VP scratches a different itch than the real thing. If you enjoy learning the rulesets and working to achieve different goals on a ton of tables, a simulator is great. If you are trying to hone the raw physical skills to play great on real machines.. not so much. But as many have said, understanding how to play is half the game while executing is the other half.
This is a great machine. Just budget about $300-400 to install all the force feedback goodies and you'll have a smoking vpin. I've built 4 and I'm just now installing my first set of force feedback and flashers. I've enjoyed it plenty without, but I'm sure I'll enjoy it more with. Besides the flipper aiming problems, mine have demonstrated a consistent lag of maybe 15-20ms. Your brain accommodates the lag pretty quickly almost like how a batter swings the bat. But I can see how this is intolerable for some. For me, it's just part of the video game aspect of the simulation. When there is a shot you can't make from cradle, you just have to find another way to make it regularly. While this can throw your RW skills off, I've found that I can walk up to games I've only played on the sim and do pretty good. But sometimes I must admit that just playing stay alive can get you better scores than shooting for risky targets... in this regard VP mirrors the RW.
Here is my Force feedback controller board. It has contactors for the pops and relay boards to run a real knocker, strobes and starter solenoids for theflippers and slingshots. It also has RGB PWM for the 5 flasher light show (which is totally amazing).
For me, this virtuapin would take priority over a real pin if I was stranded on an island with one machine, but as others have said, to each his own and these machines are really just complementary to a small collection. It's not and never will be the real thing just like MS Flight simulator will never be the same as flying an aircraft. The real question being asked is if the simulation is immersive and I think the answer to that is a resounding yes.
