No

No, virtual reality only replicates part of the pinball experience

That you still need a Partial physical object Infront of you ( for the tactile elements) only proves it

The VR pinball you played were the same as the PBFX2 tables. Made from zen. Pinball arcade is sure to follow.

Solid state pins didn't kill pinball. Then after that DMD didn't kill SS pinball. The newest LCDS aren't going to kill DMD games...My Pont is.....Fun is Fun. Pinball will always be fun. I love the old bally games. But pinball will evolve.

What a ridiculous question. Does releasing a F1 simulator signal the death of F1? No. Why? Because you'll never be able to simulate a physical object with 100% accuracy.

It's going to take more than a few a-holes to kill mechanical pinball.

tumblr_na668jZp9l1rwjpnyo3_1280 (resized).jpg

I've played the same VR setup with a Vive headset. It was indeed pretty awesome, and I think a lot of guys here aren't quite grasping the different "virtual" solutions over the years vs true VR you are referencing here. Without trying it, or other true VR experiences, you just won't understand how big a leap over any previous video pinball game this is.

All this really lacks is some mechanical feedback, which you can soon likely get with some of the home brew faux-cabinet controllers like that Tested YouTube vid. When there are output controllers available to drive solenoids for this software (like there are to provide force feedback with existing virtual pin cabs running Visual Pinball) mounted in these faux cabs, it will really make for a pretty awesome experience imo.

Does it replace real pinball? I doubt it, VR is niche now, and part of the allure of pinball is that you grab a beer, relax and play a couple games. But it's not a crazy thought...

Jeremy at Tested is a pin owner/enthusiast who felt it just might impact real prices as well after trying it, so the op is not alone in wondering...

Your Cargument is Drivin Me Crazy...
Just kidding about the donut flavored tequila man (resized).jpg
Hagargument is the only way to rock these days.

No way

VR won't kill it. The prices absolutely will.

Since car collecting is basically the same as pinball collecting I guess VR auto driving = VR Pinball?

Virtual anything heightens the desire for the real thing. Good VR pinball will actually increase the demand for real pinball.

Maybe it can replace all the people who insist on calling a pinball machine a "table."

....One of my favorite pet peeves.......

Prices, or...

when the last Aerosmith or Kiss fan is dead, pinball will surely follow...

http://www.760kfmb.com/story/33025938/acdc-launches-at-stern-pinball-arcade-on-oculus

VR pinball will be much like a virtual table (LCD in a cabinet). It will serve it's purpose, which is either to have a machine to practice rules on many many machines, or it will be the MAME of pinball (like MAME is the mame of.. many arcade games). It will never replace the real thing, but it's certainly come a long way, and has it's place. I "liked" VR in the early 90's, but the graphics and interface sucked. VR today isn't going away, you don't have 4 companies all spending millions developing a platform and software for it to just fail. VR doesn't just have to be video games either, many companies are looking to it for training, virtual conferencing.. Hell, they are using it for therapy.

There's only one application that will boost vr into universal useage and it isnt pinball or conference calling.

Dear vr pinball, eat a bag of dicks. Sincerely, Mrgone.

LONG LIVE THE SILVER BALL!

tpa is cool on my phone, but it will never replace the real thing for me.

pinball=coca cola.

vr pinball=new coke.

Here's a cargument.....

You can drive a Bugatti Veyron with a PC emulator. Petals wheel etc. Bu would you rather have the chance to drive the real thing.

donut flavored tequila--Ill never get another ticket ever (resized).jpg

Headbangers in leather will be the death of your pin.

Goddammit Levi you got me iTunesing the Red Rocker now.
Greatest hits : 20 tracks including Heavy Metal--$6.99.
I'll take two.

no comparison to playing vr pins and a real table. played the vp cabs and yes they are cool. but i will never own i virtual pin, will play a normal table a thousand times plus over a video game. you cant simulate the crazy bounces and how evil some games are compared to others. hell, its lots of fun when playing with friends to hear the loud thud of someone nailing a stand up post rubber, and letting them know you heard that.....

The simulation we live in has perfected it, so I'm sure the version we create will eventually get there, too.

I don't live in a simulation. And don't care too.

If I can't feel the mechanics thru my hands, or see the actual table with my eyes, and smell the electricity with my nose, I don't want it. And I don't care to put some stupid thing on my head either if that is required.

Hey OP, when you are playing the vr pinball. How do you hit the buttons? Just motioning your hand or is there a controller of some type?

Seem like when I see Vr its always just the goggles and I never understand how you interact with the virtual environments.

And just my 2 cent on your original question. I do not think it will be the death of mechanical pinball. I think it may be the next step for video pinball, the evolution of things like Zen and Pinball arcade. Which in my opinion have probably helped the hobby more than hurt it.

The first two will be perfected within 5 years. With existing VR headsets and haptic feedback, the tech is in the neighborhood already. The smell can be done now, but who wants that, really? The last one will eventually get there (VR without a headset), but it's decades away.

The Vive has awesome controller that act as surrogate hands in the VR environment. The Oculus uses an XBOX controller, which is not ideal. PS VR uses two move controllers, which is a middle ground between the two approaches.

