Alien Pinball Machine – The Beast is Back

Alien Pinball Machine – The Beast is Back

Pinball Heaven have partnered with Pinball Brothers distributor Pinball Bazaar, to bring you the soon to be launched Alien pinball machine.

The 1979 Alien science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott, broke box office records across the world when it was first released and won the 1980 Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. The success of Alien spawned a media franchise of films, novels, comic books, video games, and toys. The 1986 sequel Aliens, directed by James Cameron received critical acclaim for its action sequences and received Academy Awards for Best Sound Effects Editing and Best Visual Effects and is now considered one of the greatest films of the 1980s.

Pinball Brothers

Pinball Brothers, who are based in Orbero, Sweden, announced the Heighway Pinball remake late last year, but have recently updated their social media to confirm their new Alien pinball machine is now complete and ready to be shipped.

“When the computer on the commercial space tug Nostromo detects a transmission in the middle of its flight home, it wakes its crew to investigate the source of the signal. On the moon LV-426 they discover the wreck of an old spaceship.

Step inside this high octane, survival horror and genre defining action thriller, bringing to life two of the iconic Alien films, both Alien and Aliens in this world under glass.

Packed full of toys, mechs and features, whilst delivering ground up improvements. Alien from Pinball Brothers brings the beast back.”

An Improved Alien Pinball Machine

According to Pinball News, Although it remains essentially the same wide-bodied design we saw before, there have been several changes from the Heighway Pinball version of the game.

Pinball Brothers have stated that, amongst other things, their new release benefits from improved electronics. Most obviously, the two main LCD displays, one large display in the centre of the backbox and a smaller one inset into the playfield, have been combined into a single 18.5″ panel at the bottom of the backbox. There are also two 4″ speakers either side of the display for the main game audio.

The five-inch airlock display remains, although the housing has been made thinner and less obtrusive. This change created space behind the airlock for a ‘sneak-in’ back entrance which is registered by a dedicated switch and given an appropriate award. A new illuminated Weapons Status Display now sits where the playfield LCD was previously positioned.

The LED board which illuminates these weapon indicator inserts is part of a whole new electronics system developed by Pinball Brothers. The new system uses smaller, easier-to-access circuit boards which run off a PC in the same way as the Heighway Pinball system. Although PC-based, there is currently no internet connectivity for software updates, on-line challenges or global scoreboards.

Alien Pinball Machine Gameplay

Magnetic Ball Grabber & Virtual Ball Lock

The illuminated cabinet side panels have gone, but it is understood a magnet ball grabber at the top right of the playfield which was taken out of the original design because it clashed with the slide-rails under the playfield has been able to be reinstated thanks to a new slide-rail design. In addition, a virtual ball lock for the Hypersleep Chamber has been upgraded to the physical three-ball lock which was originally planned, together with the addition of a dedicated lifter mechanism to eject the balls.

The illuminated standup targets in the game have been upgraded too, from a single colour to full RGB lighting, while some targets which weren’t previously illuminated have got the RGB lighting enhancement too.

Elsewhere on the playfield, 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. The Facehugger models on the slingshots have also been changed. A new more durable material has been used for the models while the slingshot kicker arms have been redesigned.

The additional devices, switches and lights and the new boardset all need support in the software, so Pinball Brothers have been working with one of the original programmers, Brian Dominy, to properly integrate them.

The cabinet design is now much more traditional, without the rounded backbox or modular flipper button boxes. The magazine frame holding the playfield glass has also been removed, replaced with the much more familiar glass slide rails and lock bar.

Alien Pinball Machine Enquiries

No pre-orders are being taken for the new Alien Pinball Machine, with the game only being available direct from Pinball Brothers distributors.

To enquire about the new Alien pinball machine or to place an order, call Pinball Brothers UK Distributor Pinball Bazaar on 01603 984 534 or email them on hello@pinballbazaar.co.uk