Pinballistik: Build a Battle Pinball Arcade Today on PSN

30 25
Pinballistik: Build a Battle Pinball Arcade Today on PSN

Creat Studios is proud to present Pinballistik, our latest PSN-exclusive game. Pinballistik is unlike any other pinball game you’ve ever played – it has the first two-player Battle mode where you can face off against your friends and play on either side of the table! In another first, you can play against AI players with varying degrees of difficulty. In a nod to the purists, we also offer challenging and full-featured single player Classic tables for each of our themed table packs.

When we tell people Pinballistik is only $3.99 for the first two Wild West-themed tables, they often ask: Is this only a mini? Does it have Trophies? Well, I can tell you that this is no mini and it has a ton of Trophies! In fact, the ‘a la carte’ approach we’ve taken has allowed us to provide 29 trophies with a total of 525 points – all for less than the price of a standard PSN title!

PSN: Pinballistik

Pinballistik offers a ton of game configuration options. In Battle mode, either play to reach a certain point threshold or get the highest score in a time limit. You can configure penalties that are applied when you get your ball past your opponent’s flippers – yes, all the way up to 100%! A variety of power-ups (can be disabled on Classic tables for the authentic experience) make strategies in battle mode very interesting! Rest assured, all Classic and ‘vs AI’ games are tracked in the online Ranking boards – we don’t want to dictate which modes are worthy of being recorded for posterity.

In a previous posting, we showcased our launch table pack Circle the Wagons – a rugged romp through the Wild West with a six-shooter figuring prominently as the central feature. You can imagine the crazy multi-ball action that ensues when that baby swings into action! If you’re a fan of the Old West, pinball or any kind of battling really then start your Pinballistik arcade off for only $3.99.

Our first DLC table pack is Made of Money, a bling-themed extravaganza where opulence and wealth are the order of the day. A unique feature of the Battle mode is the innovative ‘side-switch’ feature, where you must complete features on both sides of the table. There’s also a subterranean bonus table in there too. The Classic table has some intricate features with lots of nifty tracking camera work so you can always see what’s going on. Made of Money has ‘Break the Bank’ as a final feature but at only $2.99, this game-pack is hardly likely to do that!

Our second DLC table pack is ‘Sector X’, homage to 30’s kitschy science-fiction shows. In Sector X, flying at the speed of light is a doddle yet everything is still held together with rivets! Here, the Battle mode features a powerful force-field that must be disabled in order to mess with your opponent. The features of the tables unfold in story-like fashion, and players will contend with UFO invasions, teleporters and asteroid fields to name a few. Big points can be earned in the subterranean skirmish table, shoot the opponents targets out first for a big bonus. Classic table action features a rocket-ship ball save feature and culminates in crazy multi-ball action. Beam up the Sector X game-pack for only $2.99 in galactic credits!

Creat Studios is very excited to hear your feedback on the innovative action offered in Pinballistik, it will be very helpful as we work on delivering more great battle pinball action with further DLC table packs. Thanks for supporting our PSN-exclusive games, and please continue to follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Now go and get that jackpot!

Comments are closed.

30 Comments

25 Author Replies

  • Looks cool! The price is good too. I’ve been looking for a good pinball game lately, so I think I will look into this.

  • Looks like fun. Wonder if the ball physics are as good as Zen’s Marvel Pinball?

    • Cheers – it was fun building the game too! The physics engine is Havok, and we had a real-time tweaking utility during development. Our resident pinball fiends endlessly adjusted all physics properties – so, we humbly believe that the physics in Pinballistik is right up there with any other pinball game. Did I mention we have battles?

  • Just waiting for the store to update so I can pick it up.

  • Like I said last week. I’m looking forward to this game.

    I just hope we don’t get the dreaded “moon ball” effect, that plagues quite a few pinball games (ex: Pinball Hall of Fame, Pinball Dreams/Fantasies). That problem alone can throw the ball physics for a loop.

