# Williams Whirlwind Coming to Zen Studios Pinball FX on Thursday

**Source:** Knapp Arcade  
**Type:** article  
**Published:** 2023-06-06  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.knapparcade.org/williams-whirlwind-coming-to-zen-studios-pinball-fx-on-thursday

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## Analysis

Zen Studios announced three new tables coming to Pinball FX on Thursday, June 8th, including a digital recreation of the 1990 Williams classic Whirlwind, two original tables (one with ninja theme, one unknown), and shared a sneak peek via Twitch stream.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Zen Studios will release three new tables for Pinball FX on Thursday, June 8th — _Official announcement from Zen Studios via Pinball Bites web show_
- [HIGH] One of the three new tables is a Williams remake of the 1990 classic Whirlwind — _Zen shared sneak peek on Twitch channel; article author saw screenshot_
- [HIGH] Two of the three tables are new original games, one with ninja theme — _Zen released puzzle on Discord with clues; author deciphered ninja theme in third column_
- [HIGH] Pedretti Gaming released a 2.0 expansion kit for the original Whirlwind pinball machine — _Mentioned as recent news; aligns with known Pedretti Gaming 2.0 kit products_

### Notable Quotes

> "You can bet that I will be buying Whirlwind at launch and playing the heck out of it on my new Steam Deck."
> — **Article author (Knapp Arcade)**, n/a
> _Personal purchasing intent and endorsement of Pinball FX on Steam Deck platform_

> "Despite its massive (relatively speaking) memory requirement, Pinball FX plays pretty well on the Deck if you turn the graphics quality down."
> — **Article author (Knapp Arcade)**, n/a
> _Technical assessment of Pinball FX performance on Steam Deck hardware_

> "Zen also released a puzzle on its Discord page today that gives clues for all three upcoming tables."
> — **Article author (Knapp Arcade)**, n/a
> _Community engagement strategy by Zen Studios using puzzle format to reveal upcoming titles_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Zen Studios | company | Digital pinball game developer announcing three new Pinball FX tables |
| Pinball FX | product | Zen Studios' digital pinball platform receiving new Williams and original tables |
| Whirlwind | game | 1990 Williams pinball classic being digitally recreated for Pinball FX; also receiving 2.0 physical expansion kit |
| Pinball Bites | product | Zen Studios web show format for revealing new pinball table announcements |
| Pedretti Gaming | company | Manufacturer/vendor releasing 2.0 expansion kit for original Whirlwind machine |
| Steam Deck | product | Gaming handheld platform on which Pinball FX runs; article author uses for casual play |
| Williams | company | Classic pinball manufacturer; Whirlwind is a Williams title from 1990 |
| Knapp Arcade | organization | Article author/source; content creator covering pinball news |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Digital pinball releases, Zen Studios announcements, Williams classic remakes, Whirlwind pinball machine, Pinball FX platform expansion
- **Secondary:** Portable gaming (Steam Deck), Community engagement/puzzle marketing

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.85) — Article author is enthusiastic about Whirlwind announcement and Pinball FX platform; positive tone throughout regarding digital pinball releases and accessibility on handheld devices

### Signals

- **[community_signal]** Zen Studios implementing puzzle-based reveal strategy on Discord to build anticipation for upcoming table announcements (confidence: medium) — Discord puzzle with clues for all three upcoming tables; article author deciphered ninja theme from puzzle
- **[market_signal]** Renewed interest in Whirlwind across both digital (Zen FX recreation) and physical (Pedretti 2.0 kit) channels, indicating sustained collector/player demand for this classic (confidence: high) — Article notes Whirlwind has been 'in pinball news quite a bit lately' due to both Zen announcement and Pedretti expansion kit
- **[announcement]** Zen Studios officially announcing three new Pinball FX tables (1 Williams remake, 2 original titles) for Thursday June 8th release via Pinball Bites show (confidence: high) — Official sneak peek shared on Zen's Twitch channel with screenshot confirmation
- **[technology_signal]** Pinball FX content expanding availability across platforms including Steam Deck, enabling portable casual play experiences (confidence: high) — Article author explicitly testing and praising Pinball FX performance on Steam Deck after graphics optimization

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## Transcript

Last week Zen Studios announced that it will air a new episode of its "Pinball Bites" web show this coming Thursday, June 8th during which it will unveil three new tables for its Pinball FX platform. Two of the new tables will be new original ones for game and one of them is slated to be a Williams remake.

This afternoon, Zen shared a sneak peek at the new Williams table on its Twitch channel. The new Williams game that's coming to Pinball FX Thursday is none other than the 1990 classic Whirlwind. Interestingly, Whirlwind has been in the pinball news quite a bit lately between this and the new Pedretti Gaming release of a 2.0 expansion kit for the original pinball machine.

You can bet that I will be buying Whirlwind at launch and playing the heck out of it on my new Steam Deck. Despite its massive (relatively speaking) memory requirement, Pinball FX plays pretty well on the Deck if you turn the graphics quality down. It's much more convenient for me to play on the deck while resting on the couch with my family after a long day than to play it sitting up in the other room by myself on a PC.

I found out about the sneak peek stream just in time to grab a quick picture of it for everyone. Zen also released a puzzle on its Discord page today that gives clues for all three upcoming tables. As I mentioned, the first column refers to Whirlwind, the third column seems to refer to some sort of ninja theme. I'm not sure to guess for the other original theme in the middle column though. Time travel maybe? Any guesses?

_(Acquisition: raw_text, Enrichment: v1)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 0b7d22e2-3071-47c1-bd97-be658b2ae621*