http://www.facebook.com/pinballarcade

For those of you who are still wondering about how The Pinball Arcade is coming along, they have a Facebook page where questions seem to be answered immediately, even on weekends! Seriously, my questions were answered within 5 minutes of posting them! Here is a list of a bunch of recent questions and their answers:

Also, eight ball deluxe, kiss, playboy and future spa pretty please

Eight Ball Deluxe will be in one of the polls that we mentioned earlier that will help determine our a table selection.

Theatre of Magic was top of my list, but since we're getting that one already some of my other favorites are: Indiana Jones ('93), Addams Family, Family Guy, and Haunted House. I won't hold it against anyone if we never get the first three, seems like a licensing nightmare.

You're right - those first three are not easy at all. Haunted House is the number one new Gottlieb table that we'd like to add.

Will we get reprise of Space Shuttle released? One of my 80's favorites for many reasons, and among the best in Hall of Fame...

Branded as The Pinball Hall of Fame - no. It will be better.

I have only one small suggestion (which the first pack seems to have granted.)
as the monthly tables begin to flow, try to make sure that there is a mix of new tables to the franchise mixed in with the tables on the older compilations. I will likely be buying all of em.

Thanks, Abe! We'll try to keep a good mix.

While it seems that half this wall is table requests, I've got an odd one from left field that I'd still at least like to see others opinion. "Android" from the mid-90's Epic Pinball PC compilation. Would the tech even be possible to make a PA version of a table that didn't even exist? Would this be a licensing nightmare, dealing with Epic and the original table makers? Should I just put down the hash pipe and get help?

Technically, yeah we could do it, but we're staying focused on the many real tables we have to pick from.

Do you think you could have Lord of the Rings?

We want it too! Not going to be easy...

Elvis, Simpsons, Guns and Roses, Addams Family, South Park.. make these happen please!

Interesting five picks, we've discussed each of these tables with the primary licensor, and they range from next to impossible to really quite possible.

Hey Farsight any updates on Bally tables !
Can`t wait to play Tales of Arabian nights pc version !

Not yet, but stay tuned.

Hey Farsight, will there be any sort of upgrade for the console versions were we could set up our collected pins in an arcade setup (sort of like PHOF?)

Once we release enough table, that is in the plans!

Will there be any way to control the dynamic "room" lighting to give you the illusion you are playing the table in the dark?

We've talked about this, but currently it would require more than double the table textures to pull it off decently even on PS3 and 360. We would love to add this eventually. We really like the way that Black Hole is looking on 360.

Since you guys are being very cool about answering questions: What are the online leaderboards going to be like? I remember in Williams Hall of Fame you couldn't search for your friends on the leaderboard, and scores that were earned with Infinite Tilt turned on were allowed. Is this going to change?

They'll be much improved. I'll take a screenshot and post it here in a week or two.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pinball_Arcade says that the game will be released in March, but I saw elsewhere January and still somewhere else in February. Thus, I am curious which source is correct? If the Wikipedia article is incorrect, I encourage you to correct it since almost assuredly that is one of those sites all kinds of people will go to for information. Thanks!

There are no firm release dates yet. Here's a repost of what we said last week: we are working hard to release the game as soon as we can so that you can experience it. In order for our game to be seen (and in our opinion be successful) we also need the support of Apple, Google, Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo. These companies have responded very well to our game – which is great! But we have to fit our launches into their schedules to get the support that we need. As of today, we are still projecting a launch on iOS and Android later this month and confident that we’ll hit it. We are doing our best to be a launch title for PS Vita in February, and the Mac version will also release then. The 360, PS3, and PC versions will be released at the end of March. We’ll use this extra time to improve the game and address as many of the comments that you’ve given us as we can. Please help spread the word about the game if you like what you’ve seen. For The Pinball Arcade to be successful and continue delivering tables for years to come, we’re going to need a lot of help getting people to notice us. In the meantime, we’ll be looking into limited beta releases soon on mobile devices, so check back on our Facebook page for details!

Hey Farsight, thanks for the great replies, out of curiosity, are you guys planning to include any Gen. 1 Stern tables like Flight 2000 or Orbitor 1?

Eventually, yes. There are a few that we'd like to re-create digitally.

Bought a few of your console versions in the past. Taxi and others really took me back to playing in the pizza place I worked in my teens. And wow, it's just spot on. All the little nuances are there, its really just amazing. Can't wait for iPad versions coming soon. It would be nice if I could change the view options while the ball was not in play. Also in the PC versions, flipping the screen long ways would be awesome. Adams Family would be a pleasant surprise for sure, but not holding my breath.

We've added the camera options to the options menu in additional to the in-game controls.

You guys are the only developers I know that answer questions around the clock and on weekends. Just goes to show how much you care about your fans. You're definitely earning our respect and support!

Thanks for noticing. And we can't thank you enough for sending one of our videos to TouchArcade. I think that might have just qualified you as our number 1 fan.

it seems like getting licenses in a real hangup for you guys. I'm just curious, i guess i just don't understand the business aspect of it that well, but if the tables already physically exist, why wouldn't the entities who own the licenses want to make additional money off of them.

I'm sure if it was just up to Hammer, it would be a done deal.

Do you think on the 3DS version, you could add the options to use both screens for the tables, like on dsi pinball games.

We need to keep the gameplay in 3D, but when you flip the 3DS upside-down, that's sort of what we're doing.

Would it be possible to "lock" a particular camera view, I find on the 360 I tend to change views by mistake whilst playing ie as I pull the triggers for the flippers my thumb naturally applies pressure on the pad & shifts around a tad hitting a button and the view changes.

Yes, you can lock the camera view so it doesn't scroll. However, you want to be able to disable a button. We'll have to look into this one, and see how best to implement it.

I noticed this game is coming to PC. I can see people wanting to "mod" the game engine to add different balls, change the physics, replace sound effects, etc. Would you be for or against this?

Not to that extent; balls - yes, physics - prob not, sound effect or anything that would make it different than the real machine - no.

Being for the PC platform, will the game be optimized for running on actual virtual pinball machines with support for 3 different displays, a shaker motor, etc. at some point?

Eventually - that is in the plans.

After several years have passed do you think you will be interested in recreating some of the more modern Stern and Jersey Jack tables? I realize getting the hardware emulation right can be very tricky, especially with both companies beginning to use LCD displays, advanced sound systems, etc. And this is if license holders give the green light.

Yes - we are definitely interested.