Perspective from the furniture industry here """- the manufacturer ETAs in 4months, then there is chip delays that add +2mths, then there is shipping - if you werent aware the benefit of 'container' shipping is almost completely disappeared with current pricing - then crazy docks holdups - then added difficulties getting a trucking company whos willing to pick it up, and to ship cost-effectively within NA once its here""" I check this forum every day to see if other Nitro Canada customers have gotten an update - its a trip to see so many people on this forum as un-informed as the customer who are trying to buy furniture from us right now...

Nitro gets theirs from cointake

I have to say not for pure gold i want to have melissas job.

Good luck to you all guys, hope you get all your games soon.

Poor melissa...

I would definitely feel for her had she not confirmed to me on the phone twice that when she sold me a spot from a guy who had given up from his order from January 2021 that I was taking his spot in line, that my game was in the next boat, then tell me she stuck me in the back of the line and counted it as a new order. That's just unprofessional. What am I going to do? Give it up completely or wait it out? She knows I don't have many choices.

Yeah I wouldn't mind the wait if I hadn't been told it would be here in two weeks back in October so I sold a game from my location to make space for it.

The same Haggis that took people's money and hasn't provided a meaningful update on why games still haven't been built yet? Yeah ok.

Guys - this is alien. As someone with experience, do not hold your breath on when you will get your game. You will not lose your money either with cointaker but you have to know this going in. I understand why that would bother some. Totally get that but if you try to matlock this and figure out the alien overseas shipping (especially with the current bottleneck), you're going to be disappointed.

Did anyone plan or are they even available, Cliffy's for Alien Pinball Brothers? I'm seeing a set for Heighway, but not for PB. Was curious if anyone took steps to install, and what that entailed. Never installed cliffy's myself - I have them on my Ghostbuster's premium but need to potentially replace or repair one.

Wow, what a douche bag. I hope this fallows him, where ever he goes.

Last spoke with Chiffy’s they were waiting on someone with a blank playfield.

I did the same. Sold my Dialed In thinking it was coming within a month.

I get this but CT has told us repeatedly the game is there and will be delivered the next week only for it not to come and another story told the next week. It's not about worrying about losing my money it's the frustration with setting false expectations. They already have my money just say you don't know what's going on if you don't know. Don't keep telling me the game will be here soon when you have no idea.

Enough with the shipping delays, can we talk about the elephant in the room??? It seems like this machine is still in beta - manufacturing process has not been ironed out. Plus how much of PITA is it going to be to repair/maintain given that entire boards will have to be replaced? I have also heard people experience issues with random resetting and the xenomorph from hell

I hear you. Definitely an understandable point. I'm not quite sure why these statements are made b/c from my personal conversations with Melissa, it's a struggle to really pinpoint or provide significant comfort once it hits the seas. I agree though that less definitive statements would only help the situation although the customer service nature likely pushes Cointaker to make some assumptions that lead to this frustration. When I hear dates I take them with a grain of salt, expecting it to not come to fruition - that would be my advice. That doesn't fly well with some which is why I understand folks pulling out completely and moving on to a next game. It's just that this game is so damn good.

Have you bought a newer pinball game in the last ~10 years? Board replacement is pretty much the standard now.

Additionally, most have had few problems. However, yes the Xeno is problematic.

Bought Jurassic Park and have had 0 issues. My concern is more that the problems that do arise are not a just a code fix but manufacturing / design defect which existed from the HIGHWAY dayz...

Premium or Pro?

I have been on 2 different locations that the premium was broken at one time or another...

Bought the pro because I didn't want to have to deal with the Rex head. Shoots pretty perfect - all I did was level it.

Same, I've yet to find one in the wild that is operational.

I'm not going to try to convince people to buy one. All of the manufacturers have horror stories. The most I would say is I wouldn't trust this on a route, but it is fine for home use.

Besides Stern and games using proc, all these custom one off boards are going to be a major issue down the line. At least when buying from a more established manufacturer like JJP you have some expectation that they'll still be around in a few years to maybe make you a replacement board, but PB's future is unknown, and their custom boards are some of the most complex out there with custom sensors and cpu chips etc, and have had a lot of failures already, unlike most manufacturers. JJP had similar issues with their woz lamp boards when they got started, that's probably the biggest last case of needing to replace a bunch of boards. Hopefully PB is around for a long time but that's the future...

That's the same story of pinball since it started. By the time that is an issue, there will be resolutions.

There are still games from the 70s with production runs way higher than alien will ever have and no replacement boards. And those don't have proprietary components on them. And it's just one board for a whole era , not 12 per game. It's not at all the same story in the slightest. Even reproducing the most popular board of this era, the Stern node board, would be way more involved than pretty much anything done so far

Wasnt there a picture with the model number in the thread.

remember it looking like an HP Industrial motherboard.

He's referring to the 'node boards' under the pf, not the PC.

The reasons are pretty obvious. Look at the Heighway owners. Where there's a will, things will be done. As for the comparisons, just because Stern is alive and well now doesn't mean in 10-20 years they will be and that their boards will be any more available than anyone elses. The risk may be lower, but it isn't non existent. I get that there's a concern. I have the same concern about CGC games and their boards, but at the end of the day you either want a game or you don't and these new all in one boards are the future process we have to deal with. I guess the overall point is, if you are scared to buy anything but Stern, buy Stern. We're at the point now that if you don't want one, there's really no reason to even come in the owners thread and complain about it. Some have issues, some do not. Same with every other game coming out regardless if they've been around for decades.

