Pinball FX 3 vs. The Pinball Arcade -- Which is better?

[@Larathen]

One other thing I notice between the two, nudging in TBA is much more significant and less punishing than FX3 is. I barely even use nuding in FX3 because it barely does anything half the time.

[@bluestripetiger]

i have pinball arcade, pinball fx3, and zaccaria pinball for my ps4 and i love all three of them. I wish zen wold do more with its williams license. They only put out a small handful of reproduction tables and then seemed content to stay there. There havent been any new tables uploaded in a while and williams has a huge legacy of tables to choose from.

[@simonridley898]

I really miss Pinball Arcades release schedule,think how many tables they would have released in the last 2 1/2 years if they had not lost the licence to Zen (and it's currently 1 unique table in that time) I play Pinball Arcade far more as i still prefer it warts and all.Shame farsight did not stick through it with new tables for arcade in the last couple of years i would have liked the variety of different tables we may have got. Zen has not turned out to be all you need in digital pinball.

[@videogameobsession]

Nailed it. It hits many important comparisons, in a short amount of time. Well done. I was a huge fan of Farsight's pinball, even going back to the PS2 and PSP versions (WPHOF). I always thought the sound on TPA sounded a bit like they held a mic up to a pinball table's speaker, on many of them. They also often had a LOT of low resolution assets. I fear this is the last we'll see of new Williams' tables from Zen Studios. They seem to be focusing more on original tables again, and sadly, those seem to be very basic, and unpolished, from what I've seen of them. So, what I'd love to see from Zen, would be a new pinball engine (FX4), with importing of ALL existing purchased tables. Upgrades, which include: ray tracing, (which I think could look incredible with pinball!), new lighting modes (as Farsight had with TPA), 120Hz modes, on PS5, etc, more classic, real table conversions (Stern, Data East, Sega, and so on), extra licensing req. tables (do crowd funding if need be!) Adams Family, Star Wars (Data East), Simpsons), and finally, VR modes for all. We don't need elaborate backgrounds, with giant serpents, just a nice pinball arcade setting, with our other existing tables would be great. And VR doesn't need to be more than stereoscopy + head tracking. With PSVR 2, on the way, and powerful PC VR setups, this would be better than ever. Pinball in VR is one od nmy favorite things to play, even on the dated PSVR. Just my Two cents. -Matt

[@videogameobsession]

Oh, and they should really add a mode where you can really appreciate the art of these tables. Give us a free roaming camera.. And even a Photo Mode. And for god's sakes, don't charge extra for it, like Farsight had done! :P One more thing.. (Yes, I am asking a lot from a smaller developer, but it's my wish list, not a list of demands.).. Please make use of PS5's 3D audio, as well as the DualSense controller. I could imagine the adaptive triggers, if really dialed in, might actually have a satisfying mechanical feel of a pinball machine, especially when combined with advanced haptic feedback. It could be, as they say, a game changer! -M

[@ajboomer1347]

The only thing holding back Pinball FX 3 is the absence of pinball tables by manufacturers other than Williams and Bally. It's nicer to have a large collection under one roof. Even though we've seen tables by Gottlieb, Data East, Stern, and more I would love to see tables from Jersey Jack, Spooky Pinball, Suncoast Pinball, and Sega make their debut as digital tables!

[@user-zc9zt2vl5s]

Pinball FX3 is much better! Graphics are amazing!

[@pinballwiz45b]

I'm not sure you entirely focused on Classic Single Player, because that's were the different physics simulation comes into play.

[@skyway73]

Great comparison, thanks. I would love a fully controllable camera, even if it's just took look around the whole machine. Also, if Zen can update their lighting to make it more realistic I'll be so happy 😎

[@GameTestPlay]

Yes, a fully controllable camera would be a welcomed addition. A little confusing why it isn't there already. Seems easy to implement.

[@Dinjoralo.]

I think part of the reason why TPA feels like you have better control over the ball is because TPA has a lot of weird "physics cheats" to make shots work closer to how they should IRL within their not-great physics system. As in, arbitrary physics forces that give the ball an extra push to get it up a ramp, or to help lead the ball into shots. I don't believe Pinball FX3 does this, which makes sense considering they originally weren't trying to recreate existing tables.

