Pedretti Gaming has announced its first remake, the Funhouse pinball machine. The original dates back to 1990, and was designed by Pat Lawlor, one of the most talented designers of his generation.
In December 2023, the manufacturer Pedretti reported that it had reached an agreement with the owners of the Bally/Williams licenses, Planetary Pinball Supply. Among other things, this partnership allows Pedretti to market one remake per year. Funhouse will be the first on the list. At first glance, this is a surprising decision, for two reasons:
- Even if the machine enjoys a certain esteem in the pinball community, it is not, by far, among the favorites of its era.
- Technically, Funhouse is a transitional pinball machine between the alphanumeric era and the Dot Matrix Display era. It has a different electronic system from most games of its generation. There are simpler ways to get started.
On the other hand, this choice benefits from Pedretti’s accumulated experience, having recently produced a 2.0 kit for the Funhouse machines of the time. It’s a lesser financial risk, with R&D likely to be amortized over the kit and remake.
We’ll know more soon, as for the moment only a teaser has been released.