You can see interaction with the Vive controllers in this youtube video (that also shows people freaking out in a VR game that's a little too real):

You can keep that cumbersome device. I wouldn't wear one if you paid me to.

this is how lawnmower man started.. started as a neat little experiment, then the patient became super intelligent and jacked himself into the system to become god.

How about a real internet connected pinball machine, with augmented reality on the playfield. Like pin2k , but with 3 dimensional animations. Don't tell me you wouldn't play that.

That was a cool movie. Glad I was able to watch it without a head set.

On the plus side, when others are jacking off in virtual reality, the real pinball machines that have already been made if well maintained should outlast all of us.

Geez, it's first gen stuff. Give it a few years it will be better. A few decades and it will be unnecessary.

Buttons on a virtual pin can be mapped to vr....And there are force feedback boards that drive shaker motors and knocker coils. The experience is kind of close to real pinball, but to me it's absolutely fun to play virtual pinball because of the things you can do virtually that you can not do with a real pin.
Obviously a huge divide between "real"pinball players and virtual pinball players. It seems ridiculous to me that this is such a polarizing topic. These threads should be headed "church and state"

I find it all unnecessary, but go ahead and knock yourselves out. Someone will buy it. I guess in reality we never needed pinball either.

His Van Halen stuff is terrible but the GH is pretty solid.

It's a great argument. Of course everyone would rather drive the real thing... but most of us never will. I can play BBB on my simulator, but I've never seen one in real life. Simulation is to do what you can't in real life.. not to replace what you can. I can't own 300 "tables" at one time, but I can play one of 300 simulated "tables" any night of the week. I enjoy a virtual pinball immensely. I don't have room for a game room in my home. I have a MAME cabinet and a virtual pinball. That scratches my itch. I get a headache watching 3d TV so I can only imagine how my head would pound after wearing an occulus for any length of time.

Will VR replace mechanical pinball? Exactly as much as flight simulators have replaced real airplanes.

Nah. 5150 was about as good as you can get after your prize winning vocalist leaves.

First off, VR is a fad. A fad that's had billions pumped into it, but a fad nonetheless. The price is too damn high. Even beyond the price, it doesn't fit in with "relaxation". Gamers want to plop in front of their couch or PC and just play. Get up every couple rounds for a beer or piss. At some point we'll be able to "switch off your nervous system enter the Matrix" but that's several decades away.

But pinball is a "world under glass". It can be controlled, and is observed remotely, which means it can be simulated. You don't need goggles. A camera could track your head position and render a display that appears correct to your line of sight. The vibrations you feel on your palms could be simulated by haptic feedback.

Kids used to go outside and play Cops & Robbers, or Cowboys & Indians. Now they don't need to - Call of Duty does a better job of it for them in simulation.

Pinball is ripe for this takeover because it has enormous "price overhead room". Who here has a HD or 4K TV that cost *anywhere near* what a Stern Pro does? A virtual cab could be filled with top-of-the-line parts and still be a cost advantage over a wood & wire traditional machine.

Sounds like Ben Heck is working on a new project. When I built my simulator, an appropriate used TV for the playfield was $250 (new $400). THere are a half dozen similar TVs now for around $200 brand new. The costs are dropping and the software is improving. The head tracking is developing for (future pinball anyway). A good force feedback pinsim "video game" is very immersive and enjoyable. What I'm getting at is costs are dropping and tech is improving where pinsims will increase in popularity. As far as strapping on a visor to melt into the matrix... not so much.

I've always wanted to ride around inside the ball while someone is playing.

A few years back, when digital Renditions of actors first started appearing in movies, I remember there being a lot of discussion about one day there being no need to hire actors. That hasn't happened. However, The Matrix is a good example of how a digital rendition enhanced living reality. I think that's where all this is heading. Some sort of hybrid version of pinball.
It's a natural progression of Technology. Look what happened to bingo machines. They disappeared. Or did they? Nick Baldridge at for amusement only is giving them a digital facelift. And that might be necessary for them to survive at all.
I don't think pinball will reach the low point that Bingo machines did, as long as they continually evolve.

All it takes are incremental improvements in vr with a good crossover application and boom, the new tech is adopted. Drag your heels all you want. At one point nobody thought they would need a portable phone either. Twenty years ago i had someone tell me they had no need for the internet. Ten years ago someone told me they would never bank or buy anything online. Now people are denying self driving cars and vr. The future is coming and there are still people digging in their heels. Nothing changes. People with closed minds are funny.

I have a Gear VR and play the pinball arcade on it occasionally.

VR will get better and is a cool tech that's going to stay around for a while, but a large aspect of playing physical pinball is the social aspect. You lose that when you are immersed in a helmet.

Why does it have to be a replacement though? Can't VR and physical be two things that people enjoy for slightly different reasons?

I also shoot guns in my VR headset, but going to the gun range is still way better.

Wow. That must be a pretty durable headset.

(Actually I agree with you. Why not both?)

Bingo machines disappeared because they were GAMBLING machines - no other reason - and while they were at it they destroyed the credibility of genuine pinball at that time.

I've tried VR pinball. It's awesome, but I would never consider replacing real pinball with that.

Because the OP is most likely trolling. Go onto any forum dedicated to a hobby and claim something new is going to kill it and you will get this response.