[@retroelectro1190]

I bought every TPA table, so it's sad to see it go. With plans of building a virtual pinball machine, I wish there would be a direct 'top down' angle. I still tend to lean towards TPA. That said, I now find myself buying the FX3 Williams...just to compare.

[@David-Cope]

Zen have got the license to Indiana Jones table to be released March 2022. Will add some info in a bit. Got to pop out first. Will start new post above. OK?

[@jodyjohnson265]

I think zen studios did a really fantastic job with the Williams pinball collection for pinball fx3 and yes they are going to add more just give them time.

[@richardabkstorm9009]

Pinball ShowRoom is an excellent idea...Like the trophy lodge in a hunting game... Maybe they could even figure in other options for/in the ShowRoom depending how many goals you have accomplished or how far you are in the game!! ☺

[@stzxgamer1602]

I hope Williams adds NEW tables to pinball FX instead of the same ones from TBA

[@Cyberbrickmaster1986]

They probably want to get Pinball Arcade's backlog out of the way before giving us something new. My guess is because they want to make up for Farsight's loss of Williams and Bally tables, before expanding upon them.

[@Terrylb285]

Where do you get fx3 for the ps4?

[@richardabkstorm9009]

Anything pinball you do is great man...Would love to see more PFX3 table breakdown videos ☺

[@vinylman6580]

If you took the flipper action, graphics and audio from Pinball FX3 and the Ball motion from Pinball Arcade it would be PERFECT!!!!!! When I first saw the Williams Tables recreated on Pinball FX3 I thought finally somebody did it right! WRONG!!!! The ball action is ridiculously too fast! The Nudging is virtually non-existent! My God please fix this so we can have the perfect PINBALL MACHINES!!!!!!!

[@jimmjimms]

Did you say "both tables would benefit...BIGLY"??

[@Peatmoss0979]

Pinball arcade all the way

[@bikerguy5829]

I wasn't around to get Eight Ball Deluxe when it was out. My favorite game of all time. Ticks me off

[@Cryocide]

Notably, the Skee-Ball company offers a virtual pinball cabinet powered by FX3

[@JONACAN]

And now you’re going to have to buy them again, with Pinball FX now, lol.

[@ThomasGrillo]

Since we just lost cabinet mode in both these products, it's really a moot point. LOL It would seem cabinet mode was yanked to allow an exclusivity deal with manufacturers of upcoming pinball cabinets, like Arcade1up, AtGames, Toyshock, and Arcooda, to name a few. This leave the DIY community out, holding the bag.

[@Retro6502]

90 seconds in and you're all over the place. TPA, The Pinball Arcade, Farsight Studios, Farsight, Zen, Pinball FX, Zen Pinball FX, Pinball FX3. Jesus Christ. There's only two things here. Pick a term for each and stick with it!! Having to thinking about which is which while you're rapid firing thoughts is not helpful to getting your point across.

[@__teles__]

Also the reviewer qualifies every opinion so we never actually get a comparison.

[@anonymoushuman8443]

Pinball FX = Pinball FX 3 = Zen Studios TPA = The Pinball Arcade = Farsight Studios

[@Thulgore]

The sound on Medieval Madness in FX3 is nowhere near as good. (I love that table) I love the idea of a virtual personal arcade just to choose which of the games you own are you going to play. It sounds cheesy, but I like it. Also waiting for a jurassic park table that is like the one I used to play in an actual arcade. (I caused that game to malfunction so many times)

[@pinfarmer]

I'd like a option to turn my TV/Monitor 90degrees.

[@mgloco88]

I was hoping that PBFX3 was going to stick to the movie adaptations, I was hoping for some Robocop, Predator or some Terminator tables, I was very sad to hear they are sticking to Williams tables.

[@RabbitConfirmed]

Not gonna lie, I was so pissed when I found out Im not able to purchase them on Pinball Arcade anymore since I only had them on my PS4 and wanted them on my PC. But I was surprised about the good physics in FX3. While I like the graphics of Arcade more I think I prefer the FX3 gameplay. So it's not too bad after all.

[@Juancho-2024]

Deseo que algun dia pinbal fx3 tenga todas las miksmas mesas que the pinball arcade. nunca entendi porque zen studios no tiene mas mesas de williams/bally, gotliebb, stern, zaccaria, etc. la calidad visual de pinball fx3 es abismal al lado de tpa, pero farsight se lleva la palma por la cantidad de mesas que tiene. tengo instalados los 2 programas y visual pinmame. mi diversion jamas tiene fin.

[@adamsgoatee9418]

an excellent analysis.

[@justimagine2403]

They will keep coming out with new software and they will make you buy the same tables again and again.

[@justimagine2403]

Let me buy MODS and put them on my machines. Color DMD. Switch out bulbs. Add toys or underlighting. A module that runs things outside the machine like lights or other toys or solenoids and haptic feedback.

[@smiks23]

love both play in 3d on my oled 4k 3d tv

[@watson2705]

It's probably for the best

[@orion7741]

there is no contest. Zen FX3 is better in every single way! for a free to play game, it is a must have.

[@Tempest-et3wu]

I bought so many tables from both of them

[@angellotomic]

No one has ever made a pinball as good as Pro Pinball Time Shock ULTRA. Unfortunately...

[@Shipwright1918]

Personally think Visual Pinball 9 and X trump both, but if I had to pick one I'd say FX3's Williams games have the best physics, though TPA's play better. Have both, play 'em both, like real-world pinball machines, no two are exactly alike.

[@biptysikty]

I have all the pinball games on several platforms. There is a significant leader out of all the games, and it is clearly The Pinball Arcade. It’s hands down more realistic, better gameplay, and looks and feel’s authentic. The others are what I would call “almost garbage and laughable” The Pinball Arcade wins across every aspect hands down.

[@MM-zm1xw]

I have all Pinball Arcade tables. I prefer to believe that Zen Studios will lose the licenses and they will come back to Farsight. Farsight work is more realistic to the original tables. Zen Studios make them look like truly digital tables like the ones they already have. I don't like them at all.

[@Railoffroader2]

Pinball arcade had decent gameplay but they had quantity! Zen has better quality but lacking in quantity as far as Bally/Williams tables.

[@PinStratsDan]

Nice comparison! I for one don't like the upgrades but I can see that it will appeal to some. On Xbox One there are no frame rate drops. I love Williams Pinball with Classic Arcade physics in Zen Pinball and the fact that you now have short intense games compared to most of Zen's original tables. Zen Classic Arcade / Tournament physics is much more realistic than TPA with its slow and floaty physics, over exaggerated nudge, and suction tube ramps. Zen on Classic Arcade / Tournament physics has much more realistic randomness in the ball movement and the flipper physics, especially in Volume 4, are amazing and it is possible to get flipper tricks right and use them effectively (with lots of practice). It is great that they are now going to implement the flipper physics in the previous three volumes as well and off course for all new volumes. There is much Zen can do to improve their game (i.e. great tutorial mode similar to Trails games) but the core gameplay is solid. I think they are leaps and bounds ahead of Farsight Studios who had their chance at the Williams tables but unfortunately didn't make best use of the opportunity.

[@sandysavard8030]

I have been doing the pinball thing for a while now and let me tell you that free VPX is the best graphics feel and table play hands down there is no comparison not even in the graphics and you dont have to be tied to steam and you can use ssf which changes everything. just my 2 cents

[@martin4458]

imo pinball arcade is more realistic and true to the original tables. Pinball fx3 is not my cup of tea at all.

[@pongod5751]

interesting take...the animations in FX3 are gone in classic mode and the tournament selection has physics very similar to the way the actual Williams tables handled. Pinball Arcade is way too floaty by comparison

[@martin4458]

@@pongod5751 They were a bit floaty on PS3 and earlier Farsight efforts, but they really improved on PS4. The ball now has much more weight.

[@pongod5751]

@@martin4458 i only have PC. Looks like they abandoned it. Maybe the Switch has better physics then Ill hav to check

[@Cyberbrickmaster1986]

I find that White Water and Hurricane are harder in Pinball FX 3 than Pinball Arcade, and not by my own fault. So I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this. But yeah, overall Pinball FX3 is better, especially in sound, quality and business practices. Pinball Arcade is pretty much dead and Zen knows this, which is why they are re-releasing their backlog of tables first.

