Pinball Arcade is slated to hit just about every platform you can think of, including iOS. Last month, we checked out a trailer that showcased several of the tables in action, though the footage didn't seem to specifically be from an iOS device. However, their most recent video demonstrates the Tales of the Arabian Nights table from Pinball Arcade running on an iPad 2, and it looks absolutely fantastic:

Pinball Arcade is scheduled for an early 2012 launch – which is like, now – and I've got my money on us seeing it in the App Store before the end of the month. The first tables to launch with the game are Tales of the Arabian Nights, Ripley's Believe It or Not, Theatre of Magic, and Black Hole. They hope to add 2 new tables per month via updates, and each month a different table will be featured as "Table of the Month" and offered at a discounted rate. For launch, the first Table of the Month will be Tales of the Arabian Nights, which will cost 99¢. The other 3 tables will run either $1.99 or $2.99 each, according to Farsight's Twitter.

Be on the lookout for Pinball Arcade to hit hopefully really soon and check out our forums for some discussion on the game.

[Thanks Jeff!]

In the following trailer, you can see Tales of the Arabian Nights, Theatre of Magic, Ripley's Believe It or Not!, and Black Hole. It's downright uncanny just how similar these digital versions look and sound to their real life counterparts:

The Pinball Arcade is slated for an "early 2012" release, and should come equipped with all the games shown in the trailer. The plan is to then frequently update the app adding new tables, for years to come, until you have the ultimate pinball collection sitting right in your pocket. I'm eagerly anticipating actually trying out the finished product, so we'll be keeping our eyes out for a solid release date for The Pinball Arcade in the coming months.

Zen Pinball for iOS comes with one free pinball table, named "Sorcerer's Lair".  It's a fully functional table, without any restrictions or adverts, so it's a great opportunity to try the game. If you enjoy it, there's two additional tables (Captain America and Wolverine) available as in-app purchases for $1.99 each, with more tables promised in future.  Sorcerer's Lair  is my favorite of the three tables, so by downloading the free game you're actually getting one of the best.

The main controls are very simple: Drag the plunger back with your finger to release a new ball (hopefully gaining a skill shot), then tap the left or right side of the screen to master the flippers. The developers have nailed the pinball basics as the multiple flippers are responsive, the ball has a nice weighty feeling and the physics seem pretty good. You can tilt the device to nudge the table, but too much nudging causes your flippers to jam.

Some players will enjoy a casual bash with three balls to see how long they survive, but others will play more tactically by completing the table objectives. Zen Pinball has a built-in table guide, which explains the purpose of the targets, bumpers, loops, ramps and lights.  By hitting objects in the right order, you'll open sub-tables with different backgrounds, start various mini-games, release multiple balls or trigger animation sequences involving marvel characters, or a grumpy tree which gets angrier each time you use the ramp.

If your score is approaching an OpenFeint friend's best score, a message appears to make you feel superior. And you can compete on the team score rankings, which adds together your friends' pinball scores.  Game Center leaderboards and achievements are also available.

With eight different camera views provided, you can pick a height and angle which suits you, or hold down the view selection button to manually browse the table. My favorite view is #3 in portrait orientation, although the camera in view #6 tracks the action. There's also a  dot-matrix window at the top of the screen, which displays game stats and animations in the traditional dot-matrix style typically associated with pinball machines (you can determine the size of the dot-matrix window, or turn it off entirely).

The  2D and 3D table graphics and animations look great, and the super-hero themes are a real draw-card. Although, the colorful graphics are quite cluttered, so it's not always easy to differentiate the targets and background while tracking the speeding ball(s). Also, the game looks rather small on my iPod touch screen, which takes a little getting used to.

Some players have experienced minor stuttering and turned off the dot-matrix window to improve performance, but all three tables ran smoothly on the original iPad and 4th generation iPod touch for this review. The developers advise that Zen Pinball runs best on iPad 2, iPhone 4s and 4th generation, with iOS 5+ required. Other players report their IAP tables disappeared, forcing them to download them again (for free), but despite these issues most people in our forums seem to be enjoying this game.

Zen Studios plan to release additional tables for iOS, so we may see more super-hero themes come across from the consoles, such as: Fantastic Four, Spiderman, Ironman or Blade. In the meantime, the Sorcerer's Lair table is a bargain for zero dollars, so check it out. And if you try all three tables, jump into our discussion thread to vote for your favorite pinball table. So far Sorcerer's Lair is most popular, with Wolverine second.

