Alien (Heighway Pinball)
Heighway Pinball, 2017Quoted from Ericpinballfan:Time to storm the factory in wales guys.
In 2007 i had a very diffulcult fragile purchase from an auction house in London. After a month of phone calls and emails i said F-it. Got on a plane and picked it up in person. Saved 2300 vat, which paid for trip.
Go on I m curious. What did you buy at the auction?
All sounds like fud to me. Yes sucks people here aren’t getting games. And good for ct doing the right thing. But reality is this. Somehow elsewhere people are getting games and when they do come and work they are amazing.
It seems they are trying to do something otherwise they would have closed shop a while ago.
As far as interests changing I doubt it. There are lots of great new games out but alien still is awesome alongside them.
Since I no longer have to be "pin-litically correct"...
HP is going to crash and burn. I suspect they were bailed out by "dentist rich" people and not "stupid rich" people (like JJP was)
They probably had to re-acquire the license at least once from Fox it's taken so long. That's fine if you're Jack and WOZ is an evergreen hit, but embarrassing for a game you've barely built.
Building in the UK and dealing with a roller coaster exchange rate after Brexit probably didn't help either. At least the Dutch ran to China after getting their new sugar daddy.
Quoted from benheck:Since I no longer have to be "pin-litically correct"..
as we're not...
The new investors are the old investors. Now, if they were so blind as to let it get to the situation it did, why would you think that having them throw good money after bad was going to fix the situation?
Andrew and I sat down and discussed manufacture in 2005, so I'm probably the oldest member of HP (in some form). The ONE thing I told him was to pay your suppliers. Sure enough he failed to do that and was subsequenty taken to court (this is a matter of record and can be looked up). County Court Judgement = NO CREDIT. Thereby you can't make anything unless you sell it first.
I saw the way it was going and told him I'd not do any more work without payment for works already done. I settled out of court, part of which was I had to sign a NDA.
It has been hard watching here and how he duped the US specifically. When Aurich started on Alien, I pretty much could read between the lines as to what would occour.
To see his smug face on that hydrofoil and knowing how he'll probably do the same again really burns.
Quoted from epotech:as we're not...
The new investors are the old investors. Now, if they were so blind as to let it get to the situation it did, why would you think that having them throw good money after bad was going to fix the situation?
Probably the classic "sunk cost" trap - "If I don't invest more, I'll lose what I already invested!"
Have newer shipped Aliens improved at all? I've played Whysnow's prototype unit on location many times and find it fairly.... thin. Hilton would say it's because I'm not a very good player (true) but something still feels off.
Quoted from benheck:Probably the classic "sunk cost" trap - "If I don't invest more, I'll lose what I already invested!"
Have newer shipped Aliens improved at all? I've played Whysnow's prototype unit on location many times and find it fairly.... thin. Hilton would say it's because I'm not a very good player (true) but something still feels off.
Another totally biased opinion. I think it probably is stingy on content for weaker players. There's lots of sweet shit in the game, but it is difficult to reach (i'd guess i'm about average pinsider skill). I've never reached the all out war and only completed one of the mini wizard modes of the two movies, But when you get there, oh boy; all kinds of content you never see otherwise. Even getting deeper into some of the modes, there's stuff that's just hard to reach, but really cool.
Well a lot of things that dose not sound good for you USA people ( or Heighway according to all of your mail ) but we will see.
I cant tell for sure in what condition the company are in but we have got our old deliverys as i told before.
The game are fantastick , and even if there are a lot of new games out since Alien started , it is stil a super game !!!!
I have 1 pcs of Alien LE left unsold in our warehose NIB if someone out here looking for one please contact me.
Its located in Sweden and are on www.retroarcade.se but could be sendt worldwide against shipping cost
I hope all of you ( and me still in with more money into prepaid games ) will have our games and that Heighway will stay alive.
It aint over until the fat lady sings.
Quoted from Pale_Purple:Well looks like CT is out. Got an email from Melissa asking if I’d like to move funds to another game or a refund. She said they’ve been waiting on parts for some games for more than a year and can’t send them money for games if they’ll all end up busted with no help available. I thought HW would do all they can to keep their relationship with CT but it seems to be over.
