it's stimulating in a whole different dimension. Hearing that steel ball smack the glass gives the thrill of being hit. Feeling real vibrations in the hands, lights hitting you from different angles, sound. Something akin to a hunters instinct using neural circuitry chasing and hunting and shooting things puts you in a deep in the zone mode at times.
All of what you said is absolutely why ePinball won't ever feel the same. It's a shame - with the price of a "real" machine being 5 digits (USD), I can't ever see myself owning one.. but damn, I want to.
5 digits? There are lots for 4 figures, going rate seems to be around $5k. And if you're willing to fix one up, they can be had for 3 figures instead of 5:
Sure, but everything I've seen in the 4 figures range is MUCH older than I'm looking for or needs MUCH more work than I would like to put in for my first table.
Every year, I go to an annual pinball convention in my area. The tables that are 4 figures are the old 70s and 80s tables. Hell, one I've had my eye on (Fish Tales [1] from 1992) is averaging about $5,700USD on Pinside.
there's an interesting middle ground virtual pinball case that's an approximation. This fella built his own case and everything in between. It was a fascinating project to watch
