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The nostalgic joy of playing 'Pinball FX2' in VR
I associate pinball with family, partly because my father convinced me it was cool when I was a kid, just like he did with The X-Files, Mystery Science Theater 3000, ping pong and a handful of other quasi-nerdy necessities from the '80s and '90s. Plus, one of my uncles had a room packed with pinball machines -- yes, he had the Addams Family table -- and as a pre-teen I'd revel in playing them late into the night every New Year's Eve. Now that I'm an adult, it's my turn to show these family members what's cool (or simply how to use Gmail), and virtual reality is absolutely on that list. I'm not saying VR will take off commercially or change the world, but it is definitely a cool thing. And now, there's a clear way for me to introduce it to my dad, uncle or anyone with an affinity for those rapid-fire flippers: Pinball FX2 VR on the Oculus Rift.
How Twitter helped make the 'Archer' pinball game a reality
Pinball FX creator Zen Studios released a bundle this week featuring tables from Archer, Family Guy, Bob's Burgers and American Dad. The pack, called Balls of Glory, is available now across PS3, PS4, Vita, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Windows 10, Steam, Android and iOS (whew). And all of this exists because of a tweet, as Zen Studios VP of Publishing Mel Kirk explains.
'Portal' turning into a game of hyperdimensional pinball
Developer Valve legendarily has a hard time counting to "3" but that doesn't mean getting your hands on some new Portal action is too far out of reach. It just might not be in a place you'd expect. The long-running Zen Pinball series is taking a Newell-blessed trip to the test chambers with the "Aperture Science Heuristic Portal Pinball Device" table. As you might expect, there are plenty of nods to the series, with GLaDOS passive aggressively taunting while Chell jumps through the eponymous ingresses and co-op robots ATLAS and P-Body handling multi-ball duties. It's $2.99 for consoles, Mac and PC and $1.99 on mobile come May 25th.
Daily iPhone App: Marvel Pinball is a great app hindered by a bad model
Zen Studios is very well known for their pinball titles, which all feature great graphics, well-made themes, and excellent pinball table mechanics. Just today, Zen has brought their very popular Marvel Pinball game to iOS, and you can now download the app itself for 99 cents. Unfortunately, that price is a strange one -- all it will get you is one Avengers-based table, which is interesting enough, with its various Avengers-style pinballs that you can send out into battle as you play for points against Loki. But there are 14 other tables to play with, and all of them need an in-app purchase of $1.99 each. That's it -- there's no way to earn or unlock tables from within the game itself, which is a missed opportunity at the very least. Charging users 99 cents to download the app for one table in this case just seems like charging for a free trial, unfortunately, and I wouldn't be too surprised if the app goes free very soon anyway. The good news is that the pinball mechanics are great, and Zen Studios obviously knows how to make a great pinball-based video game (I especially like the "free look" mode, which allows you to browse around a table just by tilting your device from side to side). But the pricing model here is very flawed and uninviting. If you're a pinball fan, you might think about downloading the app for the Avengers table, and then maybe buying one or two that you like (each table has a trailer and a features list, though you can't play on them to even try them out before you spend the money). For everyone else, Zen Studios has done a big misstep here by hiding their great content behind an awkward pay wall. They should have considered a better way to do this.
Rocky and Bullwinkle bound for Xbox Live Arcade
In the spirit of Thanksgiving... okay, so this is in no way relevant to the American holiday, but we're posting it anyway. Who remembers Rocky and Bullwinkle? No one? Well, the classic cartoon characters are getting their very own mini-game compilation, coming soon to Xbox Live Arcade.At the very least, this will be an opportunity for the franchise to redeem its former sins; the duo starred in atrocious platformers on the Game Boy and NES back in 1992. The new title, The Bullwinkle Show (what, no Rocky?) is being developed by Zen Studios, and will include Live Vision Camera support in its plethora of party games.So, is this even news? By all means, let us know in the comments.[Via X3F]
