SPECIAL - 'Tales of the Arabian Nights' First Impressions

Flip n Out Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·21m 13s·analyzed·Jun 15, 2026

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.029

TL;DR

Pedretti Gaming releases Tales of the Arabian Night remake in two editions with modern upgrades and art redesign.

Summary

Flip N Out Pinball hosts Ken Crone and Greg Bone discuss their first impressions of the Tales of the Arabian Night remake by Pedretti Gaming, now available for order. The game is offered in two versions: a Legacy Edition ($10,995) faithful to the original 1996 Williams classic with up to 500 units, and a 30th Anniversary Edition ($11,995) limited to 399 units worldwide, featuring upgraded artwork by Brian Allen. Both versions include modern hardware upgrades including 21.5-inch LCD displays, RGB lighting, premium sound systems, Fast Pinball electronics, and conservative code enhancements that preserve the original ruleset while improving animations and quality-of-life features.

Key Claims

The Tales of the Arabian Night remake is manufactured by Pedretti Gaming out of Italy and licensed through Planetary Pinball Supply as an official Williams license holder.
high confidence · Ken Crone, confirmed as factual product information
The 30th Anniversary Edition is strictly limited to 399 units worldwide, while the Legacy Edition is limited to a maximum of 500 units for the initial production run with possible future runs.
high confidence · Ken Crone, stated as specific production figures
The code is version 1.5 enhanced, which is an exact carbon copy of the original code with enhancements only to display animations, lighting integration, light shows, and bug fixes, with no changes to core rules, modes, or wizard modes.
high confidence · Ken Crone, describing Pedretti's conservative code approach
Brian Allen designed the upgraded art package for the 30th Anniversary Edition, featuring purple glitter armor and more vibrant, modern interpretations of the original characters while maintaining visual coherence with the original game.
high confidence · Ken and Greg discussing the art package upgrades
Both editions include a 21.5-inch LCD display in DMD format, full RGB lighting conversion throughout the playfield, premium sound system with RGB illuminated speakers, and Fast Pinball electronics platform with Scorebit integration.
high confidence · Ken Crone, listing modern hardware specifications
The original Tales from the Arabian Night (1996) was designed by John Papadiuk and is described as one of the greatest fantasy-themed pinball machines ever created.
high confidence · Ken Crone, providing historical context
Greg was not initially familiar with the original game, having never been exposed to it in the wild, and became interested in owning the remake primarily due to the visual appeal of the 30th Anniversary Edition art package.
high confidence · Greg Bone, describing his personal exposure to the game

Notable Quotes

“There's built-in collectability, I think, at 399 units. It's significantly less than most limited games in nature.”
Ken Crone @ early section — Highlights the aggressive FOMO/collector strategy with strict limited edition numbering
“It leaves the door open to an enhanced code maybe down the road if they want to do it. But I kind of like just staying true to it and you're getting what you get.”
Ken Crone @ code discussion — Explains the conservative design philosophy for preserving the original game experience
“When I see this art package from Brian Allen, I got to be honest, I prefer it. I'm stunned by it. And he did a really nice job. It's tastefully done. It looks modern. Everything like the feeling of Toten is there.”
Ken Crone @ art package discussion — Key endorsement of the visual redesign that differentiates the premium edition
“I prefer this. Like when you look at them side by side, you make the original art package, the original colors. While he stayed very true to it, you'll know what I mean when you're looking at the photos. It's just, it is so much more pretty.”
[name withheld pending review] @ art package comparison — Second host confirms visual superiority of 30th Anniversary Edition despite initial skepticism
“When I first got... And I would go out and play on location. You could find an Attack from Mars. You could find a Medieval Madness. But as you said, like Toten is still kind of a rare breed, even in some good arcades that carry a little bit rarer games.”
[name withheld pending review] @ availability discussion — Emphasizes the rarity of original machines, establishing demand for the remake
“To have a pristine example of the game, I think, is kind of a cool thing for me because that's the only time I would probably be able to own a Toten.”
Ken Crone @ collector motivation — Articulates why the remake appeals to collectors unable to source originals
“You know, a lot of those games were, though. That's the crazy thing. And until you update your sound system, you put something like a pin sound in there, and you got upgraded speakers and you bring it up. There's just a lot because of the old speaker platform and the old sound boards.”

Entities

Tales of the Arabian Nightsgame Pedretti Gamingcompany Flip N Out PinballcompanyKen Croneperson[name withheld pending review]personBrian AllenpersonJohn PapadiukpersonWilliamscompany

