Zen Pinball 2 Message Board older than one year ago

For well over two years now, I’ve had the honor of working with Zen Studios on video pinball tables based on Marvel characters and events. It seems only appropriate that Marvel Pinball: Civil War should release the week of Thanksgiving (as part of PSN’s Zen Pinball 2) – ‘cause I’m plenty thankful for these guys and everything they’ve done with Marvel Pinball so far.

Civil War is one of the biggest events ever told in comics, and as you’d suspect, Zen takes representing it in pinball form very seriously. Here are a just a few reasons why you, the fan, will be thankful that’s the case…

Whose Side Are You On? No, really… When Zen and Marvel decide what tables to do, it’s a truly collaborative process. Sometimes they’re Zen’s idea initially, sometimes they’re ours – it’s Avengers-level teamwork, I tell ya! The idea to do a Civil War table came from us, and with it a mandate: If you choose to do Civil War, you have to let the player decide if he’s with Iron Man and Pro-Registration or with Captain America in opposition to the Superhuman Registration Act. “Whose Side Are You On?” was the slogan for the event, and it’s the event’s central theme – choosing sides simply had to be there. And, after a bit of a prologue involving the Stamford incident, that’s exactly what you’ll do…

Your side determines your experience. Choosing sides doesn’t just reflect your beliefs on who’s right – it also affects gameplay. Most of these are quite subtle (different bonuses and ramps to hit and such), but you’ll also see a story-based link: Go Pro, you’ll get help from the Thunderbolts; side with Cap, Mr. Frank Castle comes along to lend a hand (whether Steve likes it or not).

Your skill recruits undecided heroes to your cause. See those fine folks on the Allies/Enemies board above? They’re all up for grabs to be recruited to your side, and doing so – by nailing ramps and targets, of course – helps to affect the difficulty of the epic one-on-one battles between Iron Man and Cap. According to this particular play-through, Iron Man has recruited Spider-Woman, Tigra and Vision, while Spidey, Human Torch, Ms. Marvel and Luke Cage favor Cap. Sentry? Still deciding. (Oh, I suppose I should also mention that your actions can steal a character’s allegiance…)

You’ll relive huge moments from the story. If you’ve read Civil War (and if you haven’t, do it now!), you’ll remember some huge events, from – SPOILER ALERT – the fall of an Avenger to the wedding of Storm and Black Panther. And the one that made national headlines, of course, as you see (and hear, if you click it) above – which of course only plays if Iron Man recruits him from the Allies board.

You’ll relive not-so-huge moments from the story. We worked with Zen to dig really deep throughout the entire epic Civil War event – not just the core six issues, but the tens of issues spanning other Marvel series as well – to jam in as much authenticity as possible. Above, you can see Iron Man and Cap discussing Tony’s decision to go Pro via Iron Man/Captain America: Casualties of War, and you can hear it come to life as you will in the Civil War table by clicking on the image. Needless to say, this is by no means the only nearly verbatim conversation of this type that you’ll hear play out between the two.

You’ll experience things you’ve probably never seen with any pinball table, real or video. Without fail, Zen continually impresses players with their ability to innovate with each new table. That’s no different with Civil War. In addition everything I’ve mentioned so far, you’ll also get to do things like start the whole thing with a two-ball multiball (representing the cleanup after the Stamford incident), or marvel (heh) as tracks manifest from thin air (above) – the kind of thing only possible in videogame pinball.

It’s made by a bunch of really nice Hungarians. I realize this has absolutely nothing to do with how Civil War plays, but I just have to point out how great the Zen guys are to work with. They’re awesome, and not just because they have names like Viktor with a K and Zsolt with a “rhymes with ‘jolt’ so you know he’s a badass.” They deserve to be thanked in public for doing such a great job, not just on Civil War, but for all their Zen Pinball greatness. So… Thanks guys!

If you’re as big a fan of Zen Studios as I am, go ahead and let ‘em know in the comments below. Ask questions, too! I try to respond to everyone…

Stiq Flicks - from film and video game industry freelance writer Kevin Kelly - examines video games and attempts to pair them with matching films. It's like wine and cheese, but with more aliens.
Earlier this week, Zen Pinball 2 finally made its way onto the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation Vita, updating the genius of the Zen Studios experience and making it mobile on Sony's new handheld. It also brings with it the shambling spectacle of the Plants vs. Zombies table, based on PopCap's botanic home-defense title, pushing to an impressive number of tables available for the digital pinball experience.