The first thing you'll notice about AC/DC Pinball Rocks is that it's a pretty ornate table, over the top in a fashion that, I think, well fits the band. Arrayed about the table are various bits of AC/DC stage memorabilia, including the Rock 'N Roll Train, Hell's Bell, the For Those About To Rock cannon, and the Highway to Hell, itself. As you work the table, AC/DC tracks, including "Thunderstruck," "Highway to Hell," and "You Shook Me All Night Long", play along with the action as pyrotechnics blast sparks across your screen. The occasional vocal quip from lead singer Brian Johnson can also be heard during gameplay.

As far as the table itself, it's quite a different experience from the fast-paced Slayer Pinbal. AC/DC Pinball Rocks features slower-paced ball action than the other rock title and notably lacks the two main bumpers typically found above a table's central set of paddles, leaving the center of the table pretty much wide open. This may seem to be the formula for a bland game of pinball at first, but after playing the game for a short while I realized I was able to be rather more strategic and precise on this table than most others. It's possible, on the AC/DC table, to aim for targets as distant as the far corners, thanks to the ball pacing and the open central area. That's really not something you can do on a more traditional table and makes for a non-typical game experience. What's more, the sides of the table are nicely busy, with elevators, lightning bumpers, and the mission-lending TNT bundle.

The main reason that the central area of the table is left open is the mini game that takes place there. There are three mini games in all, in fact. On the right side of the screen is a guitar mini-game featuring a small ball pin with paddles, while on the left is a mini-game involving the aforementioned stage cannon. The central area mini-game raises a barrier and challenges you to score in the lower portion of the table, ultimately in a mission to open the Trap Door to Hell. AC/DC Pinball Rocks is definitely more mini-game focused than any of the studio's other pinball offerings.

The game features both single- and dual-player modes and offers a variety of camera angles, just like Gameprom's other pinball titles that came before.

See an extended gameplay video here.

AC/DC Pinball Rocks HD is a fun table that definitely feels like Gameprom pinball. I won't call it my favorite of their offerings, but it's certainly worth its space on the iOS devices of any pinball fan out there.

Da Vinci Pinball Update

Another bit of news from Gameprom is a video posted a few weeks back that contains (among other previews) a brief walk-through of the incredible-looking upcoming Da Vinci Pinball table that we previewed back in August.

The Da Vinci table is expected to arrive as a DLC item for the studio's Pinball HD collection. It will be made available soon for both iOS and Mac OS X, and is one we're very anxious to get our hands on. Stay tuned for a close look.

The Pinball Arcade lays claim to more than 50 different tables from classic companies like Williams and Gottlieb (naturally), Bally, and Stern. FarSight is calling the game "the most comprehensive pinball video game ever created" which it certainly will be if they can really achieve their lofty goal of included tables. Details are scarce at this point, but it sounds as if the game will initially ship with at least the tables mentioned in the above trailer, and possibly more, with a steady stream of additional tables being made available as downloadable content post release.

We'll look to dig up some more information on The Pinball Arcade as the new year approaches, but the prospect of having dozens of virtual representations of classic pinball machines available right in your pocket has players in our forums drooling in anticipation (myself included).

As we’ve previously stated, Da Vinci Pinball is slated to release sometime next month as an update to Pinball HD for both iOS versions and the Mac version. No word on what the price will be, though based on their previous efforts I’d guess anywhere in the 99¢ to $2.99 range. Whatever the price, it’s sure to be a bargain for the type of production values Gameprom injects into their work. We’ll keep our eye out for Da Vinci Pinball to hit this coming September.

Gameprom, one of the leading developers of iOS and Mac pinball games, have just revealed their latest upcoming table: Da Vinci Pinball. They’ve released a bunch of new screenshots for the game on the Da Vinci Pinball website, several of which you can see above as well as in the gallery below (click to enlarge). Here’s a quick blurb from Gameprom about the direction they’re going with Da Vinci Pinball:

Coming Soon: Da Vinci Pinball - a celebration of the quintessential Renaissance mind! This new addition to the Pinball HD lineup features innovative mechanisms and artwork in honor of the great Leonardo!

Playing the game, you will travel along the great Renaissance Man's path of groundbreaking discoveries and inventions and navigate these wonders from within his very mind.