Just curious if anyone else has gotten this email? It looks like I can still add an Alien to my cart on CT's website.
I'm not necessarily doubting the truth of any of this, but I always like to look for evidence, or at least fallout.
Quoted from Zennmaster:Just curious if anyone else has gotten this email? It looks like I can still add an Alien to my cart on CT's website.
I'm not necessarily doubting the truth of any of this, but I always like to look for evidence, or at least fallout.
I just heard from Melissa. Yeah, it's not sounding too good...
I am just a little bit heartbroken.
Quoted from benheck:I've played Whysnow's prototype unit on location many times and find it fairly.... thin.
There have been hundreds of code enhancements since Hilton's early game went out... that particular machine couldn't be upgraded due to hardware differences, though I was under the impression that he now has a current production game with the latest code.
I was a very big supporter of Andrew and HP over the years when it comes to
money and time investment (working for free like doing translation work/sounding board stuff). I have never been treated like that in my whole (business) life and I’ve learnt it the hard lesson. In the end I’ve received my Alien with a serious damage transport that was documented by DHL and by me at the same day it landed. No answers to my mails anymore. No regulation (backbox severely damaged wood broken) for 4 months now. Shame on you!
Today i unpacked my alien LE, i was scared for all the comments here, but, all the pinball are perfect, no errors, no cracks, the pinball is very very beautiful and the game is very very cool, i love it.
IMG_20180422_182650 (resized).jpg
IMG_20180422_193231 (resized).jpg
Quoted from nonik:Today i unpacked my alien LE, i was scared for all the comments here, but, all the pinball are perfect, no errors, no cracks, the pinball is very very beautiful and the game is very very cool, i love it.
Very sci fi!
Quoted from nonik:Today i unpacked my alien LE, i was scared for all the comments here, but, all the pinball are perfect, no errors, no cracks, the pinball is very very beautiful and the game is very very cool, i love it.
Sorry, but you are completely wrong.
Have you learned nothing from this thread full of facts?
Quoted from Mr68:I hope I don't upset anybody with my observations and wish everyone well. I just find it curious.
Heighway is at least shipping fun games, and considerably more of them than JPOP ever shipped.
I'll be honest, the current hardware in Alien leaves a lot to be desired. It was clearly designed by someone with a hobbyists knowledge of electronics and the ability to stitch together schematics found on google.
But, the games that are working are REALLY fun. Something you can't say about any of JPOP's recent games, and especially not Magic Girl. It's crazy that Magic Girl sold for $20k+ and is a steaming pile of shit, yet Alien is actually getting into people's hands and working for the most part. Heighway is struggling but hasn't reached JPOP level yet. Will that change in the future? Maybe so.
Quoted from Wolfmarsh:Heighway is struggling but hasn't reached JPOP level yet. Will that change in the future? Maybe so.
Can heighway ever reach jpop level? They made two playable feature complete pinball games. Even if it's a horrible crash ending, they at least lifted off the ground before going down.
I would rather see games get into the hands of people no matter where in the world it is. The alternative is no games at all so please tell me which sceneario is the better. As long as games are produced there is a chance every one will get there games one day. Would you prefer they just stopped making games all together? I want to see them survive and continue to make games because I love all pinball. People that know nothing(I am not claiming I do) screaming the end is here will not help anyone. I wish like everyone else that things where different but I still believe the investors are doing what they can to make things right. Only time will tell if they succeed. Please ask your self if games going to people in Europe are worse than no more games being build at all. I know what I prefer.
Quoted from PACMAN:Showing your games arriving in Europe is rubbing salt in our wounds here in the US.
At this point it sounds like the only way heighway makes it is if Euro buyers pull them through this phase. I say keep it up Euro dudes!
Quoted from Wolfmarsh:Heighway is at least shipping fun games, and considerably more of them than JPOP ever shipped.
I'll be honest, the current hardware in Alien leaves a lot to be desired. It was clearly designed by someone with a hobbyists knowledge of electronics and the ability to stitch together schematics found on google.