    • Thanks for keeping tabs on us. As far as I know, the only “moon ball” sighting in Pinballistik is on the Sector X table!

      Once you’ve tried out Pinballistik, please get back to us on Facebook – we love getting feedback from our players.

  • I might be picking this up today , it looks pretty good and I have most of the games from creat studios but will not have the funds until Sony gets those $10 rebate codes out for users that spent $60 in october
    as soon as I have that $10 in my wallet though I will buy the $3.99 base game and then see if it is worth getting the other tables too right away or wait until later

    @4 , try zen pinball or marvel pinball for proper pinball physics , they are way better than the ones you mentioned and a lot of fun too
    if the marvel pinball is still listed as a bundle in that ps store section I think it still includes zen pinball free with it so you get 8 great tables for $10 and have another 11 total add-on tables for both games ( 7 on zen pinball 2 on marvel )

    • Thanks for your continued support, glad you enjoy our products.

      Sony, please send all rebate codes out forthwith (October is so yesterday) so that people may enjoy the latest crop of games!

  • Looks good. The pricing is about right too I think.

    As good as Zen is I think it has always been overpriced.

    Looking forward to playing this later. Thanks for the great pricing and what looks to be a fine game :)

    • Yes, we’re actually taking a risk with the pricing and it’s a little experimental.

      We are striving to make our games have a very low ‘barrier of entry’, please continue to support this ‘a la carte’ pricing!

  • I’m an absolute pinball junkie. I actually came to the blog just now to see if the new Zen Pinball table was being released today (it’s slated for sometime in November) and I see a brand new pinball game instead! Looks pretty cool too! I will definitely be buying the standard game for $3.99, no question about it. If the physics are good, I’ll buy the other tables too, without hesitation. Pinball is like crack to me, I have to have it.

    Some questions though:

    1. How many different camera angles are there?

    2. How many DLC tables do you have planned for the future?

    3. Will there be online tournaments for this game just like Zen has for their games?

    • Glad to hear it – I’m a pinball fanatic too! My absolute favorite tables are the solid-state offerings from Williams in the early 90s (Funhouse, White Water, Twilight Zone) although I personally own only Cueball Wizard (Gottllieb) – funnily enough, a cowboy theme!

      As to your questions:

      1. There are 5 primary camera angles in the classic tables, ranging from pulled back to following the ball around. As you know, a lot of this is a matter of taste. Battle mode has up to 5 angles too, there are more in the ‘vs AI’ than ‘player vs player’ though since the AI player doesn’t have to see the whole table! Not saying he cheats, but you know…

      2. We have 2 more table-packs planned for the near future. Themes are quite interesting, and we have a lot of scope for originality in Battle modes especially (e.g. see ‘side-switch’ in Made of Money). Remember, each of our DLCs will contain two full tables, not just one.

      3. Online play is not featured initially, though this is a feature that is being looked at closely for inclusion in a subsequent update. We’ll keep you posted.

  • Very cool. It’s nice to see some more competition in the Pinball space and you guys seem to have a pretty neat hook to the game with the Battle mode. I’m excited to see how this stacks up against Zen in the single player tables as well.

    • The primary goal with Pinballistik was always “don’t just make another pinball game”. For a time, we toyed with the idea of only doing Battle mode but then came to our senses!

      Granted, there are some good pinball games out there already but, due to the Battle modes, this is well worth having whether or not you already own those others (particularly at this price!)

      In ‘couch-play’ with 2 players possessing even a passing interest in pinball, I would simply say that Pinballistik has no equal.

  • @5: I know! That’s why I didn’t mention Zen Pinball or Marvel Pinball in my post. Zen Studios is one of the company that got it right. ;)

    @ Jason: Will do!

  • You guys HAVE to do a killzone themed table!! Or another ps exclusive theme table :)

    • We like themes with a nod to other games – and for consoles, Creat is proudly a Playstation-exclusive kind of company. I’ll see what we can do.

