Heighway Pinball's Alien - latest news

[Pavlov Pinball]

Hi all.

I've been talking to Andrew Heighway from Heighway Pinball about Alien, and he told me some interesting bits of news about the machine. If you're interested, I've written it up here:

http://pavlovpinball.com/alien/

Cheers,

Paul

[oldskool1969]

I like reading about this company as I believe it has a few aces up its sleeve, shame that Andrew can come across as a arrogant sales man! There social media sites also leaves a lot to be desired.
Apart from those minor negatives, some good innovation and business models for the future of pin.
Bring back Circes Animal House though, that had me excited 

[solar value]

Shame that Andrew can come across as a arrogant sales man!

Really? I don't get that impression, Andrew seems like a really nice guy in all the interviews I've seen. He always tries to answer any question put to him as best he can no matter how crazy it is and seems genuinely enthusiastic about pinball.

[Caveoftreasures]

The motorbike racing game seems boring to me.
I wonder how they came up with this title choice ?
Unless you are into motorbikes, a bit bland....

I wonder how many people will not buy a motorbike pinball and just wait for the Alien pinball machine IF Heighway
Pinball can financially survive that long ?
I am wondering where these boutique companies are getting their funding from and IF they are leveraged up to the hilt.

I can't see how any of them can survive on such small sales numbers ?
The break even point is years n years away.
I hope they survive but everything tells me that the slowness to production makes all these titles OLD before they even hit one persons home, if any.

When will full production of the motorbike machine start ?
Have they sold any/many ?

[Pop Bumper Pete]

Why do you care so much about how many games companies are selling?

Yes, some new guys will fall


I do not need to see a companies financial report, all Iwant to know is if their games are fun to play

[Caveoftreasures]

Why do you care so much about how many games companies are selling?

Yes, some new guys will fall


I do not need to see a companies financial report, all Iwant to know is if their games are fun to play

It's not illegal or immoral to wonder about such things.

Also, given the large sums of money involved, some people don't want the WOZ fiasco to be repeated and people are now sensitive to losing money.  Sales mean cash flow and profits.
All companies in today's pinball market are under the financial microscope buy potential buyers.

[solar value]

The motorbike racing game seems boring to me.
I wonder how they came up with this title choice ?

They originally had a different theme for their first game based on Greek mythology but decided to go with something which had wider appeal. When they discovered that the playfield layout was extremely fast they chose the motorbike racing them because it seemed to suit the layout.

I wonder how many people will not buy a motorbike pinball and just wait for the Alien pinball machine IF Heighway
Pinball can financially survive that long ?

It seems like a lot more people are interested in the Alien theme, however the game is being built to be modular, you can swap playfields from different games in and out. Buying a second game will, therefore, be cheaper so some people may end up buying Full Throttle after they have Alien.

They have already made a bagatelle style game for Bacardi which they sold 500 or so units of, so they have some capital coming in as well.

When will full production of the motorbike machine start?
Have they sold any/many ?

If I recall correctly production is supposed to star in Q1 next year. I don't think they have sold very many yet (less than 10 reported on Pinside) but they may have sold many more preorders for Alien. Andrew has said that they have several more games in different stages of design and prototyping and wish to release several games a year, so they seem to be planning to become a major player rather than just a boutique builder.

Here is a picture of their latest cabinet design:

[Strangeways]

I think it is GREAT to see new manufacturers. They just need a couple titles done before people are comfortable dealing with them.

motorbike theme is a cool theme - wide appeal. Alien theme is absolutely killer 

[ausrhino]

I can't see how any of them can survive on such small sales numbers ?
The break even point is years n years away.
I hope they survive but everything tells me that the slowness to production makes all these titles OLD before they even hit one persons home, if any.

Heighway are not fully leveraged against these machines.  Not a lot of people know they have already designed / built and shipped a commercial product for Barcadi - where Bacardi commissioned 251 games of this (its a 2 player game involving pinballs - cant really see how it is played though.)  All paid for I might add.  

utoplay=1&rel=0

Confirmation here - https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/bacardi-pinball-by-heighway-mystery#post-1995106

This company is not totally leveraged against its pinball making venture - which is a great thing to see.

[Cow Corner]

Alien is a excellent theme for pinball.
Best of luck to Heighway to get this game out. Every email conversation I have had with Andrew has been very professional, he answered all my queries. Love that pf's can be swapped on Heighway games and the early pf shot map of Alien looks insane!
Great to see another company letting Stern know that they aren't the only kid on the block.

[Caveoftreasures]

The cabinet photo looks excellent.

Pin side is only reporting 10 sold ? Wow.

Alien will sell more ofcourse. I wonder how many motorbike theme machines have to sell to get to the profit point.
Making the game playfield swappable is smart.
Just got to chose a cabinet colour which will work for both motorbike and alien theme.

The black one I saw looked excellent.

[Caveoftreasures]

UPDATE - Jan 2016

So, on FB the playfield art for Alien has been released !
Only problem, there is absolutely nothing Alien and NIL Aliens on any of the artwork ?

What do others think who have seen it ?

So far it looks like a massive Fail.

Why do a Alien playfield without Aliens or anything related to the Aliens ?
I am totally lost and scratching my head.

How long can Heighway Pinball stay $ viable for before going out of business in these tough times.

[swinks]

I think C2C is talking to Pinsider Aurich the lead art director about that as he has been heavily commented on for the art but he did comment that it needs to be looks at really with the lcd running and with plastics on it to get a better picture. He is known to heavily comment against the Hobbit, GoT and other games so interesting to see his design. I was expecting better but have no interest in the game so doesn't bother me.

[solar value]

I can see a couple of Aliens in there 

[solar value]

Here's one with the CAD of the ramps, etc. over the top: