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New Heighway Owner

johnwhitfield said:
Problem is at a rate of 5 machines a week those 175 pre orders means a 3 year wait for someone at the back of the queue. Any business needs regular inflow of cash. If the deposit money is all gone there's little incentive to prioritise game that are already pre-paid for. No one is going to pay and join the back of the queue.
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Erm are you not a maths teacher ? :p

5 a week multiplied by 52 weeks equals 260 a year or 35 weeks to make 175... :hmm:
 
I hate to say it, but HP is now a busted flush.

5 years of employee wages, rent, rates, power costs will be well over customer deposits. There can be nothing left except a nice game design, a few parts, some machines and maybe some patents, everything else is worthless.

A handful of backers from another country are going to rescue it? Who's going to go halfway way across Europe to manage it with no salary? What about when the new owners start arguing with each other? The only sensible option is to wind the company up, buy the assets from the administrators and perhaps start again, like the JPop story.

As someone previously said, early buyers were effectively funding a startup and you might get a game out of it, just like a kickstarter, in which case you're accepting a huge risk and so would expect a massive discount, maybe 50% or more, and maybe some equity. I'm not sure there was ever a business plan to back all that up for buyers.

It's really sad as people's livelihoods are involved, as well as folks being out of pocket after everyone trying their best. I guess it's especially tough at the end as you have a conflict of interest with those that funded you in the first place.

You have to admire Heighway team for having a go and following their dreams, after starting from scratch. Andy and the team will live to fight another day.

Nonetheless, and I hope I'm wrong, but I don't see a win for anyone here for a while.
 
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I still haven't heard diddly about correcting issues with the game. You have to nail down the design BEFORE you can even start to think about ordering parts. What if the Xenomorph requires a re-design to make it work properly. It will then need new parts obtaining. And if you have already pîssed off your supplier chain with late/non payment then it doesn't look good for those timeframes.
 
stoptap said:
I still haven't heard diddly about correcting issues with the game. You have to nail down the design BEFORE you can even start to think about ordering parts. What if the Xenomorph requires a re-design to make it work properly. It will then need new parts obtaining. And if you have already pîssed off your supplier chain with late/non payment then it doesn't look good for those timeframes.
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Indeed :eek:

2nd half of June ....it's the 7th now .....complete, issue free games rolling off the line ?? I hope you are right ,because people are gonna be pretty unforgiving about false dawns from now on in.
 
Sgt GrizZ said:
Indeed :eek:

2nd half of June ....it's the 7th now .....complete, issue free games rolling off the line ?? I hope you are right ,because people are gonna be pretty unforgiving about false dawns from now on in.
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They are going to have one shot at this. If they fluff it and games aren't going out when they said then they are done. It's the workers I feel sorry for.
 
Yeah be nice if Dave Sanders could get a job with Stern after all this had blown over.
 
That'd be nice for him I agree, but in the video where he talked about designing Alien, he showed what he was given to start with, the design by Dennis Nordman, and I think it's fair to say that Dennis did the lion's share of the design before Dave finished it off.
 
That email is almost the same speech Andrew gave at the reveal seminar back in sept 14'
 
Toads said:
That email is almost the same speech Andrew gave at the reveal seminar back in sept 14'
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Exactly. Deja Vu all over again. Ramping up to build 100 games a month...why oh why would they say that? That was Andrew's promise for years.
 
Kaneda said:
Exactly. Deja Vu all over again. Ramping up to build 100 games a month...why oh why would they say that? That was Andrew's promise for years.
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Because nothings really changed?
 
cooldan said:
That'd be nice for him I agree, but in the video where he talked about designing Alien, he showed what he was given to start with, the design by Dennis Nordman, and I think it's fair to say that Dennis did the lion's share of the design before Dave finished it off.
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There's a difference between designing a game and doing a game layout. Any silly sod can place bumpers and ramps and make something that shoots. There's mechanical design, software design, electronics. A huge team of design that rarely get the credit.
For me it's Russel Speak (Slamt1lt) that is the 'feel' of Heighway's 2 games. If I had a pinball compamy I'd hire in a shot.
 