  • Can you turn off the ball trail effect?

    • You can turn off power-ups in the Classic tables for a more authentic experience. Some of these are modifiers to imbue the ball with special properties (e.g. Power-Ball will earn 2x points) and these have some obvious visual effects on the ball – this is shown in the trailers and may be what you’re referring to.

      There is a very subtle ball-trail when regular balls are moving really fast, and this can’t be switched off – sorry. It’s only wafer-thin though…

  • “29 trophies with a total of 525 points”
    That’s a lot of bronze trophies… :p Quality silver/gold trophies over quantity would have been more appreciated by some people. I may have to give this game a try since I’ve haven’t played a new pinball game in a couple of years. What would make this one perfect would be if you could select which pack you want to be the “base” game. For instance buying Made of Money as the base game and having Circle the Wagon as DLC. That would probably greatly complicate things on your end though. :(

    Any chance of you guys making another Interpol-esque game? That game was a guilty pleasure of mine and turned me on to find the hidden object style games.

    • I understand your concern about the Trophies – it’s just that we wanted to cover a lot of different areas. Remember that some of these Trophies can be earned on only one of the 6 tables at launch.

      We actually wanted to do the completely open ‘buy any table-pack you want in whatever order’ thing but this was too tricky to accomplish. Look at it this way: unless you just hate Westerns, you probably would get Circle the Wagons anyhow :>

      No hidden-object games to announce as of now, but it’s one of our guilty pleasures too – a perfect excuse to get an even bigger TV!

  • I love playing pinball, but I’m not a fan of this pricing structure at all. This game, however, looks pretty good. I just feel like I would be buying half a game. You can name all the reasons you want for doing it that way, but you might want to consider releasing a bundle.

    Are any future tables planned? If so, what’s the pricing structure going to be? Zen’s are $2.50 I think.
    I really have no interest in battle mode so that’s not an incentive at all for me to buy. Pinball, to me, is a solitary experience. I play pinball to get away from other gaming nonsense… including battles.

    I think I might just wait for a bundle because buying this game in this manner would mean supporting something I don’t wish to support. And that’s not a jab at your studio or game; I just really feel this is an incomplete game in the manner in which it’s being released.

    • Sorry to hear your concerns about the pricing. It’s risky for us – it either doesn’t get taken seriously, or else appears too expensive if you think you’re only getting a single pinball table!

      I can only say that Pinballistik offers 2 full tables in each pack. In Battle mode, the tables are rather asymmetrical and you can choose to play on either side. So, in effect you are getting three different table experiences instead of one.

      Hopefully, we can get you on the Pinballistik wagon at some point.

  • Jason,
    Thanks for the reply. I just find the pricing structure to be ridiculous. It’s not a matter of taking it serious or being too expensive. I just simply don’t agree with it.
    Simple solution: Bundle.

    You can say you get two tables with each pack, but if you don’t wish to “battle” someone one, well, you’re only getting one. Unless there’s a way to play single player on both sides of the screen instead of some absurd battle scenario. (Shouldn’t battle mode in pinball be just beating somebody else’s high score?) Zero interest in playing battle against somebody else. It just doesn’t appeal to me. Pinball = Solitaire.

    Anyway, best of luck with this release. The more pinball games out there the better. Hopefully you can get an abundance of people on your “Pinballistik wagon,” as you put it. I will eventually be one of them. I’ll just have to wait until a bundle is released or buy them this way if/when they go on sale in the distant future. I’m a patient man. ;)

    In all seriousness, this is not a good way to release a game in my eyes. It just confuses people or pisses them off. I sway toward the latter. This would’ve be a day-one purchase otherwise.

  • Ahh, hadn’t heard about this until now. I definitely can’t resist a pinball game! Here’s hoping for good physics, always a concern in new pinballs. This isn’t going to have a name change to Pinorbiztik though, is it? ;)

  • I grabbed it for $3.99 and played for a bit, it’s fun so far. I’d like if you could customize the controls, I’d rather use L2/R2 for the flippers than L1/R1 out of personal preference. Holding off on getting any additional tables until I’ve put more time into the first table though.

    • Thanks for your support! We’re considering more customization of controls in a future update.

      Please keep the feedback coming, either here or on our Facebook page.

  • Are there any plans for a demo? That’s what convinced me to purchase Zen’s Marvel themed tables. I don’t like to make blind decisions, even if it is cheap. Thanks and good luck!

    • Sorry, we don’t have a demo at this point in time.

      Please check out the previews, reviews and feedback, and good luck to you too!

  • I am happy with this so far, great job Creat!

    Though the theme on the money table isn’t my thing, the layout was fantastic.

    I plan to build a nice set of Tables as they arrive.

    I am a fan of all pinball since 1977, and digitally all brands have strengths and weaknesses.

    I feel that Pinballistic strengths and weaknesses both come from the battle mode… It is an excellent setup, giving a fresh and unique take on the genre, but the lack of online means I will likely play the AI quite a bit. I play so much that I am far advanced compared to my friends I play with. I am looking for combos and points, while most of my friends are still too focused on not draining.

    You made a great choice to include classic tables as well as battle, and I think the business model is great. Bundling multiple themes, or a discount for those that build up their pinball parlors would be excellent.

    Cheers, and thank you.

    • Thanks loads for the endorsement, the entire team will appreciate these kind words :)

      So, with all this practice it sounds like you should be on track to beat CTW Battle default mode faster than the current record of 29 seconds?!

  • CropCircleJerk = Debbie Downer

    Sheesh, there’s always gotta be at least one on every blog post. Hey CCJ, if you don’t like it, just avoid it. You don’t have to bash these people after all the work they put into this project. It’s not like they were making it just for you. Do you call the cable company every time you see a show you don’t like? No, you change the channel and move on with your life.

  • That aside, I downloaded the game and played it for a little while now (both modes), and yes, the ball physics are accurate. In fact, dare I say, they’re even more accurate than what we get in Zen’s offerings. Zen Pinball physics are realistic, but I’ve also always felt like they were SLIGHTLY floaty. In Pinballistik, gravity seems to be a little more prevalent, which is definitely realistic and actually more like a real pinball machine. That’s what this game plays like – A computerized replica of a real pinball machine. Zen is more of a “video game version” of pinball which just happens to be highly realistic. (And no, I’m not bashing Zen, I love their games.)

    Now, as for the battle mode, CCJ is missing out! I’ve only played against the AI so far, but it’s quite engaging, and more fun than the single player mode. Battling in pinball is not new to video game pinball anyway CCJ, if you’re an older gamer like me, surely you remember Revenge Of The Gator on the Game Boy. My brother and I used to have tons of fun playing battle mode via the link cable. In Pinballistik, it works great as well. I can’t wait to play it against a friend.

  • (cont.)

    It’s not as graphically impressive as Zen Pinball, but the graphics are sharp and colorful. They get the job done. It’s not gorgeous, but also definitely not an ugly game.

    Also, I love the sound effects. They’ve got a feel to them that reminds me of old pinball machines I used to play in arcades as a child, absolutely nostalgia-inducing. :)

    But Jason! You should have mentioned that trial versions of the other two tables are included with the main game! That might help sway some of the fence-sitters. So far, I’m having fun with it, so give thanks to your entire team from me! I like it a lot! I’ll be buying the other 2 tables later tonight. Peace.

    • Fantastic, thanks again for the great feedback – it will be very fulfilling for the team, each of whom put in an enormous amount of work to make Pinballistik happen.

      And shush, don’t tell anyone about those trial tables – we want everyone to rush out and buy up the whole lot without thinking about it!

  • Hey, I said I was better than most of my friends, not the worldwide leaderboard!

    I just happen to be the only one with silverball mania.

    Give me a few days, I’ll see what I can do.

    • Sorry, only messin’ with ya there!

