We have revamped the website! Special thanks to Sergio and Romina for their great video work! You can reach Sergio at iamfacundo@gmail.com.

We have redefined the marketing plan for Xfoos. Any foosball player can now start a side vending business with Xfoos tables, anywhere in the USA for a minimal down payment, and we will let you pay out the balance as you go! Contact us to see how this program works.

We have tweaked our 3 models and are ready to sell after all this time. We have our timed vending model, our timed home model, and the “classic” foos table with scoring beads for the home. The timed foosball is definitely more exciting to play.

In this blog we will be discussing foosball playing tips and other interesting foosball related items in the near future.

That is all for now, Xfoos ahead!

Steve Simon

I have taken great pains to get Xfoos “right” before anyone sees it or buys it. This has been a long road and is about over. The man has yet been refined once more. Why refine a man 3 times before the public sees it? Why try 12 balls until the right one comes along? Because a second to none table is what I am after.

And what about the rest of the story? Well, the rules have been tweaked again, the format of the tournaments is ready, and the USXFF rating system is setup.

http://xfoos.com/USXFF.html

Also, I see we have a Fireball table now. People have asked me what do I think about it? Well, it is just another mechanical table, it has no timer on it, and it sells for too cheap of a price for the coin industry to embrace the table. It will always be compared to a Tornado. And why should a person buy one when they can get a Tornado? It does not make sense to me. I wish them well, but I do not see this as the end all solution. And no one can make any money at that price and the table is not worth any more than what it is selling for since it has not proven it can earn a return for the operator. The Xfoos table can make over $100/week with just 9 hours of playing time on it per week. True, players may like the fireball price, but if the distribution network does not take the table then it will go nowhere. Just my take.

So we are still moving forward, preparing, tweaking, until the time is right and then we will be having Austin and Texas events very soon now. One problem has also been re-setting up the Austin Foosball Club in what is now called the Treehouse. It is about ready too.

I am reminded of the story of the “Little Steam Engine That Could”. It huffed and puffed until it was done. Then it was going downhill. After 6 years Xfoos is about to go downhill.

See ya’ soon.

Simon

To: Foosers – an open letter

Re: What’s up for 2010 in the world of Xfoos?

As some of you know I recently debuted the new “Xfoos” foosball table. This table has many cool features such as the playfield, the colors, and the rod action. We have tweaked the foot for greater banking action, the ball is right, and we have electronics in the table that take it to another world.

So now what? A tour? I decided to setup the Austin Foosball Club. I want to see if the city of Austin can support a foosball club. There will be no alcohol, but will have BYOB. There will only be 8 tables to start. We have pictures on the walls of the old time pioneers. It should be fun. We will try to setup leagues, have some tournaments, have some clinics/lessons, sell merchandise, and more. A “new-old fashioned” foosball club is what this will be. People will practice and train here.

Once we have players playing we will then have regional tournaments and possibly a TX tour first. But it is the goal to have a great foundation of players that love this table and play it regardless of money. Money should not be the reason folks play on this table.

What are we going to do to get new players? We are going to get people in here via leagues, tournaments, parties, lessons, off the street, and any way we can figure out how to. I want to see if “Joe normal corporate guy” would want to come play foosball after work. I want to see if a club like this can make money. And if it can then foosball is definitely not dead. And if it can support itself then foosball is more than just a bar game – which we all know it is. It is the draw itself.

And I want to tweak out this timer device we have developed. We need to see if the players mind playing under time restraint. If these tables were going out on location I would most definitely set them on the time limit game. The games in bars have to turn faster. And this device makes the game set to a pre-determined time. So, you can play 2 ways:

A. Have a pre-set amount of time to play as many point as possible or,

B: Play to 5 points, but if the game goes over 6 or 8 minutes (setable) the game is in sudden death and you have 2 minutes to finish the game whether you get to 5 or not.

The tradeoff is this…

…if you play to 8 minutes you are guaranteed 8 minutes, but may just get 3 or 4 points.

…if you play to 5 points against someone good the game shuts off at 5 whether it took 5 minutes or 3 minutes and you do not get the extra time or the extra balls. At 5 points the game is shut off.

Now that being said, along with 6 timed tables we have a table in the club with a coin-mech on it and not on time – similar to the normal table with 9 balls to 5 points. This allows us to test our mechanical vending device and make sure there are no glitches. Even though I think this game is on the way out (hopefully) I still have a table like this to sell to the hardcore player/operator that just wants a simple 5 point game table and is not ready for timer feature. We also have a home table in the club. We are going to offer renting the table by the hour to see if that is the way some folk may want to play – just relaxed foosball by the hour like they do in pool.

