Big Bang Bogus?

For those of you who even casually follow the pinball rumor mill, you’ve likely heard of the rumors of a Pedretti Gaming-helmed remake of the rare 1996 Capcom game, Big Bang Bar.

Big Bang Bar is a famous title in pinball collectors’ circles, as it was only produced in a limited run of prototype machines by Capcom Coin-Op just before they went out of business. Later, a slew of leftover parts, as well as the rights to the game, were purchased by collector Gene Cunningham, who managed to ship 191 additional units of the game.

Both the remake version and the original version command a secondary market premium on sites like Pinside. The original typically trades for just under $40,000 a copy, and the remake can command as much as $16,000, so it makes sense that it might be on someone’s radar to remake at some point.

For those who aren’t up to speed on the history of that game and the saga it led to, Polygon published a great article on it back in 2017.

Pedretti Gaming, as a manufacturer that has carved out a niche for classic game remakes, is associated with a number of titles. Tales of the Arabian Nights, Theatre of Magic, Cirqus Voltaire, and others have been referenced over the years. Some may be legitimate rumors, others just wishful thinking by pinball enthusiasts.

One such rumor, that Pedretti was working on a Big Bang Bar remake, and that it’d be their next official title, started picking up steam earlier this year. Those rumors were often tied to a release schedule (announced and showcased at Pinball Expo 2025) as well as leaked images of backglass and cabinet art, several of which prominently featured the Pedretti logo in place of the Capcom logo from the original artwork.

Well, I recently checked in with Andrea Pedretti of Pedretti Pinball about these rumors and their plans for Pinball Expo 2025.