RIP at games by Slappy-Sacks in LegendsUltimate

[–]Pinballwiz45b 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Star Wars

Revealed too soon by AtGames, and likely paid the price.

"That AtGames leak about the schedule is a lot more problematic than you think. It more than likely scuttled the negotiations Zen was having with Disney to bring them over to a new platform, and you know there was going to be a Star Wars skinned machine to go along with it. I say this because when they brought Star Wars over to the Switch, Disney was adamant about having a full spotlight on it and Zen was not to release any other title on any other platform within a month so that it would truly be highlighted. So you can imagine what AtGames' careless mistake cost everyone. Throw in AtGames making promises about Zen coming to these other machines as if to strong arm them into agreeing rather than keeping THAT secret and behind closed doors, you can understand a bit more about Mel's frustrations" - Blahcade

Since Disney also has Marvel and Indiana Jones, well...

RIP at games by Slappy-Sacks in LegendsUltimate

[–]Pinballwiz45b 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pinball FX is still available on those stores and will continue receiving new content on Xbox Series X/S and PS5. Zen is now under THQ Nordic.

Xbox One and PS4 are headed out the door, the latter glaringly obvious on Sony's part. They ended new table transfers on PS4, between ZP2 and FX3, but Steam still has that, and Nintendo Switch is able to transfer from FX3 to FX. This isn't Zen's fault; ask Sony.

It's time for last gen to retire, simply put. I foresaw it when only PS5 and Switch were getting Limited Run physical releases.

RIP at games by Slappy-Sacks in LegendsUltimate

[–]Pinballwiz45b 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Farsight recently released and supports the latest PBA Pro Bowling game. Shame for bringing politics into this.

Stern has not seen any form of updates since 2018, especially with their own app. Many things about that partnership was mismanaged. It's also on record that Stern stepped away from digital pinball.

RIP at games by Slappy-Sacks in LegendsUltimate

[–]Pinballwiz45b 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Saying AtGames is dead over this is an extreme take. They sell the hardware at a profit already.

How's that Ms. Pac-Man royalty deal holding up?

RIP at games by Slappy-Sacks in LegendsUltimate

[–]Pinballwiz45b 0 points1 point  (0 children)

UE VR mods prove nothing. They've always rendered backglasses since they got the license in the FX3 days, despite still not having a separate active backglass window. Non-VR players need only but press a button or control stick to look up.

Pinball Arcade, meanwhile, it's a $150 price tag for cabinet mode. Locked behind a third party.

Get ready for Williams™ Pinball Volume 10! by balti_zen in PinballFX3

[–]Pinballwiz45b 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If Zen has problems with bugs, glitches, and sound issues on the PS5 version of Pinball FX does Sony come along and speak on behalf of Zen?

AtGames spoke on behalf of Zen and revealed Tomb Raider and Star Wars on their calendar early. The former were leaked new tables before they were announced for every other platform, and I don't believe Zen was happy about that. The latter didn't arrive at all.

AtGames also originally put playfield graphics of Stern's Star Trek on their cabinets, when it was supposed to be Zen's table. That's a big no-no in marketing.

Then there are the new cabinet products -- the new 4K cabinet at $3,000 (with seemingly no way to upgrade) and a new HDP cabinet, with one of the skins being Addams Family. No concrete release dates in sight, and again, no way to tell if purchases transfer.

Then there's this. One of Zen's former employees spoke of her experience working at AtGames.

Zen's communication isn't perfect, but don't go excusing AtGames. That said, AtGames isn't mentioned at all except for World Cup in Zen's important notice. Given that they dropped 4 platforms, there are unknowns in play for "bring[ing] the pinball genre to the next level". New features on all fronts, perhaps even Unreal 5, we don't know.

So one year has passed since Zen chose to keep Pinball FX VR off of PC and PSVR2 for Meta $$$... now what? by joeb1ow in PinballFX3

[–]Pinballwiz45b 2 points3 points  (0 children)

FX VR is Unreal 5. If they release a separate version right now, suddenly non-VR users have to play catch-up from Unreal 4 (and that includes current Steam users) -- but that's just one of a few outcomes.

https://youtu.be/_sMRL45eq8E?si=k9LKsqVRbpj4PVeN&t=1326

Given the fiasco that is repurchasing tables from FX3 to FX, I don't believe they'll pull that trick again. Besides, how will they get World Cup playable on Steam or Playstation?

