There's nothing like the real thing...however, I have 10 pins and a virtual pin...with pinball fx2,pin all arcade and visual pinball running. I play my "real" pins a lot, don't ban me for saying this, but I play the virtual pin more.
It's a different beast, but to me, just as addidictive. Guitar hero isn't "real" guitar, and racing games aren't "real" race cars.....but virtual pinball is a hell of a lot closer to the real thing as both of those type of games.
As far as competitive play, there are monthly tournaments for pbfx2 and pinball arcade....and PBA has a head to head in beta now! I'd love fo real pinball to be able to play online with other pins of the same kind and settings.
I play in league every week...and I absolutely love real pinball......I don't think pinball will die, but it will have to evolve.

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.

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

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.

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"

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.

I didn't even know that was out there....I thought I was almost finished with my build....jeez

I'm looking up...and adding BAM. Freaking awesome

Thanks jorro....digital pinball , like pbfx and pba as well as future pinball, have the same physics as the VR versions. So it is almost impossible to address the op's original question ,without including a conversation about regular digital pinball. As the physics of these programs improve....so does the VRs physics. Ball spin, friction, collision physics are all improving.....maybe one day to the point that we can cash in on all those pinball skills that we spent many many hours fine tuning on "real" pinball machines.
It's probably frustrating for "purists" to lose that advantage when playing digital pinball. But tap passing , dead flips, post passing and such are getting better every day in the digital world. I welcome this evolution. And I continue to try and improve on real tables. I know for a fact digital has improved my "real" game.

Me and my dad used to go to Blockbuster every weekend. It was a ritual. That is where you found new movies. It really seem that that would be the way things were forever. But little did we know that one day Netflix would offer a service that would be cheaper, offer more varity, and a higher resolution without ever leaving the house.

These things went out every time. Pinball is getting crazy expensive. Coupled with an interest in the hobby. Stern can keep selling games for an ever-increasing price ,to a few buyers. But what happens when people realize they can have just as much fun for less money , and more variety, and many more options as far as gameplay and graphics.

Blockbustument

The insane prices are out of hand on pinball...."market can bare blah,blah,blah".
I saw 2 boxes of beanie babies at an antique store and the guy working there said "these used to be worth a lot of money".
VR will obviously be a less expensive,no maintenance version of pinball.

Yep...even older machines maintenance...I have to buy a new driver board and mpu...400.00 to get my Embrion back up. Mars God of War I've spent over 500.00 not to mention the initial cost....I didn't spend that much to build my vpin. And I got bam working on it to add a new dimension thanks to this thread.
I love pinball. But I love digital pinball due to cost, availability, and endless possibilities in game play. PBFX2 is great fun