You make it sound like these people were running the show back when Andrew was there...I highly doubt that was the case.

Well the company hasn't changed at all.
Still being elusive, lying in emails regarding time frames, refunds, ect.

Same old same old.

Andrew as an excuse...

I don't care what was claimed now about how Andrew misrepresented the state of the company when they took over. The fact is their communication and support has SUCKED since the day they took the keys from him. They've undermined their own recovery and consumer confidence in the product.

Are they still talking about showing up at TPF? I don't see that going well, frankly.

My thoughts were aligned with yours but I figured the QC was going to improve as there were major problems with many of the games shipped under Andrew’s leadership. Now that new money orders are being delivered, it seems there are still major issues out of the box. It won’t do me any good owning the game if I can’t play it yet alone get a hold of them to receive replacement parts. At the moment I feel better about a refund than receiving my game. My thoughts were very different when the investors took over, unfortunately my confidence of a full turn-around has tremendously faded.

Finally got to put some real time on an Alien yesterday. Was a fun game, but what struck me was that it felt like a HEAVILY routed 90s Bally/Williams game, complete with blown out scoop hole and numerous other issues.

Sound and ambiance were better than I assumed from watching streams. Rules seem pretty fun. Shots were pretty fun, and it wasn't as much of a clunk-fest as I felt the first time I played at expo a couple years ago. But how does a game that HAS to be reasonably new feel like it has 20,000 plays on it? This was a location with lots of games, who knows how to take care of them, so it wasn't from operator neglect. It comes down to crappy quality. All these fanboys claiming "best quality machine ever" can't see straight through their Alien glasses.

The production value of the game was excellent. The fun factor was decent. The durability of the game sucks, pure and simple. I played a Rollergames that was down the row from Alien and it had the same "worn out" feel to it. Still worked, was overall in good shape, and was fun, but had that played to death feeling. Difference is that game is 30 years old, not less than 1 year. Maybe these will hold up fine in a home, but wow...

The fact remains, games are being produced and shipped. QC is not good but the community has overcome bugs out of the box.
Communication has been sparse pubically and non existant privately.
Games are still being produced and shipped.

I am interested to see where we stand at the end of Q1 which is the goal for all refunds and preorders.

Without the investors deciding to prime the pumps we would all be fucked. No refunds no games. I'm better in our current situation then being screwed out of my money and my game

Hopefully I'll be happy and playing Aliens by then

-Jeff
LE 223
10/18/14

Yeah? What’s your gut tell ya?

Numerous like what?

I'm as frustrated as everyone with the non-existent communication, but..
Exactly what is crappy quality? The game got beat up because they didn't mylar and cliffy? I've seen lots of womped games on route less than 6 months old.
I stand by the build quality being somewhere below JJP and above Stern.
Mechs and cabinet are solid, I like the jjp style service rails, under the playfield looks nice. I also dig the operator friendly flipper and pop bumper mechs. The playfield was done by Micro, I saw some issues posed, but I rate mine better than CPRs i've bought (both being a fair bit better than stern).. The cabinet wires could be cleaned up a little better, wireforms are stern thickness and plastics are double thick acrylic. It's not made of adamantium, but it's built to be serviceable and as durable as any other modern pin.

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Honestly. I'll get my game. I'm betting July

There are reports of a couple of games where the scoop was shooting the ball out so hard that is was hitting the top and then slamming right back down on the edge of the hole...no playfield could survive that. Mine never did that...sounds like most of the others didn't either. I played mine with no protection for a while...then added the Cliffy when he came out with one...mine looks brand new.

I've also added protection at the pops and magnet. I've done nothing at the playfield monitor and it still looks new...zero wear there and I've never needed to adjust the screen. Granted mine doesn't get the play of a routed game.

Mine had this issue with the kick out from the scoop. I noticed it pretty early on and adjusted the scoop hood to correct it. I also added mylar and eventually a cliffy protector.

What’s the process to buy replacement parts? Does Marco carry any?

Draw a circle with a pentagram. Light four pure white candles made from virgins bees.

Sacrifice a small goat and collect the blood in a cup and drink it.

At that point you may or may not get replacement parts.

TPF a double edged sword for them for sure. Presence could help get them more new money sales, but more likely they’ll be facing the wrath of many US preorder customers demanding answers & refunds.

If their business plan is more focused on getting that new money from UK/European orders, I wouldn’t be surprised if they skip North America shows altogether. Maybe when they get back in the black, but not worth the headache at the present time, since preorder customers probably aren’t going to like what they have to say anyway.

Everytime someone criticizes this whole deal, the typical delusional few always chime in with the standard kool-aid speech they came up with to help keep convincing themselves everything will be ok........but they, like most, deep down know it wont. Then later when Heighway and others pull their typical crap like giving new orders priority or reneging on ship dates, they find themselves back in that puddle of tears on the floor, hoping to re-convince themselves again that everything will be ok and look to chime back in on here to shoot critics down to reassure their delusions again hahahaha.

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Play this game every night and it's still impressing me. It is truly something special. Just love the attention to detail in the sound and video package. The effects are so incredible and as an owner of stern, JJP as well, I love the way the game feels. It def has it's own unique feel to it and it just feels great. What a game. Hopefully some new owners will be heading in soon. They can't; produce this game fast enough

out of respect for those still awaiting delivery or in possession of currently dysfunctional games you had been asked to temper your excitement when it comes to having received and being able to play a functional game. you kinda said you would honor that request; but with posts like this one, youre kinda not.

I believe everyone is already aware of that fact.

Please continue sharing. I enjoy hearing the positive feedback. While I don’t have the pin, I can be pleased that others are fortunate to enjoy the game... without being tinged by jealousy or resentment.

It only made sense in the UK when it was cheaper than machines from established companies.

