I've been waiting to build one of the full cabs (already have the program running on my desktop to play tables). Visual Pinball done correctly is incredible and I highly doubt a company will be able surpass some of the tables that have been user created through VP.

As noted before, look at this table running in VP (watch in 1080p to get the full scope):

Indeed it's the fact of relying on user created tables. As much work as they do, it's still not going to come close to what a proper studio can produce. The best of the best on VP/FP, still looks like crap. Plays like crap.

I'm playing the Android beta of Pinball Arcade, and it's heads an shoulders above what's been done with the VP/FP stuff. I hope the PC version does support all the bells and whistles. A cab built around Pinball Arcade would actually be worthwhile building, if it does.

"The best of the best on VP/FP, still looks like crap. Plays like crap."

This is exactly why I can't fathom why so many people are making these huge expensive pinball cabinets with monitors when most of the games play like crap anyhow. I have all these emulators on my mame cab, and they are fun to play, but seems like a waste of time and money to have a dedicated pincab IMO....

I was this close to pulling the trigger on the equipment on this, until I ran it on my 46" TV just as a test. My enthusiasm instantly waned:

1) Graphics aren't the best. The engine was written circa 2000 / DirectX 6.0/7.0. There's no anti-aliasing on anything but the ball. Flippers have jaggies, etc.. You can keep buying fancier graphics cards but isn't going to matter if the software doesn't take advantage of features.

2) Because people can't make money off this (legality issues) the quality of the playfields are highly variable depending on volunteers dedication.. Some look really good (given #1's limitations) but some look really crappy.

If i'm going to build a whole contraption around this concept, I want it to look good as well. And looking at forum posts, nobody really has a solution.. apparently the engine itself doesn't get a lot of development love to even get that going; let alone things like 3-D to take it to the next level.

? I guess you haven't played the popular tables then. There are quite a few that are VERY well done. The T2 posted on page 1 is a fine example. From the pics the creator posted you couldn't tell if it was real or virtual. MM isnt bad, along with many others. The pinball arcade hasn't impressed me much but it is laggy and slow on my evo, so not sure how its heads and shoulders above. No virtual app will make pinball near what a physical machine is like.

I guess everyone needs to actually play a real cabinet with good tables...there is some miss information spreading around.

I played a virtual pin at expo - it was Noah's from vpforums. He gave a very convincing nudge demonstration, the physics seem pretty good. He was a good guy and it looks like he has put a lot of time into trying to get these things to play properly.

I wish I would have spent more time trying it out. I would consider something like this - I don't have money/space for 30 pins. Still, would you play this if it were sitting next to 3 or 4 REAL pins? I guess that's the big question. If it would get some play, i could see it being a worthwhile addition.

I have one if anyone is interested in buying. Needs a new Cabinet IMHO as my wood working skills are for ****. I'm looking for about $1500 with the computer, monitors, Nanotech plunger and nudge circuit board. I have new Stern games installed as well like FYG, Sherk, TDK. Looking for a quick sale or trade for a pinball machine.

And Wiz's thread lives on ...