First off, I can’t imagine a much better theme for a pinball table than all of the amazing creations of Leonardo da Vinci. The screenshots look gorgeous so far, with tons of interesting looking table elements that look straight out of the Renaissance era. Gameprom has let us know in our forums that Da Vinci Pinball will be a DLC item for their existing Pinball HD [99¢/HD/Mac] on both the iOS and Mac platforms. The table should be hitting sometime next month, and we’ll be sure to check it out then.

No other specific details were noted about any upcoming version, but it appears as if the port work will remain in the hands of Zen Studios — a move that bodes well for the game since Zen knows what's what with digital pinball and pinball physics in general.

Notably, a new DLC pack was announced, too, at the event. It will bring in a total of four new tables later this winter. One of them will be Ghost Rider-themed, as you can see from the above screenshot.

I can imagine a scenario in which, if this iOS version is significantly late to the party, this update as well as the others is rolled into the overall package. Then again, that doesn’t make the best business sense... Zen Studios would probably love the extra revenue stream IAP could provide. Regardless of the business plan, we'll be keeping a look out for this one out as it creeps towards release.

[Via Destructoid]

I was sort of confused as to why they would decide to remake the game seemingly out of the blue, but according to the developer they had been getting requests for iPad versions of their games ever since the iPad’s release last year. But redrawing the old graphics to suit the new screen size and resolution would have been too large of an undertaking, so they started toying around with the idea of building the tables in 3D to solve those problems. After being happy with the results, they took the project full steam ahead.

Now, two and a half years after the first iOS release and nearly twenty years after the original Amiga release, Pinball Dreams HD breathes modern life into a retro classic. Purists tend to get up in arms when people go fiddling around with their classic games, but before you go blasting hatred over your IRC channel or start calling for Cowboy Rodeo's head over the Usenet boards, you should know that Pinball Dreams HD uses the exact same gameplay code as the original iOS version. And, in practice, it plays nearly identical to how you remember it. It also features all the original music and sound effects.

Although I’m not an original fan of the game from back in the Amiga days, I did fall in love with Pinball Dreams back in ’09 on the iPhone, and it pleases me as well to see the game’s integrity retained. It actually feels pretty surreal to be playing Pinball Dreams HD with fancy 3D graphics in your face but sweet retro sounds hitting your ears. It feels like I’ve entered some sort of bizarro time warp, but I’m loving every minute of it.

One thing to note is that because the game is in 3D, there is a dynamic camera that follows the ball around the table. It’s not quite as dramatic as the camera in Gameprom's pinball games like War Pinball [99¢/HD], so if you’re prone to nausea from those then you’re probably still safe with Pinball Dreams HD. But the lack of any kind of camera options is annoying, especially the absence of a single overhead shot of the table.

Thankfully this should be rectified with the first update to the game which Cowboy Rodeo has said in our forums will include additional camera options as well as a few other minor fixes. They’ve also pretty much confirmed that Pinball Fantasies will be getting this same HD treatment down the line too, and that Pinball Dreams HD will be hitting the Mac App Store soon. I am definitely looking forward to both of those.

One of our forum members has recorded this extremely lengthy video of Pinball Dreams HD so you can see what it's like in action:

If you’re a fan of the original Pinball Dreams, whether on the Amiga or on iOS, then don’t be scared of checking out Pinball Dreams HD. The game still plays and feels like it always has, but now it looks fantastic in high resolution on the iPad and Retina Display devices. If you’re new to the Pinball Dreams world, then know that you’re getting 4 extremely well designed tables and one of the best digital representations of pinball ever released. It’s not a very realistic pinball simulation, but in 1992 it was the pinnacle of video game pinball and that has held up incredibly well over the years.

Pinball Dreams HD is an excellent example of how to modernize a classic while still remaining true to its roots, and it’s one that pinball fans shouldn’t hesitate to pick up.

Somewhat surprisingly, and nearly two and a half years later, Cowboy Rodeo is set to release a brand new remake of Pinball Dreams called simply Pinball Dreams HD. What differentiates this version from the original is that each of the game’s 4 pinball tables have been recreated using entirely 3D graphics. Fans of the original may cry foul at this notion, but the developer has clarified that the game logic is identical to the original game and should play exactly the same, and the new graphics are a cosmetic change only.