[@Cyberbrickmaster1986]

@R & R True, but the game has been around for a long time, and there is season bundles for newcomers or people who don't already own a large margin of certain tables. Besides, some tables are sadly no longer available to purchase either for licensing issues or other reasons I'm not sure of. Pinball Arcade also has season bundles, but charging a lot of money for everything was not what I was referring to with shady business practices. It's more so the behind the scenes stuff and what they've been doing in recent years, like how they've not even tried to add anything to Pinball Arcade in over a year, and whatever other projects they do work on, nobody cares about because they suck.

[@zeppy13131]

Can you turn off that cheesy "streaking ball" effect in FX 3, though? It's a cute gag at first, but totally unrealistic... It seems like it'd get tedious fast.

[@S.J.C._Entertainment]

Yes. All of the “extra” stuff is easily removable.

[@jaybuck4951]

Great stuff

[@videogamenetwork6728]

The one thing that sucks about pinball fx 3 is the fact that there’s no South Park pinball and no street fighter and no ninja garden sigma 2 pinball either

[@Goochbag8]

Hey FX3. Where my scared stiff at?

[@taratv9099]

Great info--thanks!

[@matttafakt]

I'll never connect my ps consoles to internet because this is not how gaming was intended

[@GypsyGuyy420]

pinball tables are cool

[@tjwright]

I like your usage of the term "bigly". It just works. I agree, a digital gameroom where you can explore your collection of tables would be really cool.

[@francescozotti6992]

nightmare elm street ???

[@Tschunasun]

No comparison! at Arcade PB the balls dance like table tennis balls. FX3 is simply the best. Whitewater is by far the worst table of many good and even more excellent tables such as "Attack from Mars" or the Theater of Magic and Cirqus Voltaire. Wait for "Centaur 2" and "The next generation" and above all: "Scarred Stiff" on remastered in fX3

[@ks-bg5uk]

FX3 has some killer games with better animations but in terms of which one is most realistic to real pinball, TPA wins hands down. I just don't like all the lost tables from license agreements. Plus, dx11 mode on the TPA is glitchy for me but dx9 mine is spot on.

[@feliperodrigues6772]

I Prefer Fx3

[@couchi3000]

I would love when Zen stops makink williams tables the zen studios pinballs are so much better.

[@smashedlegends]

Why did you say TBA instead of calling it Pinball Arcade? Seriously...

[@casedistorted]

Just get the pinball arcade tables from OTHER MEANS. You can get the entire thing for free online, and then when you play them and log into the game, your scores transfer. Badda boom I wouldn't advocate for this but since FarSight Studios sucks.. their steam moderator also BANNED my steam review (didn't know you could even do that), for 'breaking their terms of service' or some BS. Basically telling people through my Review to get the tables elsewhere because you can get your scores uploaded by just logging into the game on Steam. I guess their shady steam mod didn't like that.

[@joshuareisig1558]

Please come back to the internet and make more vids.

[@adownbeatexegete1549]

The Pinball Arcade is trash now they took out most of the tables.

[@janlassen6101]

Compare Attack From Mars. It's like 2 different tables almost. Arcade wins by a KO. On the FX the ball is soo fast some times that it goes into warp speed. No ball in real life can move that fast. When the physics are not good, the rest don't matter.

[@expfighter5112]

The Pinball Arcade is far superior in game play vs all the animations in FX3!

[@onedev6594]

Zen didn´t do a good job on their "new realistic Physics" for FX3. Please ZEN..... change the physics. The actual ones are all the way too bumpy and too fast. No Fun at all. Compare it to PAPA Videos. Pinball Arcade Gameplay/Physics is MUCH better. I cant do any Pinball Techniques in FX 3 like Live Catch, Drop Catch and Rolling or Post Passes, no way. In Pinball Arcade it´s all possible. For me Pinball Arcade is the better one.

[@dlm425]

Pinball arcade way better, just cause the ball mechanics, fx3 ball moves way to fast,

[@SxGaming3390]

A bit of a biased review but nevertheless ok.

[@vender3516]

PINBALL fx IS JUST COPY AND PASTE TABLES with great audio does not make it better

[@Curratum]

Pinball Arcade is dead, people. Get over it. Sure, it sucks, but it is what it is.

[@anonymoushuman8443]

The Pinball Arcade seems kinda dead in 2022