Journalist Tool

Kineticist

  • HDashboard
  • IItems
  • ↓Ingest
  • SSources
  • KBeats
  • BBriefs
  • RIntel
  • QSearch
  • NName Review
  • +Health

v0.1.0

← Back to items

Hexa Pinball - Dutch Pinball Open Expo 2024 - Pinball News

Pinball News (Dutch Pinball Open Expo 2024)·video·34m 21s·analyzed·Nov 5, 2024
View original
Export .md

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.026

TL;DR

Hexa Pinball introduces Space Hunt with French manufacturing and disability accessibility features.

Summary

Hexa Pinball (Exapinball), a French boutique manufacturer based in Bordeaux, introduces Space Hunt at Dutch Pinball Open Expo 2024. The company emphasizes quality, local manufacturing, and distinctive accessibility features including a disability controller and pause functionality. They plan European expansion next year with US distribution following, while working on a second title in parallel.

Key Claims

  • Hexa Pinball is the first and only pinball company in France

    high confidence · Aurélie Cosledon states: 'And as you may know as well, in France, there's no other company making pinballs, so we are the first one.'

  • Space Hunt software is currently version 0.9 and still in development

    high confidence · Alex states: 'Actually it's the 0.9 version. We need to code the big big final on latest and we have additional little mission in the base mode in this new update'

  • All playfield manufacturing is done in-house in Bordeaux using proprietary epoxy methods without inserts

    high confidence · Alex explains: 'The playfield is made in Bordeaux, in the shop... We have a patent for it. So the playfield is made in France... We don't use insert. We use epoxy for insert.'

  • A Space Hunt machine at a French supermarket has completed 14,000 plays without issues

    high confidence · Alex states: 'We had made one in a supermarket in France a few months ago. and there's 14,000 plays, games, and we didn't have any problem.'

  • Development of a new pinball game typically takes about two years from start to selling

    medium confidence · Alex estimates: 'It about two years yeah from the beginning to the you know selling the pinball'

Notable Quotes

  • “We don't use insert. We use epoxy for insert... We have a patent for it.”

    Alex (Hexa Pinball co-founder)@ 12:28 — Reveals proprietary manufacturing technique differentiating Hexa's playfield production from industry standard

  • “We are French, not American. So if you have a little company, a new company, we need to be a little disruptive.”

    Alex (Hexa Pinball co-founder)@ 25:51 — Articulates strategic positioning of boutique European manufacturer competing in American-dominated market

  • “He was never able to play any pinball machines before. So first time... he was so excited to be able to play pinball with this disability.”

    Aurélie Cosledon (Hexa Pinball)@ 21:26 — Demonstrates impact of disability accessibility feature tested with child user

  • “Everything is local and this is something we want to highlight here... Everything is made in Bordeaux, everything is local.”

    Alex (Hexa Pinball co-founder)@ 7:58 — Emphasizes commitment to local French manufacturing as core business differentiation

  • “I think you're again the world first to do that so it's free yeah it's a notification for people”

    Interviewer (Pinball News host)@ 20:43 — Confirms Hexa's disability controller is world-first feature included at no additional cost

  • “We will keep producing the space hand as we have some demand for it... the idea is not to make thousands of them, but to make it a little bit different. Special.”

    Alex (Hexa Pinball co-founder) — Clarifies production strategy: maintain Space Hunt sales while developing second title, positioning as specialty manufacturer

Entities

Aurélie CosledonpersonAlexpersonChristophepersonRomain FontainepersonLuispersonHexa PinballcompanyExapinballcompanySpace HuntgameDutch Pinball Open Expo 2024event

Signals

  • ?

    business_signal: Hexa positioning as small, boutique manufacturer with modest production targets (100-200 units scale) rather than competing with mass-market producers

    medium · Alex: 'We don't have objective. We have very little company. US are very big makers. So, I sell 200, 30, 50, 100. It's okay... the idea is not to make thousands of them, but to make it a little bit different. Special.'