Kaneda said:
Exactly. Deja Vu all over again. Ramping up to build 100 games a month...why oh why would they say that? That was Andrew's promise for years.
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To keep those that have money in 'happy' or should I say illusioned that all will be OK and that games will be coming down the line quickly so their game will be with them by the end of summer.

This clearly is not the case, as others have said, HP have been doing nothing but hemorrhaging monies and for years, there can be nothing left in the pot which is why no one is getting refunds.
Its also the reason machines are not being made except for the odd one here and there. To get production going its going to take hundred of thousands or millions of £'s certainly at the rate they are suggesting of running production, I mean how many staff will they need for that alone, excluding parts and so on.

If I had money in this i'd be straight onto my credit card company the sooner the better, we have all seen this happen twice before now.

Its sad as I really wanted HP to succeed.

Now Alien is a great IP to have in pinball, if someone could get this game mass produced and out it would make a killing.
IMHO this is the only reason for investors stepping in, they may be pinheads but I bet they smell opportunity, and they are not doing it to lose money or for the benefit of those that have deposits in.

The company will be wound-up, the IP will be purchased by another company (owned by the investors) and Alien will either be sold on or made under licence by Stern, JJP, hell even ARA....
 
if they need help with cash, i have the money waiting for collection, as has always been my remit with buying one
 
Credit card purchases get protected (most debit card purchases don't as they don't come under credit/lending regulations. Consumer credit act?). I'm struggling to remember though if you get 12 or 24 months protection. I was able to get the cash back for Predator this way under "Non delivery of goods". Best to check with your card company about the length of time you are covered for. The good news though is that reversing a credit card payment is pretty simple. If I was after my money back I would go straight to the credit card company rather than try to deal with the manufacturer.

I wonder where any existing owners would stand about being able to get a refund on the grounds that they've bought faulty goods if key features don't work as will the new owners stand by existing warranties etc?

Good luck to everyone involved and I hope no one (including the new owners) get burnt.
 
My god people STOP. This is so simple, here are the steps:

1. GET A REFUND
2. LET THEM FIX COMPANY WITH THEIR MONEY
3. BUY ALIEN WHEN THEY FIX IT OR...
4. HAVE YOUR MONEY IN YOUR POCKET WHEN THEY CLOSE SHOP

Why anyone would stick this out with the investors is inane. If they balk at refunds now the company will collapse shortly and we will know their intentions were never serious. It's also time everyone realize this simple fact:

ANDREW HEIGHWAY SPENT YOUR ALIEN MONEY NOT BUILDING ALIEN MACHINES. HE SPENT IT FLYING AROUND THE WORLD WITH A PROTOTYPE, MOVING INTO EMPTY FACTORIES AND PRETENDING TO BE UK'S FIRST PINBALL MANUFACTURER, EVEN ACCEPTING BUSINESS AWARDS, WHEN IN FACT HE DID NOTHING OF THE SORT. HE LIED. HE STALLED. HE HAD A DREAM. BUT NO CLUE HOW TO MAKE THAT DREAM A REALITY.

GET YOUR MONEY BACK NOW!
 
I do not know this @Kaneda geezer, but I can understand why he is shouting.

There is pattern in Pinball of folk putting deposits down for new games from fledgling manufacturers. Hearing some convoluted story. They may end up getting zero back.

I would suggest that folk who have placed deposits should think about what this guy is saying.
 
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Luckily I'm not down for one and in the position many find themselves now but IF I was, I would have had my credit card return the money already.
 
I think Heighway Pinball is perhaps in a much stronger position under its new management. I worked there very briefly and know they are very committed to delivering high quality games. They just need the right direction at the top and now they have that. With time I can see them being a success and I wish them all the very best going forward.

I am by no means a fan of pinball, but having followed them with interest since my time there, I wanted to add my 2 pence. All the best folks :)
 
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