But, the games that are working are REALLY fun. Something you can't say about any of JPOP's recent games, and especially not Magic Girl. It's crazy that Magic Girl sold for $20k+ and is a steaming pile of shit, yet Alien is actually getting into people's hands and working for the most part. Heighway is struggling but hasn't reached JPOP level yet. Will that change in the future? Maybe so.
I wasn't comparing production or quality of the two companies. I'm not sure how you arrived at that conclusion but I'm no fan of Jpops at all. And I agree, Magic Girl is a piece of shit. I was contrasting the different Pinside attitudes and commentary between the two threads.
Sorry for the misunderstanding. Here's my quote.
Quoted from Mr68:Two significant events a couple of days ago and this thread seems to be limping along. From past experience here, I expected a Pinside eruption of contrasting back and forth opinions, insults and speculation. It was painful and grueling what myself and others went through almost daily with Jpop and I have a long memory for such things.
Owners of the AlienLE's arriving in Europe, were you early buyers direct with HP? Were you already paid up or did you send in balance due payment to HP recently? Seems like these are prepaid folks getting their machines, right??
Quoted from Mr68:I wasn't comparing production or quality of the two companies. I'm not sure how you arrived at that conclusion but I'm no fan of Jpops at all. And I agree, Magic Girl is a piece of shit. I was contrasting the different Pinside attitudes and commentary between the two threads.
Sorry for the misunderstanding. Here's my quote.
I think you misunderstood my reply.
You were asking why there wasn't the same outrage in this thread, that maybe potentially people had gone numb because of past related experiences.
I said it was because Heighway hasn't done nearly anything as bad as JPOP did, yet....
My bad if I still am misunderstanding. 
I know you dislike JPOP, a lot.
Are the Alien LEs that are arriving more reliable than the last batch?
I think the only thing that would give me hope at this point is by now with the LEs they've ironed everything out. If there is still snafus going on with delivered machines, then what hope can there be?
Quoted from frolic:Are the Alien LEs that are arriving more reliable than the last batch?
I think the only thing that would give me hope at this point is by now with the LEs they've ironed everything out. If there is still snafus going on with delivered machines, then what hope can there be?
I have one that came from ct few months ago and I can tell you it’s basically perfect. My only complaint / issue is scorpions leaving marks on glass. They are not adjustable and probably just need a rubber band on tail for a bit to form them down more.
I feel like I got more then my money’s worth on this machine. And if I didn’t have it would pay over retail to get my hands on a perfect one. And I do have spare parts for it like leds. Scorpions and scoop
So while I hope people eventually get their games I’m at least happy for those that have them and they are working.
Quoted from SLAMT1LT:Scorpions?
If you call facehuggers scorpions, should you have to give your game up? That's got to be some sort of code right?
They are not responding to me anymore. It’s been several months. I think the company is cooked! They ignore all emails I delt with Andrew directly years ago. ( many many years ago) Andrew really took everyone for a ride. A scammer. I will lose $1500. Got all my other monies back. Gambled on the deposit. What makes me upset is all the people I referred to Andrew. One of my friends will be out $1500 and Alien was his dream theme. Such a shame. Looking forward to Sterns new Iron Maiden, I can tell you that!! Moving on.
Quoted from frolic:Are the Alien LEs that are arriving more reliable than the last batch?
I think the only thing that would give me hope at this point is by now with the LEs they've ironed everything out. If there is still snafus going on with delivered machines, then what hope can there be?
I know Ferret 's game played right out of the box and that was in the 'last shipment'. His was the updated hardware as built (vs needing to upgrade) and we were able to play it out of the box without any tweaks. I know after the fact the pop bumper switches needed dialing in, but last time I asked... he said it's still playing well. And we unboxed it Feb 12th.. so 2 months ago.
Quoted from Wolfmarsh:I think you misunderstood my reply.
Sorry, I did misunderstand you. Thank you for the kind reply.
Quoted from Mr68:Sorry, I did misunderstand you. Thank you for the kind reply.
No worries! You JPOP victims were the first to get screwed over in what ended up being a long line of shitty pinball people. If I'm ever in a place to buy you a beer, I'd love to.
Quoted from flynnibus:I know ferret 's game played right out of the box and that was in the 'last shipment'. His was the updated hardware as built (vs needing to upgrade) and we were able to play it out of the box without any tweaks. I know after the fact the pop bumper switches needed dialing in, but last time I asked... he said it's still playing well. And we unboxed it Feb 12th.. so 2 months ago.
Mine is same shipment and same thing plays perfect. To me they look like scorpions. Never watched the movie. Just like the theme.
Quoted from Ilushka85:To me they look like scorpions. Never watched the movie. Just like the theme.
Quoted from calprog:They are not responding to me anymore.
Same here. We have paid in full for an SE; no response on either email or Facebook. Since there is nothing to indicate that we'll ever get a game, we're currently looking into how to properly file a statutory demand against a UK entity. Not the way we wanted this to pan out, obviously, but lesson learned...
Quoted from epotech:To see his smug face on that hydrofoil and knowing how he'll probably do the same again really burns.
He won't.
By the way, I wonder: Who are the ones in charge at Heighway these days? I notice that Alexander Spohr (one of the investors in the "new management") lists on his LinkedIn profile that he is no longer a board member after March 2018.
Like oyvindmo says, we have paid in full (GBP 5394). Six days ago (in an attempt to escalate / or at least elicit some form of response from the company), I sent the following email to Roger Svanevik (who owns 50% of Umbrella Corporation AS (a norwegian company), which in turn has a 25% stake in Heighway Pinball). The same email was sent to Morgan Potter and Mats Daniel Janson (One of the board members in Heighway. The other board members are: Cato Paus Skrede, Alexander Thomas Spohr and Johan Patrik Tenn).
Alexander Spohr seems to have jumped ship in march 2018 and is now CEO of a german pinball company (https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexanderspohr/)
This email was sent six days ago, and none has bothered to reply yet. This email should have rattled someone's chain and prompted some sort of response. It didn't. From a business point of view, there is absolutely NO excuse for not responding to an email like this, unless the company is dead.
The contents of my email was the following:
"Hi !
We preordered an Alien on 12/09/2016 (order ID: 2014322) and paid the invoice in full ( GBP 5394).
On the 24. Of July 2017, we requested a shipping date. You replied with the following:
“We will be in touch soon to let you know the delivery timeframe of your
machine. I can say that you are towards the front of the queue and will
be among the first to receive your Alien Pinball SE”
In october 2017 we again requested an estimated ship date.
Roger Svanevik then called Øyvind Møll and hinted that it was possible to ship the game by the end of the year.
In november 2017, you sent out a newsletter, stating the following:
"We promise to be in direct contact with all of our pre-order customers
with good news and bad and, as soon as we have the planned production
week for your machine, we will tell you. We hope to have delivered the
machines to all of you by late Q1 2018,"
This deadline has now passed. You have not been in touch with us, nor have you shipped a machine to us.
In January 2018 we contacted Morgan Potter, requesting a status update for the third time.
Again, you were unable to provide us with a production or shipping date for a machine we have paid for.
On the 13. of April 2018, I once again requested a delivery date via Facebook. You replied:
"It seems you sent an email today. It has been received but unfortunately there was no time to answer it yet. Sales should come back to you soon with an answer."
On the 17. of April, I requested an update via Facebook. This was ignored. We still haven't received any response from sales.
When you bought out the original owner of Heighway, you also assumed responsibility of delivering on outstanding orders. You are obviously producing and shipping games. Subsidizing production of games delivered to new customers with capital obtained from early sales is slightly reminiscent of a Ponzi scheme. I question the legality of this.
If you do not respond to this email and provide us with an imminent shipping date, I will make this timeline public by the end of the week.
This means it will be published on our website, on pinside.com, as a post on your facebook page and as a comment on all future post you make on facebook. This as a warning to all existing and future customers.
We are running a professional business and we expect you to do the same.
Regards
Hans J. Grimstad
Pop Bumper AS
Norway"
Quoted from hansj66:...
Alexander Spohr seems to have jumped ship in march 2018 and is now CEO of a german pinball company (https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexanderspohr/)
Now(?)...he seems to be CEO of German Pinball Design GmbH since 08-18-2017
New Story from This week in Pinball
Heighway Pinball – Unsettling Information
Heighway Pinball had a couple unsettling pieces of information come out this past week.
First, Helmut Langenbruch has left Heighway Pinball. Helmut provided Technical Customer Support and was widely regarded as one of the most responsive employees at Heighway as customers have had many complaints about Heighway’s communication. According to his LinkedIn account, he had worked at Heighway for two years.
Second, according to Zach Meny (full time star of Straight Down the Middle: a pinball show and part time TWIP correspondent) who spoke with Melissa at Coin Taker, there are currently 35-40 Alien machines ready to ship over to the U.S. However, Coin Taker would need to pay in full for these machines to have them shipped and is not comfortable doing so at this time. Heighway is having issues providing parts and manuals to troubleshoot any problems with machines. Melissa stressed that Coin Taker wants to provide their customers with only the best products and services, and wants to assure that every machine meets those high standards. Coin Taker wants to protect its customers. Thus the delay of receiving said machines may be a reflection on those standards that must be met. Coin Taker will continue to work with Heighway Pinball in hopes that parts and manuals will be provided so that issues out of the box can be rectified.
We will keep you updated on things at Heighway, but these are two more challenges that Heighway will need to overcome.
Quoted from Join_The_Cirqus:New Story from This week in Pinball
http://thisweekinpinball.com/twip-interview-with-eric-meunier-on-jjp-changes-heighway-pinball-unsettling-info-alice-coopers-sounds-and-callouts-more/
Heighway Pinball – Unsettling Information
Heighway Pinball had a couple unsettling pieces of information come out this past week.
First, Helmut Langenbruch has left Heighway Pinball. Helmut provided Technical Customer Support and was widely regarded as one of the most responsive employees at Heighway as customers have had many complaints about Heighway’s communication. According to his LinkedIn account, he had worked at Heighway for two years.
Second, according to Zach Meny (full time star of Straight Down the Middle: a pinball show and part time TWIP correspondent) who spoke with Melissa at Coin Taker, there are currently 35-40 Alien machines ready to ship over to the U.S. However, Coin Taker would need to pay in full for these machines to have them shipped and is not comfortable doing so at this time. Heighway is having issues providing parts and manuals to troubleshoot any problems with machines. Melissa stressed that Coin Taker wants to provide their customers with only the best products and services, and wants to assure that every machine meets those high standards. Coin Taker wants to protect its customers. Thus the delay of receiving said machines may be a reflection on those standards that must be met. Coin Taker will continue to work with Heighway Pinball in hopes that parts and manuals will be provided so that issues out of the box can be rectified.
We will keep you updated on things at Heighway, but these are two more challenges that Heighway will need to overcome.
So how do the US customers with money down on an Alien pinball that is ready to ship feel about CT's refusal to pay for the shipment?
No supplier in their right mind would ship the container without payment regardless of what has gone on before.
I hope it can be resolved but what could Heighway do for CT to released payment?
Quoted from Andy_B:I hope it can be resolved but what could Heighway do for CT to released payment?
Seems like a big part of the problem is spare parts, and a manual/schematics. Some way to support the machines post sale.
I suspect if Heighway did this:
-produced service manual
-produced and delivered a batch of spare parts
-had a dedicated tech support person on a dedicated system (some sort of ticket system)
A lot of good could come of that. And in all seriousness, how can anyone continue to deal with a company that did not have the above in place?
Quoted from frolic:Seems like a big part of the problem is spare parts, and a manual/schematics. Some way to support the machines post sale.
I suspect if Heighway did this:
-produced service manual
-produced and delivered a batch of spare parts
-had a dedicated tech support person on a dedicated system (some sort of ticket system)
A lot of good could come of that. And in all seriousness, how can anyone continue to deal with a company that did not have the above in place?
The Dedicated Person was Helmut, and sadly he is no longer there.
He was stretched very thin and wore many hats in the company.
They have a ticket system as well, but unfortunately nobody ever responds (well except Helmut when he was able to)
From: <[email protected]>
Date: Thu, Apr 19, 2018 at 7:31 AM
Dear Customer,
We have received your e-mail. Thank you very much. We will work on your enquiry and try to answer your e-mail as soon as possible.
We thank you for your patience and your understanding.
Your Heigway Pinball Team
Heighway Pinball Ltd
UNIT 35 RASSAU INDUSTRIAL ESTATE
EBBW VALE NP23 5SD
UNITED KINGDOM
T: +44 1495 305634
Email: [email protected]
http://www.heighwaypinball.com
Quoted from Andy_B:So how do the US customers with money down on an Alien pinball that is ready to ship feel about CT's refusal to pay for the shipment?
No supplier in their right mind would ship the container without payment regardless of what has gone on before.
I hope it can be resolved but what could Heighway do for CT to released payment?
CT is looking out for their customers. They are sitting on Alien games right now that do not work and have long been awaiting parts to repair them (in same cases months). They see the hazards of releasing funds to HW and having 40 of their customers with potentially broken games and no support/parts to follow up with. That would create a nightmare for CT and their reputation. I applaud CT for taking caution with their customers cash. At least they either have a game or refund to offer. Much more than can be said for many of the unfortunate folks that sent cash to HW. What can you do when the only person that responded to inquiries has now left the company?
so at what point can those of us in US bond together and possible hire an attorney or threaten/pursue legal action? is something like that even feasible? I am in the "out $1500.00 boat" and feel for ANYONE that is out any amount of monies at this point. This should simply NOT be tolerated any longer. I just don't know what to do at this point.
I don't think simply "giving up" and allowing heighway to continue their shady practices should be an acceptable solution. I for one am the type that would spend more than I have invested to prove a point, or to simply keep someone else from making the same mistake I did. I consider it good karma on my behalf.
I'm one of those waiting on parts/support. At this point, I have zero confidence Heighway will provide either. It sucks, because the game is actually very fun - GREAT code and sound - lots of interesting (and hard) shots - very immersive. But regardless of how great the game may be, folks will continue to be hesitant to buy if support is non-existent. Yes, I have heard of some folks getting spare parts (a few in the US, mostly in the UK), but in the past 13 months of my ownership - despite numerous promises - the only parts/support I ever received was from Cointaker. If it wasn't for CT, I'd still be stuck with the pre-production machine running version 0.94 that Andrew sold me as 'full production'. I'm now waiting on parts to fix my Xeno (just need one $0.50 plastic gear), and parts for EL blades. CT has said they would try to get them....but... I'm not holding my breath.
I would LOVE to see Alien succeed. It really is a fun game, when it's working. I had some issues with my game recently, but have managed to fix everything (except the xeno) - and it's been playing great. I had a neighbor over last week to play, and also put in a bunch of games over the weekend. ...fun!
Enjoy a few new pics...
Quoted from SunKing:I'm one of those waiting on parts/support. At this point, I have zero confidence Heighway will provide either. It sucks, because the game is actually very fun - GREAT code and sound - lots of interesting (and hard) shots - very immersive. But regardless of how great the game may be, folks will continue to be hesitant to buy if support is non-existent. Yes, I have heard of some folks getting spare parts (a few in the US, mostly in the UK), but in the past 13 months of my ownership - despite numerous promises - the only parts/support I ever received was from Cointaker. If it wasn't for CT, I'd still be stuck with the pre-production machine running version 0.94 that Andrew sold me as 'full production'. I'm now waiting on parts to fix my Xeno (just need one $0.50 plastic gear), and parts for EL blades. CT has said they would try to get them....but... I'm not holding my breath.
I would LOVE to see Alien succeed. It really is a fun game, when it's working. I had some issues with my game recently, but have managed to fix everything (except the xeno) - and it's been playing great. I had a neighbor over last week to play, and also put in a bunch of games over the weekend. ...fun!
Enjoy a few new pics...
Try this
One of these should work, on the zeno retract
ebay.com link: 82 pcs Plastic Gear Package Kit DIY Gear Assortment accessories set for Toy Car
Quoted from SunKing:I'm now waiting on parts to fix my Xeno (just need one $0.50 plastic gear),
Just sayin' that maybe this could be a part that Pinball Life could carry.
https://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=catalog&parent=369&pg=1
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