  • ?

    community_signal: Disability accessibility features (specialized controller for head/foot control, simplified no-flash mode, free inclusion) represent pioneering accessibility in pinball industry

    high · Interviewer confirms: 'I think you're again the world first to do that so it's free... I think with a disability it's really good that you invest in that. I think most people, it's an underestimated group of people. I think with your idea you made it accessible for a lot of people. It's really a great job.'

  • ?

    licensing_signal: Space Hunt software integrating with Scorbit leaderboard/scoring platform for online competition tracking

    medium · Alex states: 'We need to connect We connect to the internet of Pinball for Scorbit. We speak with Scorbit for play. It's in development.'

  • $

    market_signal: Hexa Pinball's strategic geographic expansion: France → Europe (currently selling) → US (next year via Chicago Pinball Expo attendance)

    high · Alex states: 'Next year we will come to the other side... The idea is to start selling it in France, in Europe and then in the U.S... We plan to go to Chicago next year as well.'

  • ?

    announcement: Hexa Pinball formally announcing Space Hunt debut with full technical specifications and feature details at European trade show

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.103

0:01
This is a Pinball News production. Hello, good morning everybody. So my name is Aurélie Cosledon. I'm part of Exapinbo, which is a French company. And I work with Alex here. We have a booth. If you go this way, at the left, you will see us and we'll be happy to welcome you on our booth. And if you want to play also the game, please feel free to stop by. So the idea is just maybe to introduce who we are, what we do, and maybe our game, Space Hunt. Maybe some of you already know the game. So I will give the microphone to Alex and I will translate sometime if it's needed. For the beginning, the story, my associate, Christophe, we work together since 20 years. And in the team, I love pinball and I collect pinball since 20 years.
1:32
And in a few years, we have time for a new project. And we... Sorry, sorry. Sorry. Did I hear something about pizza at your booth?
2:10
What time? Didn't you say something about food at your booth? Food? No, I thought this heard something. Oh, maybe. Yes. No, I don't think we mentioned the food. Oh. I know it's lunchtime, but we don't have any food. Ah, then I think I did mishear once. He said, what one of you said? No, I said that you can stop by to play the people
2:44
Ah Yeah, so I did miss it's okay Demand a project Because I know We needed to do a new project and we decided to go into the world of paper because we knew that there was no paper in the world of paper. So yes, so Alex saying that a few years ago with his partner Christophe, who is currently at the booth, They wanted to create a new project at the time and it was obvious to start a project with pinball as Alex is a collect pinball and is a big fan of pinball. So it was very obvious and natural to create a company based on the pinball. So there was this meeting at the beginning of the project, and I said to him, I want to do a Flipper. Do you join the car with us? And how do we do it? So there was this meeting at the beginning with Romain. Romain, what is his name? Fontaine. Maybe some of you know him. He's a French person, well known in France, who had worked in several companies like iWeight, Team Pimbo, Team Soon as well. So it's somebody who is already in the activity and that's why when they met this person, everything started immediately. So, meeting Romain, the first idea was, OK, how are we going to do that? Are we going to start from scratch?
@ 31:30
Pinball News
organization
Marcelperson
Highway Pinballcompany
Turner Pinballcompany
Williamscompany
Scorbitcompany

high · Official booth presentation at Dutch Pinball Open Expo 2024 with Aurélie and Alex presenting directly to Pinball News

  • ?

    product_concern: Hexa differentiates by emphasizing quality and reliability; 14,000-play test case with no issues demonstrates commitment to durability over mass production

    high · Alex: 'We had made one in a supermarket in France a few months ago. and there's 14,000 plays, games, and we didn't have any problem... For our customers, we won't make pinballs that last forever... we want to make products that last for a long time.'

  • ?

    product_strategy: Hexa planning second game development starting early next year while maintaining Space Hunt production, estimated two-year development cycle

    high · Alex: 'Two years... It about two years yeah from the beginning to the you know selling the pinball... Next year we will start the beginning of working on the new. We will keep producing the space hand as we have some demand for it.'

