TPA Wii U version info?

[Rafie]

From the latest newsletter:

I'm happy about that! HECK YEAH!! I can't wait to see that DMD on the control pad.

 

[Hinph]

Zen is just a different style. Pinball Arcade is to Gran Turismo as Zen Pinball is to Need for Speed.

 

[karl]

Please use one of the zen threads to discuss that game folks. This is not an attack on Zen! It just do not belong here. I am not a mod so this is just a request and not meant to offend anyone. It is just to much for and against zen talk in to many threads. Now if someone were to say this is how zen handles the WIIU controller then fine but yay and nay talk goes to other threads me thinks

 

[pseudokings]

Then that is your opinion if its not "real" pinball to you. I have also played enough real pinball in my time and I still can appreciate what Zen has been doing. Building tables from the ground up along with adding their on voice work and DMD animations and such. You're right..just because they exist doesn't mean you can consider them equal. I'm sure there are some others that may feel the same way about TPA. I just get tired of people here constantly bashing Zen when all they are trying to do is appeal to casual gamers who wouldn't even think of playing pinball. I personally know at least 6 people who have played Zen's Marvel tables because they were comic fans. After they played the tables, they decided they liked pinball. So they also got TPA and they love it. Funny thing is...the people over at Zen got mad love for FarSight and you may have about 2 people over there that actually may speak badly on FS. Other than that...everyone loves them. Although I like Zen a bit more, I still love TPA and don't hold them to an expectant pedestal of authentic pinball. I think we can all agree that when it comes to authentic pinball...FarSight is where its at. I still enjoy Zen for what they bring and that's that.

I want to make it clear that when I use the term "real pinball", I mean real, physical 250+lbs pinball tables made by Bally/Williams, Stern and etc. That is not an opinion. Real physical pinball tables existed for 40+ years before anyone did the same thing digitally, and new ones are still being made today, so as they were first, and are still current, they are what is "real". And I have been lucky enough to play Ripley's, TOTAN, CV, MM, Funhouse, CFTBL, MB, EATPM, TOM, BOP, NGG, STTNG in real life (not bragging, just truth - and hell there are guys who own all of these bad boys so, just having played them isn't a big deal, except that it is precedent - anyway, and I haven't played many of them in a very long time, unfortunately). And with that knowledge, and an arcade near enough by that get to play real pins fairly regularly (not near as often as I'd like though), I just can't get next to Zen in quite the same way I can TPA.

The real, phyical 250+lbs machine experience is what pinball is to me, and TPA is the only thing in digital form I've played that really "felt like it" for lack of a better term. I'd bet that even a majority of the Zen fans on this forum (of which I am one, just not so adamantly as you) would agree that the experience of TPA is more like playing a real physical pinball machine than Zen is, and that because of that, it is superior, even if only by a little bit. That's my point. I'm not a hater, but Steph Curry is a better shooter than Blake Griffin. Even if you like the Clippers more, Curry is a better shooter, he just is. BTW, FS has from Day 1 said they wanted to re-create the tables as accurately as possible, so they are the one's who've told us to compare TPA to real pinball. I like Zen, but Zen makes "video game pinball", which is very cool, and I dig it, always have. FS re-creates many of the greatest pinball tables ever conceived in digital form. FS is saying "judge our work against the brilliant original table that we are trying to emulate/simulate/re-create", Zen is saying "have fun playing videogame pinball". Both things are very cool, but FS has set a higher bar, and has IMO better achieved their goal. Zen = Apples, TPA = Oranges, but ask a doctor is you should drink apple juice or orange juice, for better nutrition. That doesn't mean I don't like apples.

BTW, Hinph made a good comparison, and I'll take GT any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

 

[pseudokings]

From the latest newsletter: Pinball Arcade for the Wii-U is now in the hands of Nintendo! We will make an annoucement when we know more about the release date.

EXCELLENT NEWS!!! Can't wait! Here's hoping for all the current packs on Day 1, and that Nintendo doesn't take too many holiday days off.

...Still wondering where my newsletter is though...

 

[Sean]

I received the newsletter. If you're one of those folks with a different email for your Farsight account in Pinball Arcade, that might be the issue?

