Weekend Gamer: AtGames Legends Pinball Micro

I bought the AtGames Legends Pinball Micro on an early Black Friday deal, as a birthday gift to myself. According to the company, I wasn’t supposed to receive this until November 28th, which is after my birthday… So, imagine my surprise when I saw the FedEx guy pull up to my house on Thursday (Nov 20) and brought the big box to the front door. I guess it’s better to under promise. Well, I am delighted to get my birthday gift early!

SETUP
After cleaning up my yard work, I immediately opened the box and started to assembling and had it up and running in about 20 minutes. The system comes in two parts: the playfield and the backbox. You’ll need attach the back to the playfield with two bolts (using a Phillips screwdriver provided or your own) and connect two cords: an audio and a video wire. After you verify that everything is working, you can close up back, and that is it. It was a pretty easy process.

I think trying to register my AtGames account so I can register the cabinet by signing into my WiFi network was a bit of a hassle due to the D-Pad (a terrible D-Pad) and input on the cabinet. I am assuming you do not need to go online and completely stay offline and can still play the pre-built in 50 tables.

NOTE: Once you purchase a game, you’ll need to sign into your account to play that game. If you’re signed out, you cannot play the games you purchased. It is a form of DRM that I do not like. If you’re signed out, you can still access the 50 games that came with the system.

BUILD
Most of the cabinet is made of wood, but I really, really love the metal railings to protect the frame. There are also four metal plates, where the legs should be. A full glass on top, with the actual 1080p 15-inch monitor that sits recessed about two inches below the glass. The physical distance gives this weird depth that mimics a real pinball machine (where the field is much lower from the protective glass).

The artwork is a collage of various Taito and Zaccaria tables, which was nice and safe. Can’t please everyone, but personally speaking, I would prefer just one uniform artwork – like make it all Bubble Bobble or Space Invaders, and I’ll be happier.

PLAYFIELD
The screens they used for the playfield and backbox is fine. I read that they are 1080p, and when the screen is that small, it doesn’t look all that bad. If you stare really closely, you can see black jagged drawn lines. When you’re playing a table, it’s not noticeable.

Also, the backbox artwork is wildly different from one table to another, because each tables uses a different and standard. For example, older tables might not make use of the full screen… while others need more screen real estate. Personally speaking, I really don’t care that much, because I hardly look at the scoreboard. I’m usually watching where the ball is going and not really concern about a high score.

GAMEPLAY
On some tables, I feel like there is an input lag on the flippers. It could be the software, but I suspect that the computer running the tables might be under powered and not keeping up. I say that, because I noticed sometime the software fails to draw the ball or drop frames when there is fast-moving action. I’m not surprised that the CPU sucks, but, for the most part, it’s forgivable and the games (designed for the system) are all playable.

The disappointing thing is that no Zen Pinball games will run on the Micro, and that’s because the game demands a more powerful PC. Not all is lost; you can always hook up a more powerful computer and play Zen through the “BYOG” option. But that option isn’t great either because the native screen is vertical.

ADDING NEW TABLES
I bought one game, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ($6), just to see what that experience was like. I don’t think you can buy it from the cabinet, instead you have to use your phone or computer. Once you buy the table, they email you the CODE, which you have to input on the cabinet. Thankfully, if you are signed in on the cabinet, you can go to your locker and it will have the code ready – you just have to click Redeem. I installed it on the built-in internal 16GB storage, which I feel is very small storage. I’m not sure if you can expand the internal storage – I know you can just plug in a USB stick and play it off the stick.

UPDATE: If you lose internet access on your table, any games you purchased from AtGames will not launch, due to their strict DRM. I tried to take the table offline, but it does not work (some kind of “transferring” error). This is terrible, and I won’t be buying more tables from AtGames. Instead, I’ll buy tables from Zen Studio and play it offline using OTG mode.

REAL VS DIGITAL
Obviously, nothing is going to beat a real physical pinball machine. But unfortunately, I neither have the money or the space to own a real working pinball. The digital route is probably the next best thing for most people (including myself).

There are some advantages to digital. For one thing, I have over 50 tables in one cabinet. There are tables that cannot exist in the real world, because it has special animation and play features (like a flaming ball!). Plus, there’s no costly maintenance.

Overall, I am pretty happy with the hardware and software. I feel the pinball games did a good job on selling the illusion of a real pinball machine, using trickery such as sound, imagery, and haptic feedback. The sound goes a long way.

SOME NEGATIVES
There are just a few things that didn’t sit well with me. The input lag on some tables sucks, and I hope that can be solved with an update to the software.

The Micro does not have a plunger, instead you just have a launch button. I really hate not having a plunger… but I can also understand why they didn’t put one in (it’s a cost issue). You can buy a third-party kit someone made for $50 (?) and upgrade it yourself… but it seems like a lot of work (because you have to take the cabinet apart). If AtGames offered a plunger version, but I have to pay an extra $50, I would pay.

I’m perfectly fine that the Micro didn’t come with legs. If you need legs for your machine, you’ll have to shell out $100, basically $25 a leg! Seems overpriced, but like I said, I am fine without the legs if it meant I can save money.

Finally, the name ‘Micro’, I feel is a disservice to the device. To me, when I hear the world micro, I think very tiny, like those tiny, tiny arcades keychain. The Pinball Micro is certainly not micro; it’s like a Kids size to me. Sure, I would like the screen to be a little bigger, but at the price I’m paying, the Kids size is fine. It is just not ‘micro’.

EXPANDABILITY
I did test out running my Legion Go on the Micro pinball, using HDMI. It wasn’t a great experience, because the vertical 1080p screen. It didn’t look that good. I played Galaga and some Zen Pinball 3, and it didn’t look that amazing. I couldn’t figure out how to change the view to cabinet instead of the default view. Still, I like the ability to use the machine this way.

So far, I really love my Pinball Micro. I wish it came with a more powerful CPU, more storage, and a bigger screen… but I guess that’s what the 4k Pinballs are there for. Not willing to shell out $1,699.99… but at least there is a more powerful version.

The more I thought about it, the more I really do want the larger 4k version. You see, there is an option to swap out the D-Pad and install in a joystick and buttons – so you can play games on the vertical screen. Plus, with the 4k screen, the pinball and artwork will look more realistic and sharper.

Yours,