Gaming Nexus' Pinball FX VR Wishlist
The Gaming Nexus gang has been having a lot of fun with Pinball FX VR. In fact, the game has probably caught more attention from the VR-enabled cohort of the GN staff than any game since Demeo. Our review was very positive, and we've been exploring the possibilities the game presents in bringing our pinball tables out into the real world. And, of course, leaderboard battles are well underway.
But, as much at we love Pinball FX VR, we are still gamers. That means that we have some...suggestions for ways our new favorite pinball app could be even better. Given with the best of intentions, of course.
Things I Would Love In Pinball FX VR:
1) I want more places to hang my posters. For example, in the Williams room, you can house up to five pinball tables. That means that you can win up to ten posters from the tables in that room. However, there are only two measly spots for me to hang my posters. What if I have more than two posters? What then, Zen Studios? Do my posters mean nothing to you? I worked hard for these posters, and I want to hang them up! Don't let "fung-shui" and "good taste" hold you back!
This is a poster for winners. I mean, not the current winners of the leaderboard contest. More like "people that have put in the work to win posters".
2) Speaking of posters, you know what is a real bummer? Winning the High Score version of the poster first, and then winning the less-exciting version of the same poster much later. To explain, each poster in the game has two version. The first is just the poster itself - which is lovely, to be sure. I can hang it up in one of my two poster slots. But there is also an enhanced version of each poster - the "awesome" version, if you will. This version displays the player's current high score for that table, right there on the wall. Now, winning these things isn't easy. You have to earn tickets in the game, and then spin a wheel to earn prizes. The tickets do not come easily, so it is a huge bummer to already have the awesome version of the poster on the wall, just to spin the wheel and get the loser version of the poster. Boooooo!
3) Instant restart on games would be so appreciated. I absolutely loved the awesome VR animation of the Ark of the Covenant opening up and Indiana Jones hiding his face that plays at the end of a game the first time I saw it. Not so much the 45th time. Having to sit through all of the ending screens on the machine and the animation is a great touch, to be sure, and it adds to the authenticity of the table reproduction. But when I am doing a one-ball challenge and I gotta sit through it every time, it starts to wear out its welcome. Having a button to quickly tee up the next round would be super. (And I know I can kind of do this through the pause menu, but that wipes out the progress from the last round, which I don't want.)
4) I would love to be able to rearrange my tables a little bit. I fully understand the need to keep the Williams tables all together in one room, and the Universal tables together, etc. But can I move stuff around within these spaces? Our writer Jeremy Duff, for example, is in the midst of a World Cup renaissance. Can he move that one up to the front of the room? Or can I move my Indiana Jones table up so it's closer to my Indy statue? That sort of freedom would only increase our feelings of ownership over our arcades.
Why you back here in this dark corner all by yourself, girrrrl?
5) Obviously, we would all like more tables. The imagination runs wild when you start considering all of the tables Zen Studios has in its stables. Now, I know we are unlikely to see Star Wars (which has it's own VR app) or Marvel. And more Williams tables are likely on the docket, which is great. But you know what I would love to see? The long-lost Bethesda tables, complete with statues of Power Armor or Doom guy. Or the South Park tables, with statues of Cartman and Butters. Oh lord, the possibilities are endless. We understand that licensing is tough. But...a Doom guy statue would be soooo dope in our arcade.
6) Make Achievements and Masteries active across all modes. Outside of the campaign, building up your level on tables (and thus earning tickets for goodies) is only possible by building up Achievements and Masteries, which are little gameplay benchmarks that the player can work towards. And some of these have very specific modes that you must play in to advance them (get a certain score with just one ball, for example). But others are more general. For example, on the Indiana Jones table, there is an achievement for triggering the quick multiball. Now, I know I've done this a lot; I've heard Shorty yell "You cheat, Dr. Jones!" at me several times. But I think it is only registering some of these Achievements and Masteries in certain modes - and the UI doesn't tell us which ones. So, why not make it ALL the modes? Easier than rewriting the tooltips, surely!
Bobby Brown's Dance!...Ya Know It!!! would be cool too. Reeeemixxx!
7) Why do my cassettes keep disappearing? I know I have that CastleStorm cassette, and it just...vanished. In general, this cassette thing is very difficult to use. And what would it take to get some Depeche Mode up in this joint?
8) Please fix this. I assure you, I have destroyed more than five asteroids.