  • ?

    technology_signal: Proprietary epoxy-based playfield manufacturing without inserts represents novel production method with patent protection, differentiating from industry standard insert-based processes

    high · Alex states: 'We have a patent for it... We don't use insert. We use epoxy for insert... We are a bit different from the other ones. We have chosen to take another path'

    • 5:19
    Or are we going to work with a homebrew? So we introduce us another person called Luis, who is actually our designer.
    5:37
    And the artist who made the graphic, everything related to graphism of the pinball. So this story started in 2021.
    5:57
    So with this collaboration with Romain and Luis, we have worked with the OMBRO to make it happen and to create the space hands that you can see here in the expo. So as you may hear, we are French. The company, Exapinball, is based in France, in southwest of France, in Bordeaux. And as you may know as well, in France, there's no other company making pinballs, so we are the first one. And the idea was to make quality pinballs. This is how, what was the vision. So all the choices that were made were decided by the fact that the quality is the number one priority in the production and based on the fact that we use already existing components from France.
    7:39
    So today in the company we are eight people working at Exxon Pinball with additional handmade workers and everything is made in Bordeaux, everything is local and this is something we want to highlight here.
    8:09
    Thank you for your projects, for following their importance, and for everything that produces the original creation, whether it's sound, music, or other things. Everything is done by the project.
    8:39
    Thank you It homemade it all creation so everything related to the design to the sound everything is original it something that we make we do
    9:00
    So we have decided to use existing components that were used by other companies for years, that we know that it works very well, but we bring some modernity inside the paintball.
    9:27
    Do you have a question? Do you have questions so far? Yes. No? Yes. Yes, you have questions. Sure. Hello. Good morning, guys.
    9:42
    The project started with an idea from Romain or... From me. From you. And Romain, his... Romain, the friend of mine. And I call him. Sorry, I cannot hear you. I said it. Romain, the friend. And I call you. I want to build a paintball machine in France. And OK, go. And from the technical aspects, you use Williams kind of parts? Williams for coil. Yeah? Yeah. For electronic is yours. Yeah. So you buy some stuff from USA? Yeah, for coil. For the mechanical. And the playfields? The playfield is a production from us. We made a specific playfield. We have, if you look on your stand, the elegant pinball on the left has a 22 cent party. If you look at the playfield, it's a vault game for me. and the playfield is made in Bordeaux, in the shop. And we have... It's okay. We have, yeah, everything is made in our shop in Bordeaux, and we have a patent for it.
    11:39
    So the playfield is made in France. Okay. The paint field, nobody makes a paint field in France. Paint field? Playfield. Playfield, yes.
    12:02
    So we have to learn how to do it. by ourselves. And we are a bit different from the other ones. We have chosen to take another path, and we don't use insert.
    12:25
    We have our own methods, basically. We don't use insert. We use epoxy. We use epoxy for insert. But can you show it on the booth? Do you have an example for that? Or you cannot see how it is? It is difficult because under the playfield we have a PCB for a clinical and you don't see inside. How hard is the top code normally when you print a playfield? Normally when you make a playfield you print it on the wood and then you take some layers of clear coat to cover it up. But now the playfield is epoxy. No, no, no. Epoxy is only for the project and before printing.
    13:31
    We made a playfield with epoxy at the beginning. After, with CNC. Yeah, yeah. And after, we print. And after, we... Clear coat. Yeah, okay.
    13:52
    So, I think you saw on your... I think on your Facebook site that you can build your own machine that hacks up in more. Yeah, if you want. Yeah, but I think that's, you didn't mention this in your presentation, but I think you're the only firm in the world for this. So I think it's, I was really flabbergasted when I saw that you can build your own machine. But how does that work? So I buy a machine and it's cheaper when I come over and build it myself or what's the story behind that? For the pinball workshop, the name of the place, you can come to my workshop, to my shop, and with me and my side, we build your pinball machine, the space set. But if you eat, you... So the idea is to work together, so to build it together. So there will be some job that will be done together. You will come to Bordeaux and we can create your own. Today you come? Yeah. In two days. You build your spaces? But it's only when I buy a machine, it's not that it becomes cheaper when I do it myself.
    15:33