In the above images you can see the Steel Wheel table in the original iPhone version on the left next to a screen from the iPad version of the new Pinball Dreams HD on the right. Down below are 3 additional screens that show the new versions of the other tables in Pinball Dreams HD. Click any image to enlarge.

What prompted Cowboy Rodeo to remake Pinball Dreams after all this time? I really have no idea, but as a huge fan of both Pinball Dreams and Fantasies, I’m really interested to check out Pinball Dreams HD. Cowboy Rodeo has stated in our forums that Pinball Dreams HD is already submitted to Apple, so hopefully it won’t be too long before it’s released. If the new version turns out to be a success, I’d love to see the same treatment given to Pinball Fantasies down the line too. And hey, Cowboy Rodeo, can you please finally bring Pinball Illusions to the App Store while you’re at it?

We really liked War Pinball in our review, and today a new update is available that adds a couple of interesting features to the game. First off, it now has Game Center integration with leaderboards for each table (as well as one for the Platoon mini-game) and more than 50 achievements to earn.

The other big feature in this update is a TV-Out capability for both the iPhone and iPad versions of the game. Retina Display devices will output the game in a scaled back HD resolution when played on a TV, but iPad 2 owners can run the game in full screen HD resolution. The TV-Out feature has been a welcome addition to other games like Real Racing 2 HD [$9.99], Chopper 2 [$2.99], and various other games we tried. It’s certainly a cool function to now have in one of my favorite iOS pinball games, and to be honest I wish every game offered this option.

The following trailer was actually recorded straight from a television running War Pinball HD from an iPad 2:

Owners of Gameprom’s Pinball HD [99¢/HD], the collection of their 4 previous pinball games contained in one app, can look forward to getting the Game Center and TV-Out treatment in the very near future as well. For fans of pinball games I can easily recommend War Pinball as it’s definitely my favorite of the Gameprom titles so far, and now you can earn you Game Center achievements and compete on the leaderboards on the big screen in your living room.

Pinball Destruction is an extremely simplistic take on pinball, with very basic table designs and insanely bouncy physics. This is intentional, however, as the game is meant to be incredibly fast-paced. It’s best to think of Pinball Destruction as an arcade game based loosely on pinball, because if you’re expecting any sort of realism or accuracy then you’ll be sorely disappointed.

The thing that makes Pinball Destruction so unique is the ability to destroy the elements that make up each table after completing its missions. There are sets of pegs at the top of the screen which act like drop targets. Once you’ve knocked every peg down they reset, and once you’ve knocked them all down a total of 3 times the various bumpers and blocks of the table can be destroyed with the ball. Destroying all table elements allows you to move onto the next table, of which there are 5.

There is also 3 and 5 ball multiball modes that can be unlocked by knocking down a secondary set of pegs on the side of the table. Things get truly crazy when there is 5 balls zipping around your screen at one time, and it’s really a lot of fun. Additionally, there is a score multiplier which can be increased by clearing sets of pegs without losing your ball, and this is key if you want to earn competitive scores on the built in online leaderboards.

The biggest addition in this latest update to Pinball Destruction is universal iPad support, and the game is a total blast on the bigger screen. Also, each of the 5 tables can now be selected and played from the main menu once unlocked, which is great as before you had to start from the first table each time, causing the first few tables to become repetitive and the last few not nearly visible enough. Now, once they’re all unlocked, they can each be enjoyed at any time.

Another nice change is the addition of lights on the table that indicate how many times you’ve destroyed each set of pegs, so you know when to expect the destruction to happen, and another set of lights that let you keep track of how close to each multiplier you are.

Pinball Destruction definitely won’t be for everyone, but if you have an open mind towards a different take on a pinball game then there’s a lot to like about the title. The physics are crazy, almost like playing pinball with rubber balls on the moon, but it makes for some fast action. Destroying the table elements is a neat idea, and despite the simplistic designs of the tables they’re all really fun to play.

Pinball Destruction is an oldie but a goodie, and has stayed on my device for nearly two years. This latest update adds some nice new features, and has breathed new life into the game for me. If a crazy game of pinball sounds like your kind of thing, then give Pinball Destruction a try.

