In-Depth Virtuapin Review
The Virtuapin is dream-come-true for arcade and pinball enthusiasts looking to relive memories of all the quarters we spent at the neighborhood arcades of our youth. It also opens a new dimension of gaming by offering fresh original pinball table designs that are fully functional games in their own right. I have my own little basement arcade to which I added the Virtuapin a few months ago.
Some people speculate that the local arcade business withered with the advent of advanced home gaming consoles like the original Nintendo. The demise of small independent pinball arcades was probably an innocent bystander, to the point where only one or two companies are left who manufacture new pinball games, and they are mostly bought for home collections and by large entertainment companies like Dave&Buster. Regardless, the development of reliable software and hardware has the potential to bring pinball back into the mainstream of gaming. For me, that’s what the VirtuaPin is all about.
I can’t remember how I stumbled upon Paul Maletich and Virtuapin – probably by accident while visiting MAME or Hyperspin forums. But I am glad I did. After talking to Paul I knew I had to have one. Before clicking the “pay with Paypal” button on this $5000 purchase, we talked at length. I needed some reassurance that the company and product were legitimate, since info is a little hard to dig out of the web. I placed my order and waited for delivery. He gave me frequent updates including information about a production delay related to the implementation of some new design aspects. I was happy to wait for that. The machine arrived as promised a month or two later.
Physical Setup
Rest assured, the Virtuapin has the weight and dimensions of standard modern pinball. I called my local pinball distributor who sent two guys to help me move it into my basement game room. This was my first chance to show-off to some experienced pinball experts. They were astonished and impressed, without even seeing the machine running. That’s because it is a work of art. Almost an Ode to the history of pinball. Materials and craftsmanship are extraordinary. It is solid (and heavy), and the move required us to take off the backbox and do some reassembly – no problem. The finish is equivalent to a real pinball. Internally there is a PC with two video cards, a large playfield monitor and monitors for backglass and DMD. You can replace the DMD monitor with a real DMD, but I would not recommend that. The PC comes loaded with WinXP, ready for you to begin configuring and playing pinball. All of this is cased in a wooden cabinet with glass top and metal trim. The legs, buttons, plunger, etc might initially fool most people into thinking this is a real pinball.
Initial Configuration
The first thing I did was plug in a USB network adapter and install TightVNC so I could manage the PC remotely on my home network. Paul provides a necessary wireless mouse and keyboard but working at the Virtuapin with is awkward without a separate stand or table on which to place them. When configuration work requires me to be at the Virtuapin I have the mouse and keyboard right there on the glass that covers the playfield monitor. I’m not sure how to improve on this without disrupting the aesthetics of the product. Once the WinXP environment and network is up, I then started accumulation files and tools to start running pinball tables.
Pinball Collection
Running an old pinball table on the Virtuapin is not what I would technically consider emulation. It is not as if you are emulating arcade software on your PC. With the Virtuapin you are essentially modeling the pinball experience. Two publicly available program, Future Pinball (FP) and Visual Pinball (VP), are installed on the PC. Developers in the public domain use editing tools to create pinball tables based upon actual machines from the past. These table files are then shared at VPforums.org. But it’s not a simple matter of grabbing a file, installing and playing pinball. To manage and access your collection you can use a frontend such as Hyperpin (HP). Configuring the Virtuapin to run numerous FP and VP tables all in HP requires a certain level of PC skill and knowledge. You don’t have to be a programmer/developer, but a beginner’s knowledge of scripting, paths, a little XML, and some patience is required. (I had previously built a MAME machine with Hyperspin (HS), so I felt ready for the challenge.) The programs that run all this are public domain and can sometimes be quirky. Luckily the support community at vpforums is par excellence with quick answers and solutions to just about every hiccup you encounter.
If it’s not already apparent, the Virtuapin is not a plugin-ready gaming machine like a PS3. It’s more of a hobbyist endeavor. That’s not a critique but rather a design decision from what I can tell. I presume it would take a few years and a big investor (plus copyright hurdles) to transform it into an idiot-proof arcade gaming machine with a simple on/off button. In the end though, the owner can make it such if they have the ability.
Game Play
I suppose game play is what we’re all ultimately interested in, and this is the most outstanding aspect of the Virtuapin. For many older tables that are typically modeled using FP, the experience is actually better than the real thing. With more recent games such as LOTR or Medieval Madness the effect is a bit different. While playing older games the immersion is complete. As the graphics and physical gimmicks of the games get more complex, the modeling process can only go so far. Nonetheless, while playing a modern game you certainly realize this is a video game. I am not saying that is inferior to the real thing - just different. From the sound to the feel to the DMD to the voice narration of the game, table developers have done an incredible job of representing the pinball experience in a video game machine. It all comes together when a table author has provided the back glass image with animation, the active DMD, the play field, ball action, collisions, and sounds all in a cohesive package. Once again, this is artwork in my opinion. Just like a themed pinball reminds you of a character or movie or sport, so does the Virtuapin experience.
Conclusion
The Virtuapin is a must have for retro-arcade enthusiasts along with those encouraged by the modern pinball resurgence. The machine itself belongs in a real arcade and, in my opinion, should lead that resurgence. It almost creates its own videogame genre by embellishing the whole idea of pinball. The fact that it requires an enthusiast/hobbyist level of configuration and setup is a plus for me, while it could dissuade some buyers.
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