    No, it's only the experience to build the machine together. Yeah, the experience includes the price. Yeah, okay. So that's the price of the pinball machine. You have the experience. Yeah, okay. So that's also fine, I think. it's very great that you give the opportunity that you can build your own machine your world first. I think it was Martin. So I think it's really great that you can do that. A lot of people would do when you work when you walk through other factories. They're not allowed to have any person from out of the company to build their own machine. So I think it's really great. So, that's it. Because of the little company. Yeah. And I take time for the store. Yeah, I think it's really great. Yeah, thank you. Thank you. Other questions? Yes, so do you already have plans for a second title? Not for the moment. Because this is So, first game, for the moment we sell only in France. Now we have a charge, but there's a rate for open this market, for open market, and next year we'll come to the other side. And in parallel we save for other server I see It very long to make a new product a pinball Oh very long How long would you estimate Two years Two years It about two years yeah from the beginning to the you know selling the pinball So it takes time and that's why we want to first to invest in this one, in the Space Hunt. And the idea is to start selling it in France, in Europe and then in the U.S. and of course the plan will be to have additional ones but not in the near future it will be a little bit later I see, thanks for answering You're welcome So, maybe another question How about software? Is it finished or are you still working on some things or what's in it for the future of Space Hunt? is still in development. Actually it's the 0.9 version. We need to code the big big final on latest and we have additional little mission in the base mode in this new update and we need to connect We connect to the internet of Pinball for Scorbit. We speak with Scorbit for play. It's in development. And the software is made also internally by Exapinball. It's something we do ourselves. In the last months we passed a long time to develop a new mode for people with handicap. We have a game, a simple game for people with a throat in the head, with no flash, no big groups very one shot one lead simple mode and we have a press time for modified the cabinet for players with pinball with a controller yeah if you need to try it's possible i mean a special controller yeah we have controller for disabled people um people we have that have difficulties with hands or we're going to show you. We have it in the booth. We can show you. So it's a pad, an adapted pad for disabled people. And you can use the pinball using the pad for people with problems with their hands. They can use their feet, for example, or maybe their head, just their head, to use and to play the pinball. So this is very unique as in the European market. We have an Instagram page and a Facebook page as well if you want to follow us on social media. Is that unit included in the pinball or is that something you can buy additional it's it's additional yeah yeah you won't buy it additionally i think you're again the world first to do that so it's free yeah it's a notification for people yeah yeah the software has been adapted yeah so the the pad uh will be able to work uh with the paintball so So this is very unique. And it's delivered with a paintball, so there's no additional cost for that.
    21:09
    So, yeah, I think it's very unique in the market and very different as well. And it can help also children, for example, with disability. We have made a test with a child the other day in another conference in France. and he couldn't use his hand to play the pinball, but he used his head. And he was so excited to be able to play pinball with this disability.
    21:43
    In this page you have a video showing it. We can show it also just after the conference. So this is the guy with this ability and he was succeeded in playing the pinball. So it's... He's playing with his head. He's playing with his head, you see? There's a button in the back, in the left. So we are very, very proud and delighted to be able to offer this kind of experience. But he was never able to play any pinball machines before. So first time we all use our hands and it's very common that you can play a pinball machine. for disabled people it's really difficult to do that. So I think it's really nice. Something different, easy to install as well, you just have to plug it in the jack plug, so there's no additional installation or something complicated. Very simple, you just have to put the plug inside and take it out. You can play it also manually, even if it's connected, so there's no headache about it. And it's very convenient, very easy to use, and it can help disable people. I can ask a lot of questions, because I have a lot of questions always. Sure.
    23:27
    One thing is about the cabinet. You use a standard cabinet. I use an example cabinet. It's like a William's. But it's a little smaller in the back. The head is a bit smaller. of the door. Okay. And just underneath this modification. You see a lot of new pinball factories who made their own cabinets. They put a lot of work in it. Highway Pinball did it. They get a lot of commentary about it. And you see also Turner Pinball from the States who has released his pinball last year. So there was a lot of remarks that it doesn't look well. So I think it's better to use some kind of standard things and not to invest in that kind of things. But I think with a disability it's really good that you invest in that. I think most people, it's an underestimated group of people. I think with your idea you made it accessible for a lot of people. It's really a great job.