Agreed. I think the LE was under £7k direct from Heighway back in the day. £8.5k now you have to go through the distributer Home Leisure Direct.
Although it now looks like the big screen is included for that at least which I am sure was an optional extra of £500 a few months ago pushing it up to the £9k mark. I assume this is in compensation for / instead of the now defunct fibre optic ramp lights.

They still haven't said anything publicly about the ramp lights. A few people have posted what was told to them in private emails here but no statement from HW.

The last I read HW said no fiber optic ramp lighting. they didn't like how it turned out. Are you referrring to recompense for the pre-orders for the cost of the fiber optic lighting? Certainly they should give the LE preorders $400-$500 money back or something in place of it.

Well with their stellar reputation for "certainly" doing jack shit to make people feel good about them I wouldn't hold your breath. I've been hitting them up monthly for any update(as I am early order LE), usually get no response until the 3rd or 4th time and I get rude and when I do get any update it is the same nothing BS answer.

Yes and as far as I know they have only said no in private emails and not in a public statement. $500 back would be nice but seeing as they are barley getting a handful of games out a month I don't know if I see that happening. I have heard of giving a large screen upgrade but for some they already bought that and all Cointaker orders had that upgrade included in their cost. HW also said the ramps were a $700-800 upgrade on a standard if desired back in the day.

If they plan to be at TPF, may be the first time I make the show. Have always wanted to attend but just cant justify the trip from Ohio! This would be all the justification I would need. Put my deposit down for an LE the day the video was posted during the TPD reveal!!

Is there any reason an aftermarket fiber ramp solution can't be made? See Eli's kit and the TLS kit for Tron, both look great and just the same or better than factory.

I'm sure there's no reason, but it looked stupid and like it didn't belong on the game. It was like a bullet point for Andrew to be able to crow about, not something that actually fit and enhanced the game. I wouldn't waste the mod time on it.

Agreed. Not much benefit plus it makes the game look worse cause it doesn't fit.

Fair enough. So most people are not upset that it is not implemented, more upset that they paid extra for a selling point that didn't make it on the game and they want some money back, right?

The original flyer for the Standard said "Game Subject to Change by Production". My expectation was that specifications were even less set in stone for the LE when I preordered.

I figured if I didn't think the final LE features were worth the extra cost, I could drop back to a Standard. Having experienced pricing increases with JJP throughout the long development time of WOZ, I expected price/value would likely be in flux for the Alien LE vs Standard and that the pre-order price for the LE might still be better than a future price of a Standard, even if it ended up without all the listed features.

For HW, it's balancing the risk of losing customers by not giving the expected value vs making enough money to stay in business.

I don't think many of us thought the lighted ramps warranted a $800 upcharge on the Standard. My pre-order was dropped during the turmoil with Andrew but I would have been happy with the 27" monitor upgrade in their stead.

I mean, pick off a list why people are upset.

These guys at Heighway are still working on things, still trying to solve issues, it's not like they've abandoned anything. But I wouldn't blame anyone for feeling like that's the case. They are crappy communicators. They ignore my emails too. They promise to get better, and they don't.

At this point I've kinda just reached my peace with it. Will I get a game? Will I ever get paid a dime for my work? Who knows. If I worry about it I'll just feel crummy, and it won't help anything. So I've pretty much let it go. If you have money in I feel you, I'm on the hook too. At this point we're just riding it out.

I'm told it's a fun game, I wouldn't even know!

I could have sworn you posted somewhere on Pinside that you *have* been paid for your work on Alien.

No matter, I hope you get paid also. ...just kinda confusing.

Any updates from any preorders related to gettting email updates for LEs?

BS...

Dont say stuff like that unless you have the proof Kim.

Aurich deserves to be paid for all he did. After all the shit he took from people like you over the years, it is pretty lame to still be stirring shit given the current situation.

Agreed. - Would be nice if you had used my entire quote rather than take it out of context.

LOL. Nice edit after I replied, Hilton.

Could be more but there's this info posted earlier.

Ok...so they don't owe him a machine, but there have been games shipped and he wasn't paid!

NOTE: Aurich made it clear....they DO owe him a machine.

Aurich has previously posted that he is owed 1 machine plus royalties for his work.

Plus (my assumption) I bet he's received zero royalties.

Sorry, didn't mean to make this about me, but just to cut the speculation: Yes, I'm owed a machine and royalties, no I haven't received anything. Not trying to stir up shit here, just kinda reached the point where being quiet doesn't seem worth it anymore. I was contractually obligated to stay silent, I couldn't say a word even when Andrew stabbed me in the back over the LE artwork, but since no one has honored a single part of my contract now for years whatever.

I still wish this game the best, the new owners might be awful at communicating, but they're still plugging away at it. If they send me one finally I'm open to unopened box offers.

.

Just wait for Queen to be revealed at TPF.

Why would they unveil a new game when they have so many Aliens to make?

Andrew announcing Alien so early was a big part of the problem he created for himself. He had a "new" game at Expo '14, which wasn't even shipping yet to customers, called Full Throttle.

Most people have never played an Alien yet, a bunch of pre-order customers are still waiting for theirs, and its never been generally available yet to buy. It's still a new game.

YEARS of effort and development went into it, it basically broke the company, and it's already being ditched to announce something else, after moving 100 machines?

Alien should be their focus at TPF.

Dutch Pinball did it last year. Stupidity seems to run high when you're desperate for new money.

Not to mention, Alien is such a killer theme and (by most accounts) a good playing, well-coded, and amazingly immersive game, so i can't imagine how announcing a new (unknown) game would generate more sales than simply having a few working Aliens there.

Shooing all the people holding signs that say "this company has owed me $xxxx since xx/xx. Buyer beware" should be their focus at TPF. I can't imagine a public appearance going well for them.