Just randomly searched for "pinball" on Steam and noticed Pinball Arcade is free to play with 1 table, Tales of Arabian Nights. Being free to try out, I downloaded it and gave it a go.
First off, the idea of making a pinball simulator that can run renditions of actual pinball machines is just awesome. And the graphics are sharp, even during multiballs it runs smoothly at 1920x1080 on my laptop from 2011.

But, oh those physics... I've played it for an hour now and I can't understand how they couldn't get the physics more realistic. It's just sad. I could have seen myself buying at least one table pack for it, but those physics are just too bad. And the game originally came out in early 2012, so it's not like some initial release glitches.
I don't get it. Is it that hard to come up with realistic physics for a pinball game? I mean, Pro Pinball: Big Race USA has pretty much spot-on physics, and that came out in 1998, fifteen years(!) ago. And Timeshock! is 16 years old and still holds up very well too.

Oh, Pinball Arcade. It's such a huge shame that it's ruined by such an absolutely essential feature as the physics.

[swervedriver]

^ Ah, pinball games. I still know all the tables from Psycho Pinball and Pinball Fantasies by heart. As do both of my brothers. Our old computers' shift keys were always the first to go.

[EphelDuath666]

pinball games are soooooooo addictive! I remember playing Kirby's pinball like crazy on the ole gameboy when I was a kid and Metroid pinball on the DS, heh.

With American friends posting PS4 screenshots directly to Facebook all the time, I have come to the conclusion that I need to buy a PS4. I have to get the money somehow. I don't think I'll get my PS3 fixed (I YLOD'd about a months ago). I just need a PS4.

^ Ah, pinball games. I still know all the tables from Psycho Pinball and Pinball Fantasies by heart. As do both of my brothers. Our old computers' shift keys were always the first to go.

Oh those shift keys... I wonder how the keyboard of the desktop previous to my current laptop managed to stay intact and keep working. I think the space bar (nugde up) got the most of the abuse.

Can't use shifts on my current laptop though, as it can't register any more keys pressed if I hold down both shifts simultaneously. Gotta be able to hold the flippers and nudge at the same time, so it's X and comma now that get the punishment.

I really they'll improve the physics of Pinball Arcade, because then I'll be asking them to shut up and take my money.

Does anyone know if it has one physics model that applies to all tables across the game, or are they table-specific?

Here's an internet game for you all. Pac-Man, Meshuggah style.

http://got-djent.com/kidman/

Just watched a friend beat Bioshock Infinite. Did anyone here actually understand the ending without reading up on it? cause we did not. haha

Earlier this month I picked up Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl again after a while. I still can't get into the gun mechanics, it just feels like lottery. Googled it, and apparently, the game actually has a mechanic where checks if a round "hits" after it connects with a target, the chance going up for both the player and enemies alike. But even with the hardest difficulty setting, I just can't bring myself to enjoy it. I hope there's a mod to tweak just this part alone. Gotta do some more searching...

So, after quittin SoC again, I decided to install Stalker: Clear Sky and see if it was any better. And oh boy, it is!
I don't know for sure, but at least it feels like the lottery bullshit for guns has been removed, or at least toned down a great deal. Now guns can actually hit things, and things seem to die when hit enough. Lots of other cool improvements too, like the removal of the side quest time limits (although SoC has a mod for that, which I installed pretty quickly), introduction of weapon and armor repairs and upgrades, and artifact hunting with detectors.
Like SoC, Clear Sky feels like it could have used more time spent on optimization (pretty demanding to run and there's an occasional weird FPS drop), and there's the odd glitch and bug here and there, even though it has been patched since release.

But anyway, despite its quircks, I've felt it to be a big improvement over SoC so far. According to Steam, I've spent 34 hours in the Zone already, in Dark Valley at the moment, and liking it!

[JuZ]

I MISS GAMES!

[EphelDuath666]

bought Rayman Origins and Rayman Legends. I expect total madness. Can't wait to play 'em with a mate

[JuZ]

I miss games no longer!

GTAV and AC Black Flag for Christmas. Woohoo!

bought Rayman Origins and Rayman Legends. I expect total madness. Can't wait to play 'em with a mate

Origins pretty much defines fun! Enjoy it with a friend! Haven't played Legends but reviews suggest it's more of the good stuff in the best way possible.

[EphelDuath666]

bought Rayman Origins and Rayman Legends. I expect total madness. Can't wait to play 'em with a mate

Enjoy it with a friend!

that's the plan Should be awesome!

Had a fun ~20 hours with GTAV before I had to return it to my friend, but boy was it a fun game!
I am one of those players, who get easily distracted by side quests and little interesting things around me, so storywise I didn't get too far.
I had just started planning my second heist, so I still have tons to play when I finally buy it for myself.

AC4:BF is another insanely amazing game, I really, really, genuinely ADORE that game. It's pretty, fun, exciting and you have so much to do it can overwhelm you.
I've spent hours just sailing and fighting other ships and listening to my crew sing.
Trying to sail through a storm or into a pretty pastel color sunset, I love it all!
Randomly robbing people here and there makes me giggle.
It's AWESOME!

Aaaand I might have accidentally bought myself a Nintendo 2DS for Christmas ..
Virtue's last reward, few Lego games and some Final Fantasy (I can't remember what it was) are already waiting on the shelf for it to arrive!
I am thinking about getting some Pokemon games too, which ones are the best?
I don't need the newest ones, since their prices are still very high.

[JuZ]

Had a fun ~20 hours with GTAV before I had to return it to my friend, but boy was it a fun game!
I am one of those players, who get easily distracted by side quests and little interesting things around me, so storywise I didn't get too far.
I had just started planning my second heist, so I still have tons to play when I finally buy it for myself.

AC4:BF is another insanely amazing game, I really, really, genuinely ADORE that game. It's pretty, fun, exciting and you have so much to do it can overwhelm you.
I've spent hours just sailing and fighting other ships and listening to my crew sing.
Trying to sail through a storm or into a pretty pastel color sunset, I love it all!
Randomly robbing people here and there makes me giggle.
It's AWESOME!

Aaaand I might have accidentally bought myself a Nintendo 2DS for Christmas ..
Virtue's last reward, few Lego games and some Final Fantasy (I can't remember what it was) are already waiting on the shelf for it to arrive!
I am thinking about getting some Pokemon games too, which ones are the best?
I don't need the newest ones, since their prices are still very high.

Sweet, you've reinforced my decision to get those two games as pretty much the only games I'll get to play in the next few months! I'm just planning my first GTAV heist as I too end up constantly sidetracked! And what a game to get sidetracked in... there's just so much stuff and I know I have barely, barely scratched the surface of what's possible.