    25:01
    Yeah, thank you. We want to be different and offer a different experience. So that's why we made it. We're very happy.
    25:17
    You speak about new feature. We work in parallel of the code to have the service menu on your phone. We have an app We have an app in development for the moment And you have your service menu Yeah We won make but different Yeah. We are French, not American. So if you have a little company, a new company, we need to be a little disruptive. And we don't have a...
    26:09
    We don't have any already made idea. We are very open and we are not blocked for any ideas. So every new idea is welcome as well. Concerning the... We have also a disruptive... We have a pause system. You play, you play more. You can pause. You need to recall or whatever. And you can play and restart and continue your run. in France to get a verre of amour.
    26:52
    For example. If you want to try. Yeah, yeah, sure. So we can use a new functionality that enables you to make a pause to stop playing and then to do whatever you need to do and then to come back and then start playing again in the same party. I'm confused. Is it pause or actually pause the game?
    27:16
    Pause. Pause the game. Pause of the game. Oh, pause of the game. Yeah. I see. Yeah. Pause. Pause the game. Ah, no. No, it's a pause, a break. We stopped and we were able to start and come back.
    27:42
    You go have a drink. You go to the toilet. You talk to somebody next to you and then you come back. You have a call. Somebody is calling you. You need to pick up the phone. You do pose and then you come back. Yeah, I have always a problem at my home. I'm preparing food every day for me and my wife. And when I play a game and when I play a good game, then my meat is going to burn because I play a good game. So I think for me it's going to work really good. So, yeah, it's nice to have that feature on machines. So it would help me to not get any complaints from my wife that the meat is burned or the food is overcooked. So it means that you need to have your own, Marcel. You need to get one. Yeah. That's for sure. I'm sure you have some space in your house. Yeah, we can. and squashing our bell a bit. I don't think so, yeah.
    28:49
    What else? So we'll be exhibiting, we do a lot of shows in France, and we'll be exhibiting in the MIF, in the Made in France show, that will be held in Paris in one week, I think.
    29:00
    And we will be exhibiting the paintball with an organization specialized for handicapped people. Something else, another topic related to inclusivity and diversity.
    29:22
    We have decided to work also with some people in prison, with prisoners, some prisoners who are in the prison of Bordeaux. and we work with them to make some little parts of the paintball, to make them work. So we have this inclusivity as well topic and this is something we like to share. We consider it's important as well to have to make this choice as well.
    30:12
    Yeah, quick question. Do you have a target for how many machines you want to sell? We don't have objective. We have very little company. US are very big makers. So, I sell 200, 30, 50, 100. It's okay. But if you come out with a second title, a second game, would you keep making Space Hunt as well? Or would you say, OK, we finished making Space Hunt, now we're making a second title? I think next year, beginning of the week. Next year we will start the beginning of working on the new. We will keep producing the space hand as we have some demand for it. The expectations are kind of too high.
    31:30
    But the idea is not to make thousands of them, but to make it a little bit different. Special. Yeah. So we are starting in France. We have made some sales in Europe as well, and the objective is then to sell in the U.S.
    31:53
    Step by step. So we plan to go to Chicago next year as well. Okay, and you will keep making them in Bordeaux. You won't make them in America? Yeah, it's our goal to make it in France. We think it's very important to produce the quality. So the reliability of the parts also is very important to us. For our customers, we won't make pinballs that last forever. We had made one in a supermarket in France a few months ago. and there's 14,000 plays, games, and we didn't have any problem. They didn't call us.
    32:52
    At disposal, it's for free. Everybody's playing with it. So it shows that it's very reliable and it's something we want. We want to make products that last for a long time. that's why we choose the quality, the French quality to build our paintballs. And you will see we have two different ones, the classic and the elegance one. So two different ones but for the same game, for the same space.
    33:34
    I think we haven't got any questions yet. I think you finished the story. Or you want to tell something more?
    33:47
    It's okay. I think it's okay. Thank you very much for coming. Thank you for organizing it, Marcel. Thank you very much for visiting. And thanks for your insight in Acceptable. all it's really yeah really stands out thanks very much guys thank you