Alternatively, this piece could have been titled The Pinball Arcade and Two Pinball Movies, in reference to FarSight Studios' equally impressive flipper-flicker that recreates classics such as the Theater of Magic and The Machine: Bride of PinBot tables. With Zen Studios creating original tables and FarSight Studios bringing the oldies back to life, it's a good time to be a pinball fan.

But that hasn't always been the case. Pinball, the mechanical godfather to the video game industry, once reigned as the king of quarter-dropping entertainment. Pinball pulled in more money than the US film industry did from the 1950s - 1960s. In 1983, one of EA's early hits was the classic Pinball Construction Set from Bill Budge. Creating these boxes of glass, wires, lights, and plastic where you send a silver ball careening around ramps, toward targets, and through tunnels is and was an art form that nearly died. Though the modern spin on the classic game probably won't bring it near its former glory, it has returned in some capacity thanks to select developers.

There are two movies that can help bridge the gap and fill you in about pinball: Special When Lit and Tilt: The Battle To Save Pinball. Both films are well-produced, extremely informative and surprisingly emotional. If you're looking to be a true pinball wizard, both of these films are required viewing.

Are you ready for some apps that enable you to watch football on Sunday? Okay, so we failed Marketing 101 - it's our way of saying DirecTV's NFL Sunday Ticket is now available to PS3 users.

Joining football is free-to-play PS3/PS Vita cross-play compatible (phew!) Zen Pinball 2, from Zen Studios. If you're a PlayStation Plus subscriber, there are the usual discounts to consider, like 75 percent off Greed Corp and 40 percent off Daytona USA, and a free download of Borderlands. The full list is over on the PlayStation Blog.

Zen Studios' first mystery pinball table based on a PopCap franchise will be Plants vs. Zombies. The table, playable at PAX this weekend, features your favorite flora and undead continuing their epic battle with the assistance of giant silver balls.

The Plants vs. Zombies pinball table will be available on September 4 and 5 in North America and Europe, respectively, as a cross buy add-on for Zen Pinball 2 on PS3 and Vita. The table flips on in XBLA's Pinball FX2 on September 5. The table is $2.99 through the PlayStation Network, 240 Microsoft Points ($3) on Xbox 360.

Asked for a review of the table, Crazy Dave expounded, "Wabby-wibby woooo. Whaaaa! Wanna watta win."

If you’re a regular PlayStation.Blogcast listener, you’re probably sick to death of hearing about how much we’ve been playing and enjoying The Pinball Arcade on PS3 and PS Vita. Farsight’s pinball simulator faithfully recreates the experience of playing some of pinball’s greatest tables, many of which are quite difficult to find in the real world.

Zen Studios has taken a different tack since debuting on PS3 (via PSN) in 2009 – the tables featured in Zen Pinball don’t exist in some decrepit arcade or collector’s garage. These fanciful pinball experiences don’t – and simply couldn’t – exist in real life.

Now Zen is upgrading the “platform” for these tables – meaning the physics engine, visuals, and social media experience – with Zen Pinball 2, coming to both PS3 and PS Vita for free next month. I was lucky enough to be sharing a flight out to Cologne for gamescom with someone from the Zen PR team, who handed me a PS Vita loaded with a nearly complete version of the game.

With The Pinball Arcade fresh in my mind, I slipped back into the Zen state of pinball, which has a decidedly different feel. Zen’s pinballs themselves feel a bit lighter than in The Pinball Arcade, leading to longer games. That makes sense – real world pinball tables are there to keep you pumping quarters into the machine; clearly, that’s not a concern here. Even when playing a table in Zen Pinball 2 for the first time, I felt like I was pretty good at it, though that likely means that true mastery will mean posting ridiculously high scores on the leaderboards.

The tables available on this build are all currently available for PS3 via Zen Pinball, so I’ll focus here on how Zen Pinball 2 fares on PS Vita. The visuals are clear and sharp on the OLED screen; while the tables aren’t real, some of them look like they could be. There are a multitude of playing angles available, and you can turn the PS Vita unit vertical to instantly get a more natural playing view. While The Pinball Arcade offers this feature, I found it difficult to use in practice. However, Zen’s friendlier physics make the touchscreen flipper controls a more viable playing option. As you might expect, Zen Pinball 2 offers touchscreen options for all the menus as well. There’s also a pass-and-play multiplayer mode for up to four people, which operates much like you’d expect to play in the arcade.

Two of the biggest draws for the Zen Pinball universe remain in the sequel: licensed tables and crazy stuff going down on said tables. The Marvel universe is well represented, with 13 tables currently available including several notable comic heroes. The worlds of Street Fighter and Ninja Gaiden are represented, and Zen has promised a mystery Popcap collaboration as well.