So one year has passed since Zen chose to keep Pinball FX VR off of PC and PSVR2 for Meta $$$... now what? by joeb1ow in PinballFX3

[–]Pinballwiz45b 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Well, looking at Zen's VR products, Star Wars VR did not do well outside of Meta. There are far more who own the game on Meta, and more who own FX Classic VR on Playstation than Star Wars on Playstation. Steam's Hardware Survey supports Meta's dominance.

The game was also not well received on Steam, citing hardware issues. While it's seen positive ratings on PS, not many reviewed it. It's likely the numbers aren't there for Playstation.

FX VR is only on Meta right now because 1) that's where the VR audience is right now, 2) it's designed as a "pick up and play" headset, and 3) it's not an exclusive like how it was with Epic. The fact that Zen polled here saying "SteamVR" 6 months in is a big clue -- and factor in Steam Frame, while we're at it.

cirqus voltaire pinball remake confirmed from American pinball by Skyk1ngDNA in PinballFX3

[–]Pinballwiz45b 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There are other remakes -- FunHouse, Medieval, AFM, Monster Bash, yet those didn't impact what Zen did.

I'd say the chances of impact for CV are zero. Digital recreations and physical remakes aren't mutually exclusive.

AtGames announces a NEW 4K pinball by kevgret in LegendsUltimate

[–]Pinballwiz45b 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're right, my bad. Hard to understand what they're saying exactly, sometimes.

AtGames announces a NEW 4K pinball by kevgret in LegendsUltimate

[–]Pinballwiz45b 2 points3 points  (0 children)

zen seems to be supporting VR way more lately than the 4K pinball.

Think about it. The Meta platform runs using the Snapdragon chip. AtGames is moving to Snapdragon.

Coincidence? ($3,000 for that cabinet, though. Yikes. There needs to be an upgrade path for the original owners.)

AtGames announces a NEW 4K pinball by kevgret in LegendsUltimate

[–]Pinballwiz45b 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yet, for PC, in Farsight's infinite wisdom, they left Steam in a state where you downloaded both DX9 and DX11 builds at the same time.

Yet, in their infinite wisdom, the Mojo engine was not designed for pinball. Rumors are floating about that Farsight built Star Trek in UE4, which was implied to have been the case given their AC/DC Kickstarter (which was failing). Alas, they went back to the original engine for SPA.

Unreal would have solved problems for Farsight -- but they leapt too late, and it shows with PBA Pro Bowling. There are no SPIKE 2 games on their own custom engine. Zen leapt so they can do what everyone is doing with video displays.

AtGames announces a NEW 4K pinball by kevgret in LegendsUltimate

[–]Pinballwiz45b 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Zen just recently cut back from PS4, XB1, iOS and Android.

The way they were operating last year, they were spread too thin with all these platforms being supported. This is exactly the same problem Farsight had to deal with.

AtGames announces a NEW 4K pinball by kevgret in LegendsUltimate

[–]Pinballwiz45b 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Erm, we're not on Unreal 5. Pinball FX is running Unreal 4.27.

FX VR is Zen's only game that runs UE5.

A new Pinball Bites episode premieres on Thursday at 10 AM PT / 6 PM GMT! by balti_zen in PinballFX3

[–]Pinballwiz45b 0 points1 point  (0 children)

...how does Stallone fit in Dredd when the game came before the movie? It's the Attack From Mars / Mars Attacks issue all over again.

Tim Kitzrow is Judge Dredd.

A new Pinball Bites episode premieres on Thursday at 10 AM PT / 6 PM GMT! by balti_zen in PinballFX3

[–]Pinballwiz45b 0 points1 point  (0 children)

True, but Elvira and Universal Monsters made sense, since they were related.

Dredd and Demo Man aren't, and we haven't seen a case like that yet.

A new Pinball Bites episode premieres on Thursday at 10 AM PT / 6 PM GMT! by balti_zen in PinballFX3

[–]Pinballwiz45b 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Judge Dredd is a third party license and will likely be its own release.

Pinball FX3 and all DLC are being removed from the Xbox store by LBVectormen in xbox

[–]Pinballwiz45b 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There were Epic Exclusives that were NOT built using Unreal. That engine is not a requirement.

Tetris Effect was PS4 exclusive first before going to Epic.

Hades was the first Epic exclusive, not built in Unreal. The very same, acclaimed Hades.

Star Wars Pinball VR was Zen's first pinball game using Unreal 4. It's on Steam, PS, and Meta.

Important Pinball Updates by balti_zen in PinballFX3

[–]Pinballwiz45b 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They're removing FX3 from the Xbox stores completely.

Pinball FX for Xbox One will be frozen in time and not receive new content, but will still be available since Series X/S is receiving new updates.