 

[Rafie]

I want to make it clear that when I use the term "real pinball", I mean real, physical 250+lbs pinball tables made by Bally/Williams, Stern and etc. That is not an opinion. Real physical pinball tables existed for 40+ years before anyone did the same thing digitally, and new ones are still being made today, so as they were first, and are still current, they are what is "real". And I have been lucky enough to play Ripley's, TOTAN, CV, MM, Funhouse, CFTBL, MB, EATPM, TOM, BOP, NGG, STTNG in real life (not bragging, just truth - and hell there are guys who own all of these bad boys so, just having played them isn't a big deal, except that it is precedent - anyway, and I haven't played many of them in a very long time, unfortunately). And with that knowledge, and an arcade near enough by that get to play real pins fairly regularly (not near as often as I'd like though), I just can't get next to Zen in quite the same way I can TPA.

The real, phyical 250+lbs machine experience is what pinball is to me, and TPA is the only thing in digital form I've played that really "felt like it" for lack of a better term. I'd bet that even a majority of the Zen fans on this forum (of which I am one, just not so adamantly as you) would agree that the experience of TPA is more like playing a real physical pinball machine than Zen is, and that because of that, it is superior, even if only by a little bit. That's my point. I'm not a hater, but Steph Curry is a better shooter than Blake Griffin. Even if you like the Clippers more, Curry is a better shooter, he just is. BTW, FS has from Day 1 said they wanted to re-create the tables as accurately as possible, so they are the one's who've told us to compare TPA to real pinball. I like Zen, but Zen makes "video game pinball", which is very cool, and I dig it, always have. FS re-creates many of the greatest pinball tables ever conceived in digital form. FS is saying "judge our work against the brilliant original table that we are trying to emulate/simulate/re-create", Zen is saying "have fun playing videogame pinball". Both things are very cool, but FS has set a higher bar, and has IMO better achieved their goal. Zen = Apples, TPA = Oranges, but ask a doctor is you should drink apple juice or orange juice, for better nutrition. That doesn't mean I don't like apples.

BTW, Hinph made a good comparison, and I'll take GT any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Okay my friend. I can be argumentative at times and Karl is right. I won't say anything about it any longer. We'll agree to disagree with certain aspects to Zen. I see you like to do a lot of comparisons. Most to which helps your case. My cousin (whom I argue with a lot) does the same thing. We were arguing about the Wii U and 360 the other day. Yeah 2 30 something year old men arguing about video games. It's all good. Oh and I also liked Hinph's comparison. I think that best describes Zen and FarSight here. I like Gran Turismo better than Need for Speed. I guess Forza will probably be Pro Pinball when it drops. Okay I'll drop the Zen and FS debate from here.

So does anyone have any idea when Nintendo does their updates? I mean from what we've been hearing, Nintendo isn't like Sony and Microsoft when it comes to certification. So TPA may be the system of choice, even over the 360 if it plays like it or better than the 360. I guess we'll see.

 

[Sean]

Nintendo does weekly releases on the same day depending on the territory. New downloadable content comes online in Europe on Thursdays; I think North America is Tuesday or Wednesday.

As far as how long a lot check goes (the QA process before release), that all depends on how well it's been QA'ed prior to submission and whether or not Nintendo has to send it back for additional tweaks. The ability to freely patch software is new and from interviews with developers who have product in the shop, patches for bug fixes go through pretty quickly; if new content is enabled or existing controls are changed then you do, have to go through a full lot check again.

Assuming Farsight have a playable submission without any game-breaking bugs we should hopefully see it in the eShop in January. It all depends on how many other developers have submitted software at the the same time and how quickly Nintendo vets everything.

Given the fact that Nintendo isn't charging developers for updates and the integrated social media aspect I think if the sales are there Nintendo could easily eclipse Microsoft in this arena.

 

[Rafie]

Nintendo does weekly releases on the same day depending on the territory. New downloadable content comes online in Europe on Thursdays; I think North America is Tuesday or Wednesday.

As far as how long a lot check goes (the QA process before release), that all depends on how well it's been QA'ed prior to submission and whether or not Nintendo has to send it back for additional tweaks. The ability to freely patch software is new and from interviews with developers who have product in the shop, patches for bug fixes go through pretty quickly; if new content is enabled or existing controls are changed then you do, have to go through a full lot check again.

Assuming Farsight have a playable submission without any game-breaking bugs we should hopefully see it in the eShop in January. It all depends on how many other developers have submitted software at the the same time and how quickly Nintendo vets everything.

Given the fact that Nintendo isn't charging developers for updates and the integrated social media aspect I think if the sales are there Nintendo could easily eclipse Microsoft in this arena.

Whoa!! Is that true? Oh man...if that's the case, then I would definitely say it would trump MS in that department.

