# Saloon Doors are Coming Soon for Chicago Gaming Company Cactus Canyon Remake Pinball Machines

**Source:** Knapp Arcade  
**Type:** article  
**Published:** 2022-11-17  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.knapparcade.org/saloon-doors-are-coming-soon-for-chicago-gaming-company-cactus-canyon-remake-pinball-machines

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## Analysis

Chicago Gaming Company's Cactus Canyon Remake Limited Edition machines are receiving a long-awaited feature: Saloon Doors, a mechanism from the original 1990s prototype that was cut from production. Planetary Pinball (Bally Williams rights holder) shared a photo of an injection mold on Pinside, suggesting imminent production. The doors are expected to coordinate with a code expansion project.

### Key Claims

- [MEDIUM] Original Cactus Canyon prototype machines in the 90s contained saloon doors designed to guard the trough at the top of the playfield — _Historical reference to prototype design; plausible but not independently verified in this source_
- [MEDIUM] Coding exists for the saloon doors mechanism that causes them to open when hit, revealing the shot — _Stated as 'supposedly' in the article; indicates legacy code from original development_
- [MEDIUM] The saloon doors feature was dropped from original production either to cut costs or due to time constraints with the Pinball 2000 project — _Speculation about historical reasons for omission; plausible manufacturing/timeline explanation_
- [HIGH] The late Lyman Sheats was working on an upgraded code expansion with Josh Sharpe — _Named individuals and specific project attribution; author indicates this as known information_
- [LOW] Saloon Doors may be sold in conjunction with the upgraded code expansion — _Author explicitly states 'speculation' and notes Chicago Gaming has not announced sales model_

### Notable Quotes

> "Supposedly, the coding exists that causes the doors to open when hit revealing the shot."
> — **Author (Knapp Arcade)**
> _Confirms that legacy code from original prototype may enable the feature without new development_

> "Man this is a bad picture. Did someone snap it with their Nintendo Game Boy camera? LOL"
> — **Author (Knapp Arcade)**
> _Light commentary on photo quality; indicates the injection mold image is genuine but poorly photographed_

> "Earlier this evening, Planetary Pinball, the Bally Williams rights holder, shared the below picture on Pinside"
> — **Author (Knapp Arcade)**
> _Establishes official source and timing of the leak/announcement_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Chicago Gaming Company | company | Boutique pinball manufacturer producing Cactus Canyon Remake with Limited Edition variant |
| Cactus Canyon Remake | game | Modern remake of classic 1998 Bally Williams game; LE version awaiting delivery; receiving Saloon Doors feature |
| Planetary Pinball | company | Holder of Bally Williams IP rights; shared injection mold photo on Pinside |
| Lyman Sheats | person | Late pinball programmer/designer who was working on code expansion for Cactus Canyon Remake with Josh Sharpe |
| Josh Sharpe | person | Collaborating on code expansion project with Lyman Sheats for Cactus Canyon Remake |
| Cactus Canyon | game | Original 1998 Bally Williams pinball machine; prototype contained saloon doors feature that was removed from production |
| Pinball 2000 | product | Bally pinball platform project; development rush cited as possible reason for dropping saloon doors from original Cactus Canyon |
| Pinside | organization | Online pinball community forum where Planetary Pinball shared the injection mold photo |
| Knapp Arcade | organization | News/media source publishing this article |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Product enhancement and legacy features, Cactus Canyon Remake Limited Edition availability and features
- **Secondary:** Code updates and programming expansions, Bally Williams IP licensing and remake production, Pinball prototype and production history

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.72) — Author expresses enthusiasm about the feature arrival ('pleasant surprise', 'Hallelujah!'), though tempers it with skepticism about the announcement method and image quality. Positive anticipation for LE customers who have waited; light humor throughout.

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** Saloon Doors feature possibly bundled with code expansion to create value differentiation for LE tier (confidence: low) — Author speculates doors will be 'sold in conjunction with the upgraded code expansion'; no official confirmation
- **[leak_detection]** Saloon Doors feature revealed through Planetary Pinball's Pinside post rather than official Chicago Gaming announcement (confidence: high) — Author notes 'Chicago Gaming has not announced how the rumored Saloon Doors will be sold'
- **[personnel_signal]** Lyman Sheats (deceased) previously developed code expansion; project status and continuation unclear (confidence: medium) — Reference to 'the late Lyman Sheats' and ongoing collaboration with Josh Sharpe; project viability post-death unaddressed
- **[announcement]** Saloon Doors feature for Cactus Canyon Remake LE confirmed via injection mold photo shared by Planetary Pinball on Pinside (confidence: high) — Planetary Pinball shared injection mold picture; speculation that this indicates imminent production
- **[product_strategy]** Legacy feature from original 1990s prototype being retrofitted to modern remake; demonstrates reverse-engineering of cut content (confidence: high) — Original prototype contained saloon doors; coding reportedly exists; feature was dropped from production

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## Transcript

Customers who have been enduring the long wait for Chicago Gaming Company's Limited Edition version of its new Cactus Canyon Remake pinball machines may be in for a pleasant surprise. Earlier this evening, Planetary Pinball, the Bally Williams rights holder, shared the below picture on Pinside along with a picture of the word "Hallelujah!"

Speculation is that this is a picture of an injection mold for the long-rumored Cactus Canyon "Saloon Doors." Back in the 90s, the original Cactus Canyon prototype machines contained saloon doors that were designed to guard the trough at the top of the game's playfield. Supposedly, the coding exists that causes the doors to open when hit revealing the shot. This feature was ultimately dropped in the original production version of Cactus Canyon, either to cut costs or in the rush to finish the game and work on the Pinball 2000 project.

I don't believe that Chicago Gaming has announced how the rumored Saloon Doors will be sold, but there has been speculation that they will be sold in conjunction with the upgraded code expansion that the late Lyman F. Sheats Jr. was working on with Josh Sharpe. 

Man this is a bad picture.  Did someone snap it with their Nintendo Game Boy camera? LOL

_(Acquisition: raw_text, Enrichment: v1)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 50dcf77e-fb56-4a70-83cb-0c2ee9fd34bf*