What's Improved in The Pinball Arcade on PlayStation 4?

If the brilliant Resogun has failed to scratch your leaderboard itch on the PlayStation 4, then the next generation port of Farsight Studios’ uber-realistic The Pinball Arcade should fill a void. Set to launch onto the PlayStation 4 later today in North America and tomorrow in Europe, the title promises 20 tables of stellar steel ball simulation. It also happens to host an avalanche of enhancements over its PlayStation 3 and Vita counterparts.

The most important improvement centres on the lighting engine. As director of development Bobby King details on the PlayStation Blog, the firm has wanted to implement point lights for over a decade now – and Sony’s next generation hardware has finally made its vision a reality. “Some tables have well over 100 points of light that are designed to flash on and off,” he explained. “I’ll always remember the PS4 for being the platform that we developed this on first.”

The company has also been able to incorporate more real-time environment map reflections. “Pinball tables are made up of lot of plastic and metal parts,” he continued. “Lots of chrome, combined with lots of coloured lights going on and off makes for a beautiful lightshow.” Try to stop salivating. In addition to all of this, the game will run in 1080p at 60 frames-per-second, and will boast a slew of physics fixes and gameplay improvements.

Sadly, the developer’s been unable to incorporate cross-buy with the current generation iterations, but it has managed to implement a discount for existing fans of the game. If you’ve purchased all of the Season One Table Packs, you’ll be able to upgrade to the next generation console at half price. Furthermore, the firm will be offering an extra 10 per cent discount on all of these add-ons to PlayStation Plus subscribers.

And just for those out of the loop, which tables will be available at launch? Highlights include Ripley’s Believe It or Not, Theatre of Magic, Twilight Zone, and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Everyone that owns a PS4 will be able to download and try Tales of the Arabian Nights for free, which seems like a good way to get your collection started. Are your flipper fingers fidgeting over this game’s imminent release? Launch your opinion in the comments section below.