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| The Entertainment Review |
| Genre: Pinball Developer: Zen Studios Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment |
The day of the arcade pinball machine has seen better days, but it now lives in a digital format for every videogame platform that is
available for gamers. The PlayStation Network has gotten its first ever silver ball simulation, “ZEN Pinball,” and luckily it is a good
pinball game. There are certain things a digital version of this arcade game needs to get right in order to satisfy pinball enthusiasts.
“ZEN Pinball” fulfills almost all of the criteria of a great pinball game with its realistic physics and includes quality tables and a large
variety of bonus features that make for fun online competitions. The game was developed by Zen Studios and is actually quite a bit
better than the pinball game that the studio made for Xbox Live Arcade, which goes by the name of “Pinball FX.”
What players will find in this game is four original tables with the promise of even more tables to become available as downloadable
content in the future. As always, players are given the goal of trying to rack up a high score by keeping a ball in play with just the side
flippers. Players are also given the opportunity to give the table a little bit of a nudge with the analog sticks, although it is a little hard to
understand why this wasn’t somehow tied into use with the Sixaxis controls. The PlayStation 3 controller’s motion sensing capabilities
are generally not used properly, but this is one case where they would have seemed to make the most sense out of all the games that
they can be used on.
The tables are all a lot of fun to play, they all look great and each of the tables hide all sorts of secrets that players are able to discover
as they play, and will need to discover in order to rack up a high score in the game. Each table comes with its own set of rules that will
explain how the different areas of the machine work and how to manipulate each table. Those brave pinball super fans who feel like the
challenge of the game is already gone, they can probe into the operating menus and tweaks the factory settings, check bookkeeping
records and adjust difficulty level settings. The operating menu uses the table’s dot matrix displays as its interface. Zen Studios has
proven that they have put a lot of care into the crafting of each and every table that is included in the game.
One of the greatest issues with most digital videogames is the fact that it is often difficult to get a good view of the tables; however, “ZEN
Pinball” handles this issue very well. There are six different camera angles that players are able to switch between, some that follow
the ball and others that are fixed. Players should be able to find an angle that suits the players liking. If the dot matrix score display is in
the way of the player, they can always move it around the screen, shrink it to be a little smaller or get rid of the score display altogether.
“ZEN Pinball” was made to be a communal experience and it is filled with friendly ways to interact with other gamers that are playing the
game. First, there are the extensive online scoreboards that are able to track everyone’s high scores, best one minute scores and
score speed. The one minute score is how many points players are able to rack up in their first minute of game play, and the score
speed is the player’s average points per second in a single game. While moving throughout the menus and waiting for a game to load,
and tables do take quite a few mine to load, players given up to the minute updates on how other gamers are performing online. The
menus that the player will be using to maneuver through the game are very slick, designed to look like various parts of a pinball table.
Switching between menus has the camera moving to another area of the pinball table rather than loading a whole new menu screen.
There are also the many feature heavy multiplayer modes that players are able to play in. Players are able to engage in either local hot
seat or online multiplayer battles. During a local match, players take turns shooting each of their balls, just as they would normally do if
they were crowded around an actual pinball machine at an arcade. However, the online games are a little bit more interesting. It is
here that each players plays at the same time in a race to reach a target score that has been previously set by the host. Players have
unlimited balls, but each lost ball results in a score penalty. “ZEN Pinball” supports the PlayStation Eye, so players are able to have a
video chat while they are playing the game, which is a nice little addition to the game.
“ZEN Pinball” is a great social experience for the PlayStation Network. It gets video pinball right, and then adds a lot of great new
features for both local and online play. The menus are great, the tables are inventive and there are fun extras like a slow motion
feature. It is impossible for video pinball to truly replicate the real pinball table, but this game makes up for that with new features that
players won’t get with the real thing. This is a game that all pinball fans must check out.
available for gamers. The PlayStation Network has gotten its first ever silver ball simulation, “ZEN Pinball,” and luckily it is a good
pinball game. There are certain things a digital version of this arcade game needs to get right in order to satisfy pinball enthusiasts.
“ZEN Pinball” fulfills almost all of the criteria of a great pinball game with its realistic physics and includes quality tables and a large
variety of bonus features that make for fun online competitions. The game was developed by Zen Studios and is actually quite a bit
better than the pinball game that the studio made for Xbox Live Arcade, which goes by the name of “Pinball FX.”
What players will find in this game is four original tables with the promise of even more tables to become available as downloadable
content in the future. As always, players are given the goal of trying to rack up a high score by keeping a ball in play with just the side
flippers. Players are also given the opportunity to give the table a little bit of a nudge with the analog sticks, although it is a little hard to
understand why this wasn’t somehow tied into use with the Sixaxis controls. The PlayStation 3 controller’s motion sensing capabilities
are generally not used properly, but this is one case where they would have seemed to make the most sense out of all the games that
they can be used on.
The tables are all a lot of fun to play, they all look great and each of the tables hide all sorts of secrets that players are able to discover
as they play, and will need to discover in order to rack up a high score in the game. Each table comes with its own set of rules that will
explain how the different areas of the machine work and how to manipulate each table. Those brave pinball super fans who feel like the
challenge of the game is already gone, they can probe into the operating menus and tweaks the factory settings, check bookkeeping
records and adjust difficulty level settings. The operating menu uses the table’s dot matrix displays as its interface. Zen Studios has
proven that they have put a lot of care into the crafting of each and every table that is included in the game.
One of the greatest issues with most digital videogames is the fact that it is often difficult to get a good view of the tables; however, “ZEN
Pinball” handles this issue very well. There are six different camera angles that players are able to switch between, some that follow
the ball and others that are fixed. Players should be able to find an angle that suits the players liking. If the dot matrix score display is in
the way of the player, they can always move it around the screen, shrink it to be a little smaller or get rid of the score display altogether.
“ZEN Pinball” was made to be a communal experience and it is filled with friendly ways to interact with other gamers that are playing the
game. First, there are the extensive online scoreboards that are able to track everyone’s high scores, best one minute scores and
score speed. The one minute score is how many points players are able to rack up in their first minute of game play, and the score
speed is the player’s average points per second in a single game. While moving throughout the menus and waiting for a game to load,
and tables do take quite a few mine to load, players given up to the minute updates on how other gamers are performing online. The
menus that the player will be using to maneuver through the game are very slick, designed to look like various parts of a pinball table.
Switching between menus has the camera moving to another area of the pinball table rather than loading a whole new menu screen.
There are also the many feature heavy multiplayer modes that players are able to play in. Players are able to engage in either local hot
seat or online multiplayer battles. During a local match, players take turns shooting each of their balls, just as they would normally do if
they were crowded around an actual pinball machine at an arcade. However, the online games are a little bit more interesting. It is
here that each players plays at the same time in a race to reach a target score that has been previously set by the host. Players have
unlimited balls, but each lost ball results in a score penalty. “ZEN Pinball” supports the PlayStation Eye, so players are able to have a
video chat while they are playing the game, which is a nice little addition to the game.
“ZEN Pinball” is a great social experience for the PlayStation Network. It gets video pinball right, and then adds a lot of great new
features for both local and online play. The menus are great, the tables are inventive and there are fun extras like a slow motion
feature. It is impossible for video pinball to truly replicate the real pinball table, but this game makes up for that with new features that
players won’t get with the real thing. This is a game that all pinball fans must check out.
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