I'm pretty sure you told me 2 hours ago you were going to bed. This post proves otherwise sir!

John I'd love it if you could just talk about what your thinking for this group is. It sounds really interesting (I know nothing about it, not involved) and I grasp the basic idea of an incubator, but how will it really function? Are you looking for people who have their own whitewoods who might want to pitch a game?

Ah, so this is starting to make more sense to me.

So here's how I understand it:

If you're interested in building a pinball, you have ideas, you have skills, but you're just clueless about what to do with it once you've built it, or the idea of manufacturing (rightly) scares you, there's a path now.

Heighway will provide a support structure, a technical framework, and a source of low cost parts. Help you build up your pin, and make your vision complete.

In return, Heighway would like the option to work out a deal to build your pin, and the creators would get a share of the sales.

So it's an incubator, a farm team. Everyone gets something out of it, but with no guarantees.

John does that sound accurate?

I think that's definitely one way to look at it.

Another is to realize that there are people out there who love the idea of designing a pinball, but have no support infrastructure, and no way to actually get it built.

If you're the kind of person who loves the idea of building a game, and finds the idea of then being able to hand it off to a factory to be created, and take your share of the profits without that headache attractive? Then it sounds like a good win win.

If you'd rather control the entire process yourself? Hey, do your own thing. Work with Aaron and FAST, use the Mission pinball framework, use P-Roc, whatever makes sense.

I have to say, with Heighway games being modular, the idea that you could potentially have your game created, sold at the "lower cost" option of being a kit to be slid into an existing cabinet, that's pretty attractive.

I look at a game like WOOLY. Great team, really built out their own vision, did their own thing. But then they ran up against the build reality. They partnered up with Spooky, kind of a similar idea, but the game was going to be $8k. Just too expensive. Maybe with Heighway's bulk power they could have got the BOM lower, and more realistic to buy.

Ha, all good. I have zero involvement or knowledge of this initiative, and to be honest, no real interest in being the "go to guy" for these projects either. Because frankly if I was getting involved in a homebrew project and doing the art etc I'd rather be doing it with my own team, and my own idea. Maybe with Heighway! Who knows, I'm not announcing that I'm making my own game or anything.

I'm doing Alien because it's an awesome license for a movie that I'm a huge fan of. I have an Alien limited print hanging right behind me as I type. The stars aligned.

I like Andrew a lot, I like his philosophy, I like how he does business. Right now I'm only signed on for this one project. We'll see what the future brings. But in this particular thread I'm a "biased outsider". Obviously I want Heighway to succeed, but I have no particular skin in this game, or inside knowledge (at this time at least).

I wouldn't advise anyone to take a deal they weren't comfortable with. And I respect anyone who wants to be indie and DIY. But I'd think this was a cool idea coming from Jack, or Stern too. I'd say Spooky, but as much as I respect them, they don't have the factory and infrastructure right now to offer it.

So I know it's hard for me to sound impartial, because I'm not. But I am trying to view this as a fan, and it's not something I've been involved at all in. If that changes later, so be it, but right now I know as much as anyone who's read this thread.