that many unlicensed tables in 100-200 left to emulate either)
- Adding Capcom tables would help them for a season or two of DMD tables. While the Capcom tables are popular among enthusiasts, none of the sold in large enough numbers to be mainstream popular.
- Decrease the number of DMD machines, and increase the number of Numerics/Alphanumerics and EMs emulated each year.
- Figure out that the more obscure tables are not financially viable, and stop emulating any more machines to concentrate on Stern Pinball Arcade

I can't predict which path they'll take, but I'm sure they figured this out already to.

I just hope they add more 80's machines and EM machines.
 

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