ALIEN REMAKE ANNOUNCED

TL;DR

Pinball Brothers announces Alien remake with hardware upgrades, $7,777-$9,999 pricing, and victim compensation scheme.

Summary

Key Claims

• Pinball Brothers was formed by investors to refinance Heighway Pinball

  high confidence · Article states Pinball Brothers 'was the business formed by investors brought in to refinance Heighway Pinball'

• Andrew Heighway was jetissoned before Heighway Pinball became insolvent and closed

  high confidence · Article references links showing Heighway was stepped down and company faced liquidation

• Alien remake will use consolidated 18.5" LCD display instead of dual displays

  high confidence · Article explicitly details display consolidation as most obvious change from original

• Standard Version priced at $7,777 and Limited Version at $9,999 (max 500 units)

  high confidence · Article provides specific pricing: 'The Standard Version (shown above) is priced at $7,777 while the Limited Version (maximum 500 units) will be $9,999'

• Pedretti in Italy will manufacture the Alien remake with playfields by B&T Automaten in Hamburg

  high confidence · Article states manufacturing partnership details explicitly

• Pinball Brothers expect 100 games per month at full production capacity

  high confidence · Article states 'Pedretti will be able to manufacture around 100 games a month'

• Xenomorph mechanism upgraded with metal parts replacing plastic and dedicated driver board

  high confidence · Detailed hardware upgrade: 'The Xenomorph mechanism which was so problematic on the Heighway Pinball games has been made more robust with metal parts replacing plastic ones and a new dedicated driver board'

• Virtual ball lock upgraded to physical three-ball lock with dedicated lifter mechanism

  high confidence · Article details: 'a virtual ball lock for the Hypersleep Chamber has been upgraded to the physical three-ball lock which was originally planned'

Notable Quotes

• “The game is well regarded and seen by some as the best theme integration in a pinball so far, so it could be a big seller if the reliability issues could be ironed-out and manufacturing started.”

  Pinball News author @ Body of article — Establishes reputation of original Alien and frames remake as opportunity to resolve reliability issues

• “In a move to reach out to those who lost money by pre-ordering the original Alien game through Heighway Pinball, Pinball Brothers have launched a voucher scheme offering at least 50% of any losses incurred towards payment of an Alien remake.”

  Pinball News author @ Article conclusion — Demonstrates industry accountability gesture for creditors harmed by Heighway closure

• “Applications for one of the vouchers needs to be made by 28th February 2021, with the vouchers being valid from April 2021 until the end of December 2023.”

  Pinball News/Pinball Brothers @ Article section on voucher scheme — Establishes specific deadline structure for victim compensation

Entities

Signals

• ?

  business_signal: Pinball Brothers acquiring defunct Heighway Pinball assets and managing recovery/remake of major title as business strategy

  high · Article details investment refinancing, asset acquisition during liquidation, and now remake production

• ?

  community_signal: Pinball Brothers implementing victim compensation voucher scheme (50%+ refunds) for original Heighway Alien pre-order losses

  high · Detailed voucher scheme with application deadline (Feb 28, 2021) and validity period (April 2021-Dec 2023)

• $

  market_signal: Pedretti manufacturing capacity expected at 100 units/month at full production, with CoinTaker initial order of 66 units suggesting strong distributor confidence

  high · Article states '100 games a month' production capacity estimate and CoinTaker container order with January 2021 expected delivery

• ?

  personnel_signal: Brian Dominy (original Alien programmer) contracted by Pinball Brothers to integrate new hardware/software for remake

  high · Article states 'Pinball Brothers have been working with one of the original programmers, Brian Dominy, to properly integrate them'

• $

  market_signal: Alien remake priced at $7,777 Standard and $9,999 Limited Edition (500 units), establishing price point for widebody pinball remake segment

  high · Explicit pricing: '$7,777' for Standard, '$9,999' for Limited (max 500 units)

• ?

Topics

Sentiment

positive(0.78)— Article presents Alien remake as positive industry development addressing past wrongs, though historical Heighway context is negative. Tone is informative and detailed, with optimistic framing of manufacturing capacity and product improvements. Voucher scheme and royalty arrangements for original developers add goodwill narrative.