This is just my opinion, everyone should do why they like most in this hobby. Some people love these.

Personally, I’d vote, to use that money to save for a real, non-virtual pin. I have played arcade 1up, at games legends, and one that was almost as much as a stern pro with 4K monitors and force feedback everything. For me, it’s just not the same. I do not get the kinetic satisfaction out of it.

The only real vote I can offer, is if you do go virtual, go full size. The difference in the ball size on the 3/4 machines is pretty noticeable.

Agree with NovaCade

You’re shopping for a fleshlight when there’s plenty of real women around at reasonable prices.

Strongly agree, spend the money on a real machine.

Don't know if you've ruled out building your own from the ground up, but it worked out great for me. If you're capable of building one, it's a good way to get the features you want, with the quality you want, i.e. your "dream" VPin. You can take your time with it, i.e. start with a basic VPin and add more toys later. I started with a 43" 4K display and built around that. Cabinet flatpack from VirtuaPin, a repurposed ColorDMD as the DMD, a 28" backglass display, KL25Z based all-in-one controller, solenoids, exciters, flashers, linear potentiometer based plunger, kick-butt sound system, Pinball FX3 collection, Visual Pinball tables, etc. For me, it was a great addition to a line-up of real pins. Who cares if it's different than a real pin? It's immersive and the fun factor is in the stratosphere.

Go to a pinball show and play a vpin in person. Buy a used one you can try before you buy. These vary greatly in quality and can take dozens of hours to fully configure. I don't like them so can't recommend one but will admit I dislike some I've tried less than others.

As others have said I would go full size. Personally I would go all out an get an Ultra VP. Expect to pay close to $9500 shipped with tax. Just know that a prebuilt virtual pin will continue to drop in value unlike a real pin, will still require some tinkering with settings (even the Ultra VP), and no matter how good the tables may look it still can't come anywhere close to a real pin. I've been having a debate of whether or not to sell one of my real pins to free up a spot for an Ultra VP but every time I get close to pulling the trigger the real pin wins out.

https://www.recroomworld.com/virtualpinballmachines.html

100’s of hours to configure in my experience. You can buy preconfigured SSD’s but it’s taking part in stealing the property of the amateur table designers. I’d definitely buy used or build your own as others have suggested. Like most technology you don’t need the absolute latest and greatest. Using parts that are a generation or two behind will save a lot and you won’t notice the difference on the vast majority of available tables.

What did you end up doing/buying? I'm curious. I'm also enjoying the virtual pinball scene and my 8 real pinball machines haven't got any play since I have that wonderful machine a couple of years ago

I've built my own. All the bells and whistles...
I then got 2 real pins because it's just not it.
If possible I'll add more pins.
In my opinion, if you're not going to do it yourself, then pass. It's expensive to purchase and you better play a real pinball machine for the money spent.

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For the price of a good virtual pin you can get a real one. I would definitely recommend that you actually play one before deciding what to do as many feel they are not close to the same experience.

I recommend keeping an open mind to the whole virtual scene. I have been playing for 30 years, collecting for 13 now and wish I would have looked at virtual sooner. Is it the same thing? no-nobody said it was. Is it different-yes. Is it getting better and better-yes. Will it ever replace real pinball entirely-no

Here is my story: I had a friend challenge me to help him find a worthy virtual with all the bells and whistles. He had a custom one built but had nothing but troubles and constant crashing in the software. Making the platform synch with all new force feedback, etc. takes a platform that is highly polished and perfected. Searching various vendors I found a nice basic virtual pinball in real cabinet but no feedback, etc. Cost was around $6000-$7000 I believe. I had a bit of sticker shock and was on the fence if I wanted to invest that much into a virtual machine, and if I did I wanted it to feel real with all the bells and whistles(feedback,etc). After looking at more vendors I found one with all the bells and whistles but better yet a software platform that runs everything smoothly(thanks to Panzer). I ended up finding a deal on the Ultra version 5.0 for just over what the basic ones were selling for. Now the new version 120hz 6.0 is $9000+. Is it worth it? Depends on where you are in your current hobby. I have collected tons of games-own tons of games so for me it allowed me to expand my horizons tremendously without taking up any more space. I can now explore 1500 tables in one machine and with the advancements in technology they are getting better and better with emulating the real thing. The new feedback with solenoids is what sold me after playing one in person-virtual machines without feedback did very little for me before(find one and play one-trust me). I have been playing mine everyday for months now and honestly it would be one of the last machines I would sell out of my current collection.

Open your mind to virtual pinball-wish I would have checked it out sooner and not have been so stubborn when it came to giving it a chance.

One of my favorite virtual tables is Attack From Mars-really does a great job emulating the real thing(plus it saves me space not having to buy actual machine)...

I like VP, but it's not the same as real and to get as close to real as possible just is crazy money that really... get the real deal. So I went budget and did one that's decent enough for less than 1k.

If you want to go budget people have been modding The Legends ones you can buy for around $400

You can also go out and buy a 1up Centipede arcade but it does not hold a candle to the real dedicated machine imo

Most of the Ultra and Xtreme owners seem really happy-it is a tough pill to swallow but once it gets down your throat there is no regret. Very happy I took the plunge into the virtual world and bought an Ultra.

https://www.recroomworld.com/UltraVP_Info.html

https://xtremegamingcabinets.com.au/presta17/14-premium

So glad I went with the Ultra VP 6.0. Is it as good as real pinball? No. However, has it replaced the desire to buy classic and even some modern games? Absolutely. I can play games such as Addams Family, Funhouse, Diner, Lord of the Rings, Terminator 2, Attack from Mars, Taxi, AC/DC, etc and it all feels close enough to the real pin. I have zero desire now to sell and make room for those games. It’s so nice not having to deal with selling and moving games and having literally hundreds of games at your finger tips. The Ultra VP has replaced all classic games in my lineup, the physical games I have left are all newer games.

How is the screen on the Ultra VP? I know the specs but how does it look?

I’ve been into virtual pinball since about a year and a half and I am truly amazed by the simulations. I went the way of building my own cab which was a lot of fun. I am continually amazed by the work of the folks driving the developments of the software and the folks creating the games. I have started creating my own game - with the layout I always wanted and nobody ever built - and this is a real plus of virtual pinball - making your own game.

IMO build your own. You will need to learn the system to update & add new tables etc. Total cost with everything to build your own shouldn't exceed 3k - 4K.

For a high end quality build it will be higher.

This guy spent $4k on his higher end build, he had some of the parts, and it still doesn’t have as many features as some others people build / buy.

I applaud people who build these crazy cool high end Vpins, it’s really impressive. For me I don’t have the skill set or the 100 - 200 hours+ to build and configure one so went prebuilt.

Question from guys building your own and it may sound odd.

I have a "Universal Bally/Stern" pinball cabinet with physical playfields and backglasses and I wish to replace the backglass area with a monitor. By replacing the backglass with a monitor I can lock the displays in one spot and change game BG art with ease and dispense with the adjustable GI lighting.

The score displays will be moved so the player one and two will be at the very top and the player three, four and ball count will be at the very bottom with the monitor in between.

What are you using for a display monitor? My total area to work with is 28" wide, 25" tall. Anything between 720p to 4k is fine.

The only other wrinkle is it would be nice if the monitor will display a file when powered up, though I'm not adverse to utilizing a small media player of some sort for the job.

Thanks for the input!

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maybe it‘s just me, but I don‘t understand what you are asking. If you have a monitor in the backbox, why are you thinking about location of displays? You only need to decide if you want 1 or 2 monitors in the backbox.

It's a real pin, not virtual.

No one has a suggestion for a monitor?