The thing is I do want one. And there is a point to talk about the issues with this game and not sweep them under the rug. The Stern/CGC comparison doesn't make sense. How many pins has Stern & CGC made vs PB? I guess if it has issues I can just sell it on here

Most of the larger issues have been addressed. The boards he's talking about, there is no changing that and as of yet are not problematic. You either accept the risk, or skip it. I'm not even trying to hype the game, it's just the reality of the situation. PB has been good about addressing issues and customer service. I'm not sure what else people expect. It's not a lemon, it's not perfect but I'd still rather have this than many of the other games being released. I don't care about 30 years down the road when I'm dead.

Have you read the entire thread? It covers the good, the bad and the ugly. There has been plenty of discussion around the issues people have found, the outstanding level of support they've received from PB and how issues have been addressed. The one thing I've noticed is how the more recent shipments from PB seem to have addressed most of the initial issues encountered.

It literally does though. Higher demand for boards = more likely chance they'll be reproduced. More games made, shared boardsets = higher demand, more parts out there, more spares. Stern's complex boards are all swappable, and their unique boards are all very simple. Chances of PB outlasting Stern are laughable too. PB has the least maintainable/reproducable boardset out there, full stop, and the highest rate of board failures of any manufacturer. There's what, a hundred or two of these games out there? And how many people just in this thread reporting needing new boards? Hopefully PB is around for years to come and makes many more games, and continues to support Alien too, and the V3 boardset (unless there's a v4 now, who knows?) is rock solid, but those are the facts. You can cross your fingers all you want, and I sure am too, I own the game and want it to keep working, but it's easily the most risky purchase in my collection by far, and saying anything else to prospective buyers is flat out unsupportable

Crossing your fingers is exactly what every one of us do each time we buy a game, regardless of who made it. When the horror story threads become silent, I'll worry more about one versus the other.

I feel for you guys - After going through the troubles of getting the original (when cointaker said it was on the way there), and ran into the same old sh!t this time. Then reading about the problems with the games coming in I decided to bail. Haven't regretted my decision since there are plenty of good pins to choose from. I hope this gets better for all involved.

Ok.

Thanks!

I'm just on absolute tenterhooks waiting for anyone on here to post a pic of a delivered LV. We all know they are nearing completion - the pics that PB have posted on Facebook shows they are painfully close to being shipped and getting to us owners. Really cannot wait to see them start to arrive (especially mine obvs).

Not sure when that might happen it seems that shipping is really a sh*tshow at the moment... but surely it can't be THAT far off can it....?

Welp, looks like Optimiser woke up and is doing his max daily downvotes again. Such a joy to have you around, truly.

I say thank you, good ol' Optimiser is there to cowardly troll and downvote. And is now my very first pinsider to be blocked!

Supposedly, their first container is shipping soon. Melissa at CT told me that there are @ 40 pins per container and seem to be going at a rate of a container per 4-6 weeks. That may pick up or slow down, obviously, but they will arrive eventually!

I'm #283, so I'm thinking it will take a year lol. If I get it sooner, then it's a bonus. I'm just happy there is an Alien pin at all, so it's a win for me.

Saw this in an advert. Immediately reminded me of this thread! Truth!
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Love the detail on this thing.

3a1bdec9906dcc63cac80acac7fe1b3a (resized).jpg

Custom decals going on tomorrow hopefully!
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At one time an artist friend of mine and I had talked about doing a homebrew or retheme of a machine featuring his artwork that he could put in his booth at comic con shows. We both ended up getting sidetracked by other projects and I hate that. I've always appreciated his artwork and think it would fit well with a pinball machine. Here is a sample of some of what he was working on at the time:
ssvalien (resized).png

At that rate, they should be finished with the LVs in around 2.5 years!

That drawing looks amazing...really nice work

How many guys having board, Xeno issues? This is news to me. I could easily route my game, it's been great, bullet proof. I see the concern for board issues in the future. but absolute worst case.. there is pretty much always someone that can remake it with better tech by then. LV is 1000 made, I can see 2000 plus SV's being built, it seems to be the better deal. Just my thoughts. No one will throw this game in the trash, they'll keep it till a part is made, it's that good.

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My concern is games sitting in containers out at sea or in port and the problems that can arise from sitting longer than anticipated or being abused by rushed or overworked freight/dock/shipping companies.
This might be where some of the problems people had arose.

I heard some horror stories of items in containers or on ships months longer than anticipated when they only had enough materials in them to prevent moisture or exposure damage.
We'll see.

I also worry about damage in transit or at ports by sitting or being handled inappropriately.

Perhaps I am just thinking too much.

Either way, I ordered my machine back in Feb. 2021 and was actually expecting it around Thanksgiving time after paying in full mid October.

The joys of the times!

If it weren’t for the recent and very awesome videos from the apron/beacon mod kit, I would bail. I’m also worried about them sitting. Doubt it is climate controlled.

Another week down and no games in sight.

Some humor.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/594532837265674/permalink/5151546968230882/

Any more updates?!

Sooo when are you expecting yours?