 

[Hinph]

Yup, no charge for updates or patches and developers can do so almost as much as they please. They can also set their own prices and put their games on sale whenever they wish. There is, of course, still a submission and approval process for QA purposes.

Still, Nintendo seems to be the most Indie friendly of all of the consoles now, outside of the Ouya. Here's hoping it forces Sony and especially MS to follow suit next generation.

 

[Sinistar]

Still, Nintendo seems to be the most Indie friendly of all of the consoles now, outside of the Ouya. Here's hoping it forces Sony and especially MS to follow suit next generation.

BWAAHAHAAH AAAAHAHAHA and I thought my jokes were bad. Friendly and Indie in the same breath as Nintendo ? No , contrary evidence does not support this at all , as you will soon find out.

 

[Sean]

Nintendo Life has done interviews with all the devs with wares in the eShop and none of them has anything negative to say about the eShop experience. Yes in the past it hasn't been great, but Nintendo seems to have learned their lesson and are trying to actively compete with Apple's iTunes shop which is the nearest thing to the quality of the eShop (or vice-versa). It's really down to whether or not the installed base buys enough download software to make it worthwhile to develop for now.

 

[Hinph]

Yup... until now, it has been bad. Their policies have changed substantially with the Wii U though.

Check this out

"Nintendo messed up the worst last time around," Haveri said. "Now they really know that they have to make a huge improvement to get back into the game. What I have seen and heard so far is amazing and it's definitely going in the right direction as far as small developers are concerned."

 

[pseudokings]

Okay my friend. I can be argumentative at times and Karl is right. I won't say anything about it any longer. We'll agree to disagree with certain aspects to Zen. I see you like to do a lot of comparisons. Most to which helps your case. My cousin (whom I argue with a lot) does the same thing. We were arguing about the Wii U and 360 the other day. Yeah 2 30 something year old men arguing about video games. It's all good. Oh and I also liked Hinph's comparison. I think that best describes Zen and FarSight here. I like Gran Turismo better than Need for Speed. I guess Forza will probably be Pro Pinball when it drops. Okay I'll drop the Zen and FS debate from here.

So does anyone have any idea when Nintendo does their updates? I mean from what we've been hearing, Nintendo isn't like Sony and Microsoft when it comes to certification. So TPA may be the system of choice, even over the 360 if it plays like it or better than the 360. I guess we'll see.

It's cool.

As far as updates from Nintendo goes, I'm not sure, it seems like in the short life of "The Siren" that there has been new content to DL, and update patches on both Tuesdays and Thursdays, without anything really much to go on as to the rhyme or reason behind it. Maybe they'll stabilize and/or explain their update days/plan as time goes on. And hopefully FS will know soon, and in advance of the release date and will let us all know when TPA will drop. Some of the eShop stuff has been a little strange so far, in example the much anticipated Rayman Legends demo was available on the announced date (the 14th, I think it was), but you had to do a search for Rayman to find it. BTW, anyone who hasn't DL'd that really should, it is amazing, and really beautiful.

 

[pseudokings]

FS facebook update says console version news coming in the next couple days, so hopefully that will mean Wii U version release date, and tables packs available along with it!

 

[Sean]

I posted this in another thread, but I do hope they'll go with a higher price point than mobile devices with less DLC on the initial Wii U release similar to what they did with the Mac. I think £15 (US$22) for six-eight tables would be a good offering. I am curious to see how much they charge per additional table.

Of course download-only tables are sitting side-by-side with full retail releases that go for three to four times the price of download-only games so they could aim higher and still look like a good value with little or no DLC. As much as I enjoy Nano Assault Neo and Trine 2 I know I'll play a lot more pinball so I'd happily pay a higher price to avoid cherry-picking the tables.

 

[Se7en]

Any word/thoughts on the best controller for playing on the WiiU? Gamepad vs pro controller?

 

[pseudokings]

- Wii U version has been upgraded to "Coming Soon" -
(above from Pin Wiz's most recent "update" post)

Was hoping for a little more than that.
And where is the 8th Day of Christmas Facebook update that's supposed to have news on the PS3 and/or Wii U versions? I mean, I know the day ain't over yet, but it is already 5pm my time, so it can't be any earlier than 4pm in Cali...

Damn... I really am pretty impatient for the Wii U version to drop.

 

[Sean]

I know, you need to chillax, eh?

 

[pseudokings]

I know, you need to chillax, eh?

Yeah... but that's never really been my style.

Theoretically they'll update us on the Wii U version as today's "Day of Christmas" in the next couple hours, so, maybe after that...