What happens on those imaginary pinball tables really sets Zen Pinball 2 apart: Aliens abduct your ball on the Paranormal table. A Blanka figurine crackles with electricity on the Super Street Fighter II table. Zemo and Red Skull battle it out with Captain America along the edge of his table. The Avengers is the most ambitious – you choose a character-specific ball (Iron Man, Black Widow, etc) and carry out missions specific to that hero. Oh, and the entire table is the SHIELD Helicarrier from the movie, slowly gliding over a city.

On PS Vita, I found Zen Pinball 2 to be the Yin to Pinball Arcade’s Yang. What it lacks in realistic feel, it more than makes up for in variety and fantastical sequences across its 26 tables. As us pinball devotees find in-person pinball experiences harder and harder to come by, Zen Pinball 2 is another great, inexpensive way to get that flipper fix. If you own any Zen Pinball or Marvel Pinball tables, getting Zen Pinball 2 is a no-brainer.

The new platform is a free download, and you’ll be able to import previously purchased tables from within the app, where you’ll find new Trophies to earn. Zen Pinball 2 and the new Popcap table will be available to download via PSN on September 4th.

Zen Studios will pull back and launch Zen Pinball 2 for PlayStation 3 and Vita on September 4 through the PlayStation Network. The Zen Pinball 2 platform will support cross-platform play on PlayStation devices, meaning any Zen Pinball 2 table purchase will be playable on PS3 and Vita at no extra charge. Zen Pinball 2 will have 26 tables available at release (with free demos) and is a free update to Zen Pinball and Marvel Pinball.

Zen also announced today that its PopCap-branded table will pop up September 4 and 5 on PlayStation systems and Xbox 360, respectively. The company still hasn't revealed whether the table will be based on Plants vs. Zombies, Peggle or Bejeweled, but it plans to do that at PAX Prime, which takes place August 31 through September 2 in Seattle, Washington.

We here at Zen Studios are happy to finally share Zen Pinball 2‘s release date with you — the game will be available for download Tuesday, September 4th on PS3 and PS Vita!

In addition, we have a great surprise for you! Our latest table creation, based on a PopCap Games mega-hit (and I do mean MEGA), will be releasing as new DLC content the same day! What might this table be? All details will be revealed later this month during PAX Prime! If you are at the event, we invite you to stop by PopCap’s booth and get first hands on with the table!

As you all probably know, we take pinball very seriously here at Zen Studios, and we see pinball development in two different parts. On one end you have the actual pinball table, which had better be fun and entertaining. We have worked hard to make sure you have an awesome selection of themes and table designs, the most advanced physics, and stellar-looking tables.

On the other end, you have the game presentation, features that make it competitive among friends (beating your own score over and over is fun, but beating your friends is SO much better), and the overall experience. We have worked really hard to make Zen Pinball 2 the finest pinball platform available!

• Zen Pinball 2 is cross platform entitled. Any content you buy will be playable on both PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita at no extra charge!
• Zen Pinball 2 is a free download for everyone, with trials available for each table so you can try each table before you decide to buy.
• For those of you who already own Zen Pinball or Marvel Pinball content, you will be able to import your purchases into Zen Pinball 2 for free, receiving graphics, physics and social system upgrades at no extra cost!
• Zen Pinball 2 will launch with 26 different pinball tables including the mystery PopCap table!
• A beautiful layout and design featuring all Zen pinball tables under one roof.
• New trophies for all tables!
• New social system with in-game score notifications, challenges, Facebook posting, ProScore (personal performance across all tables) and TeamScore (a combined score ranking you and your friends).
• New rule sheets to help you better understand the tables, while still providing opportunity for discovering the secrets of the table on your own.

As you can see, Zen Pinball 2 is set to take pinball games to the next level. Any guesses on what PopCap game is coming to pinball?

The Avengers take pinball form to defeat Loki and his evil minions.

#avengers I was going to headline this article "You've Seen the Avengers, Now Play With Their Balls", but decided to be the better man, at least for a few seconds. Funny, I would have thought the Hulk's would be bigger. More »

#zenpinball With FarSight Studio's The Pinball Arcade hitting the PlayStation 3 and Vita today, Zen Studios wants to make sure everyone knows they've got their own pinball platform heading to Sony systems this spring, and it's (technically) free. More »

Released way back in May of 2009, Zen Pinball quickly became a cult classic on the PlayStation Network. Heavily supported with DLC in the form of new tables -- and given away for free at one point to PlayStation Plus subscribers -- Zen Pinball has persevered over the last three years to the point that Zen Studios, the game's developer, is just about ready to unleash Zen Pinball 2 on both PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita...