Quoted from pinballslave:Hi. I have the option to get hold of an original Heighway Alien (LE) model... which, bearing in mind the whole production run is pretty LE, an LE version of it will be super LE... anyhow, does anyone have an opinion about if getting an original Alien would be preferable over waiting for this game to be produced? Does this game offer enhancements over the Heighway game, or vice versa?
Thanks!
It really depends on your comfort level when it comes to tweaking or fixing things, really. The OG Alien, even LE ones, were not all created equal. Later runs had improvements, and owners have made improvements thereafter - the consensus seems to be on some of these things that they are "essential fixes" (PSU springs to mind?). Parts availability is - I'm told - better now, but it's not uncommon to see OG Aliens sold with a myriad of spare "backup" parts - which should tell you something.
At this point in time no one really knows what the new Alien is like, or how long it'll be supported for. One would like to think that PB - having been invested in Heighway - have "been around the block" with this, but it's by no means certain. You need only start at the beginning of the OG Alien thread to see positive sentiments slowly disintegrate.
Anyone buying either an OG Alien or this new one should be doing it with both eyes open. PB are not Stern or JJP. They have no track record and customer service, support, etc is as yet untested (not that Stern/JJP are necessarily beacons of virtue in that regard either).