      It’ll take some practice to beat even the current scores, but with those multipliers anything is possible…

  • I was excited when I first read about this game because of the battle mode in particular. The fact that you can’t battle players online will keep me from ever buying this :(

  • Like the above statement I would love for you guys to add online battle mode I still will be buying this as I need a pinball game and just think marvel is just a lil bit too high so here’s hoping that this game is as awesome as I think it will be just please add online battle and if you can post that information to the blog here sales will sky rocket

  • so for 3.99 we get 1 table or 2 and wats up with the trail tables and how long can we play them i iam a fan of pinball form the old school on the ps1 pro pinball games i had them all. i tryed the zen demo but never buy it.

    • For $3.99, you get 2 full tables of our Wild-West themed ‘Circle the Wagons’, both Classic (single player) and Battle (2-player).

      You also get trial versions of our other two launch table-packs ‘Made of Money’ and ‘Sector X’, so you can try those before you buy. These are limited to a one-minute game only, and of course no Rankings can be posted or Trophies earned on the trials.

      So, for $3.99 you get 2 full-blown tables and 4 trial tables. We realize that $10 is a barrier for some people to actually buy pinball games, we’re trying to break down that barrier!

  • Money’s tight right now, and with so many awesome $60 games hitting the shelves, too. :(

    But four bucks for two tables…heck, that’s what you’d pay to play two real tables two-to-four times each by plugging quarters into them. The biggest downside might be the minimum amount to add to my PSN wallet is more than the cost of the game!

    Since the battle concept seems to be such a key element of the game, online play really ought to be included, but again – at this price point it’s hard to complain. I hate buying a game without trying a demo first (yes, I’m cheap – father of four, with virtually no entertainment budget), but I might end up making an exception this time. Thanks for keeping this affordable – I hope it works out, and encourages other developers to do the same.

    • Great, thanks for the feedback.

      Do try the game out – it’s short money – and buy the other tables if you like them (trials for those are built in). We think you will!

  • Hi Creat, I’ve always enjoyed your game design and glad to see you getting into pinball – something I suggested back in the Magic Ballz days.

    One suggestion, though – could you please patch in the option to control flippers with R2/L2 as well as R1/L1? My index fingers get cramped up and sort on the upper buttons when playing pinball games; the lower buttons are much better for long-term play for my hands.

    Thanks a bunch!

    • Thanks for your suggestions – we’re always looking to make our user experiences even better, and this is one we already added to our list.

  • Looks great but I will wait until all the DLC come out.

    • Aw, no instant satisfaction for you? There are 2 DLC table-packs available right now, and they’re priced to sell!

      C’mon, treat yourself…

  • Just logging in real quick to say I love the music on the Sector X table! It’s phenomenal!

    Made Of Money has the best table design in my opinion, and sound effects as well.

  • I don’t expect a reply to this just hoping you guys see it :-)

    Really enjoying this and plan on buying whatever tables you release next.

    Just had to comment that my Brother was a Route Operator in the SF Bay Area for many years so I have had a few pins pass through my Toy collection :-) One of which was Fun House. Fantastic table imho

    My Brother has kept one in his home for many years and still loves it. I was a big fan of “Whirlwind” and the new style Capcom “Breakshot” both of which I owned through the 1990’s. Since my Brother has left that industry I have only kept a few vids and pins most of which are tucked away in storage. I do keep a minty fresh “Theater of Magic” Table
    and an SNK SC19-4 MVS machine at home which is where the candycab part of my user name comes from the rest from my favorite Neo-Geo shrine.

    http://www.neogeoforlife.com :-)

    Something else that your posts brought to mind was the hours of fun we had drinking Beer at the shop with friends while playing the outstanding multiplayer experience that is “Flipper Football”…… Sometimes I really miss the 90’s :-)

    Anyway keep up the great work and I look forward to any new tables you come up with ;-)

    Ray

Please enter your date of birth.

Date of birth fields