We should be open in about 10 days barring any city issues and then we can see how these concepts will work. And if we are successful here with this concept we would like to have others get on board with us. Would you want to setup an XFoos club in your city? Think about it. As we tweak things here in Austin we will be looking at our price structure. Can you buy 8 tables? Not ready? Well, if you want Xfoos tables for your city I’ll give some considerate discounts to get the ball rolling. Just call me and lets chat. But I think the club idea is the way to go. Putting one or two tables in a bar is okay if that is what you want to do, but I feel that the way to create synergy, have tournaments, leagues, etc., is the club concept.

Lastly, Phil Kennedy has been telling me he is going to do an interview with me for his magazine. I hope we get together soon so we can talk about my ideas, his ideas, and foosball in general.

Steve Simon

www.xfoos.com

PS – Here is a link to pictures of the Austin Foosball Club. (4 table shown)

http://www.xfoos.com/blog/?page_id=100

Click here to view the embedded video.

So, what happened? The PC Board in the electronic table goes on the blink. Oh well.

But to watch the folks play and get their positive feedback made it all worthwhile. Here are pics from the event. Stay tuned to our website for future events.

Steve Simon

[View with PicLens]

Steve Simon premieres Xfoos

I decided that night to design the Xfoos table (folks don’t know but I have been a part of 5 table designs in the past including Dynamo, Striker, and more). I wanted to make this table special. I took a napkin from the bar along with my trusty “fine” point pen and started to draw a new looking table. I thought about all the things we could do to make foosball better.

Coming from the “old school” I wanted a universal foosball foot – something that could bring back the bank shot and chip pass. I wanted a different playfield. How about a better light I thought. And on and on – and I started to develop the concept for this table.

Well, the project grew and grew and here we are, finally, almost 6 years later ready to show the world a new foosball table. Along the way I looked at different ways to market and promote the table. I pulled ideas on how to run tournaments from the USCF and USTTA (US Chess Federation and the US Table Tennis Association). We will see these used in the spring of next year.

But most important, and I truly think this is the new way foosball will be played, we developed a timed foosball table (patents pending) complete with electronic LED timing and scoring. It even has timeout buttons on the side to stop the clock. The balls are ejected one at a time. It is a beautiful table! But, will players like it?

As I looked at the way the current game is played I realized the foosball rules do not work for timed foosball. So, I re-wrote the rules (sorry ITSF) and came up with the rules of timed foosball (someone had to do it) and called the game EXTREME FOOSBALL or Xfoos for short. Will the current players change over to this style of play? Well, maybe not. But I bet new kids that have never played the game will embrace it. And the look of the table makes it fit right at home in the arcades. I think this will be the foosball table the arcades can embrace and with it a whole new group of kids that will play foosball that never had played it since most foosball tables in arcades are “in the back”.

But what about the current players and bars? Well, the Xfoos design has spun off 2 other games. I decided, due to the cost of the electronics in the table (buttons, boards, LEDS, etc) we should go ahead and make a cheaper mechanical foosball table for the current players. I feel this table will compete heads-up in playing capability against any table that has ever been made. The rods are fast, the man plays great, and the playfield is nice. I am still honing down the ball, but am very close to the exact ball (bear with me – I think I got it). And we made a home model too! It is a nice table for the home.

But, the prices seem a little high right? Well, this is a well built table. It costs more to build a quality table – especially if it is built in the USA. Until our volume is higher the cost will seem a little higher than a Warrior or even a Tornado. But, if you buy our table and do not like it just ship it back and I will refund you 100% of the money no questions asked (well – maybe one or two, but you get the money back).

And what about “merch”? I want the new kids to look and act like foosball players! They need a glove (yes a glove). And they need a bag for their towels. And they need shirts and hats and visors! That is our new crop of players and I have put together some merchandise they will enjoy. And since they will be playing timed foosball don’t be surprised if 5 man shooting comes back into vogue and other things you need if you are losing by 1 point with 30 seconds left in the game (think about it)!

Finally I want to invite all the players at the Bart O’ Hearn tournament to come up to the shop for the dinner break on Saturday evening to play on these tables and have dinner on us! We will have a buffet of food served (chicken wings, sausage, etc.) and you can play on the new tables. All are invited! And then the tables are going out into Austin for a thorough workout! Xfoos has come to Austin!

Steve Simon