The 3 tables in War Pinball are all based on MGM action movies from the 80s and 90s - Platoon, Navy Seals, and Missing in Action. Gameprom has done an excellent job putting these licenses to good use, and each table features visual elements, music, and sound bites that are appropriate to the movie it’s representing. Even the table missions follow along with the movies really well, and if you’re familiar with the basic plot elements from the movies you’ll get a kick out of seeing nods to them as you play through each table. As a quick note, there are several curse words contained in the voice samples taken from the movies, but there is an option to turn these off or set a password lock to restrict access to certain tables if you’re concerned about younger players being exposed to them.

Each table in War Pinball is rendered in full 3D and contains more complex designs than any of the previous Gameprom titles. The visuals are crisp and colorful, and look especially great on Retina Display devices. War Pinball HD is also optimized for the iPad 2, and it not only looks razor sharp on the larger screen but it runs at an absolutely insane frame rate, running fast and smooth without so much as a single hitch. I’ve always loved having an assortment of pinball apps on my iPhone in my pocket at all times, but in the case of War Pinball HD the performance is so impressive on the iPad 2 that it’s my preferred platform for playing the game.

One important factor in video game pinball games is the physics, and War Pinball feels very in line with previous Gameprom games in this regard. That is, the physics are very good for a video game simulation, but they don’t feel exactly like a real life pinball table. If you’re an absolute pinball purist you may not find them completely accurate, but they’re consistent and easy to adjust to, and are far better than many of the other video pinballs out there.

If you don’t have any experience with a Gameprom pinball game, you can download their first 3 games Wild West [Link], The Deep [Link], or Jungle Style [Link] for free during the next several days to get a good idea of what to expect from War Pinball. These games are all a lot of fun and worth owning anyway, and they can even be purchased as a single app called Pinball HD [99¢/HD] which contains all 3 games and the ability to unlock their fourth game Slayer Pinball Rocks HD [$2.99] as an in-app purchase.

While all of Gameprom’s pinball games are very good, War Pinball is definitely the cream of the crop. If you’re already of fan of their previous work, this latest game is an easy purchase decision as it contains 3 fun new tables that make great use of their movie licenses. If you need a bit of convincing, try any of their games currently being offered for free, and if you like them then War Pinball is an easy recommendation for an upgrade.

Gameprom has been one of the preeminent pinball developers for iOS, with their Wild West [99¢], The Deep [99¢], Jungle Style [99¢], and Slayer Rocks [$2.99] pinball games all garnering huge download numbers and earning many fans. All of these games are available individually or in a single app called Pinball HD [99¢/HD]. Two hallmarks of Gameprom’s pinball games have been really solid physics behavior, which can often make or break a pinball video game, and impressive graphics which are rendered in full 3D.

War Pinball will retain these hallmarks, and I was able to play a preview build of the game at GDC a couple of weeks ago. If you’ve played any of Gameprom’s previous pinball games, War Pinball feels very in line with those experiences, which is to say it’s a lot of fun. What really surprised and delighted me was the theme of the game. War Pinball will contain 3 separate tables, each one crafted after a war-themed action movie. There’s one based on Platoon, one for Navy Seals, and one for Missing in Action which features prominent Chuck Norris decor.

The first trailer for War Pinball doesn’t show off a ton of gameplay, but in true action movie form it features a montage of all 3 tables:

War Pinball was looking great when I checked it out at GDC, and I’ve been enjoying a preview build on my iPhone ever since. The evolution of Gameprom’s pinball creating prowess is clear in each new game, as War Pinball is a much more complex and strategic game in comparison to the relatively simplistic Wild West Pinball. The game has already been finished and shipped off to Apple for review, complete with optimizations for the new iPad 2, so we’ll be keeping our eyes out for it to hit the App Store soon.

Pinball Magic is a gaming accessory that is intended to transform your iPhone or iPod touch into a realistic pinball machine, albeit a rather diminutive one. The pinball table-shaped accessory sports flipper buttons, a ball-launching plunger, a credit / select button,an animated LED backbox display, and foldable legs for easy transport. The device mates with your device's 30-pin dock connector and delivers a pinball experience by way of New Potato's free Pinball Magic [link] app.

Game features, listed by the developer:

• Multiple classic and unique playboard layout
• Advanced multi-level and multiplayer competition
• Four possible multi-ball modes
• End-of-ball and replay bonuses
• Tilt detection, tilt warning and activation
• Ball saver

Pinball Magic is currently available from Best Buy, online and at certain retail locations at a price of $39.99. And don't bother downloading the game app if you don't have the accessory -- it won't play at all.

[ via ChipChick ]