Signals

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product_launch: Tales of the Arabian Nights remake by Pedretti Gaming now available for immediate order with two limited editions (Legacy 500 units/$10,995; 30th Anniversary 399 units/$11,995)
high · Ken and Greg confirm game is out at time of podcast release, available at FlippinOutPinball.com with order details provided
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collector_signal: 30th Anniversary Edition aggressively limited to 399 units worldwide, hosts emphasize scarcity and speed of potential sellout, positioning as collectible with secondary market value implications
high · Ken: '399 games is not a lot of games, especially in this climate that we're in with pinball and scooping up, you know, things that could potentially be worth more value'; Greg: 'I think they are going to go very, very fast'
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design_innovation: Brian Allen created substantial artwork upgrade for 30th Anniversary Edition featuring purple glitter armor, modernized character interpretations, and enhanced color palette while maintaining visual coherence with original aesthetic
high · Both hosts extensively praise the art package; Ken: 'Everything like the feeling of Toten is there. It doesn't feel foreign'; Greg: 'It's just, it is so much more pretty'
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design_philosophy: Pedretti Gaming took conservative code approach, preserving exact original ruleset (version 1.5) with enhancements only to display animations, lighting integration, and bug fixes; no new modes or rule changes
high · Ken: 'the enhancement goes into the colorized display animations, the modern lighting integration, the upgraded light shows, quality of life improvements, and like bug fixes. So you're not having anything changing from the core elements of the game'
?

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.064

0:00

In ancient Baghdad, a most beautiful princess was imprisoned by the evil genie Salim Bagazai. Hey, what's going on, Pinball Land? It's Ken and Greg from Flippin' Out Pinball Podcast, and today we have a special edition of Flippin' Out Pinball Podcast. A lot of special editions lately, Greg, and this time we're going to be talking about Tales of the Arabian Nights. It's a remake and it's by Pedretti Gaming. I think probably the most efficient way to do this is to just kind of give you all the information that we have right now. By the time you're listening to this, the game is out. So you can go to FlippinOutPinball.com. You can obviously order your game today. You can look at the online pictures. There's significant upgrades in art packages between the original and the newer version. And there's technological advances, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Without further ado, man, you want to just get into this and we'll offer a little bit of it. Yeah, we'll offer our first impressions. Well, let's just go through the list here really quick. So, quick notes on this game. It's manufactured by Pedretti Gaming. They are out of Italy. The game's licensed through Planetary Pinball Supply, and they're an official Williams Valley license holder. It's based on the original 1996 Williams Classic, which was obviously Tales from the Arabian Nights, and the designer of that is John Papaduke. There are two versions of this game that they've announced. The first one is the Legacy Edition. The Legacy Edition is kind of in celebration of the original layout or the original mechanics, the original artwork of the Toten game, and that comes in at $10,995. There is an upgraded version of this game. It's called the 30th Anniversary Edition that comes in at $11,995. There's a lot of cosmetic upgrades that we can get into as we get further into this podcast. So that Legacy Edition is really paying homage to the original game that had come out, and it's going to be set at a maximum, for now, a maximum of 500 units for this initial production run. Future runs are possible, but they're not currently planned. Now the 30th Anniversary Edition is the upgraded edition, and that's strictly limited to 399 units worldwide. So there's built-in collectability, I think, at 399 units. It's significantly less than most limited games in nature. And I want to, just when we're talking about it, there's a little bit of confusion for me because when I think of an anniversary edition, I kind of think that that's supposed to be the carbon copy of the original. It's not. The 30th anniversary edition is the upgraded model. The legacy edition is more true to the original, especially aesthetically. When we look at the modern hardware upgrades that you're going to see on both models, the display, it's a 21.5 inch LCD display. It's in a DMD kind of format, so what you're used to seeing. You do have enhanced video animations and a presentation on that screen. Obviously, with lighting modern day, you've got full RGB conversion throughout the whole game. So play field, GI, bumpers apron, back box speakers, sidebars, all that's lit up as you would expect in a modern day pinball machine. Audio, you're going to have enhancements. You've got a premium sound system. You do have RGB illuminated speakers, which is really cool that comes with the game. This is built on the fast pinball electronics platform. So it's something that's been out there that are in other games, something that's tried and true, something that is working out just fine. You've got score bit integration, which is interesting if you're looking to kind of keep tracking high scores with other people online. The games now will have online software updates. And when we talk about software, the code, it seems that Pedretti took more of a conservative approach to the code because essentially it's an exact carbon copy of the code with the exception of they're calling it a new 1.5 enhanced code. But the enhancement goes into the colorized display animations, the modern lighting integration, the upgraded light shows, quality of life improvements, and like bug fixes. So you're not having anything changing from the core elements of the game or added modes or extended wizard modes. So whatever you're used to playing with Toten back in the day, it's going to be the same exact rule set. Which I think is a good thing. You know, it leaves the door open to an enhanced code maybe down the road if they want to do it. But I kind of like just staying true to it and you're getting what you get, you know, just like what Chicago did basically when it came to medieval madness and attack from Mars. You know, I like seeing this, I think. Because sometimes classics, I don't know if you want to mess with the code too much. You know, like Cactus Canyon was a little bit different because it really wasn't a complete game to begin with. But I don't know if you really want to mess with the originals, you know what I'm saying? Because then it's still a remake, obviously, but, you know, you're starting to toe the line if you add too much. I do like the ability, if you're going to add code to it, to have the ability to change between, like, the core original code and maybe the enhanced code. That would be kind of fun. Yeah, like Funhaus. Funhaus did that when they released Funhaus.

5:13

But you know again you know just I don know if they ruled out We haven talked to them It might be something that in the works down the road to where it almost like an upgrade to it But you know I do like the core code just being there Yeah. And I'm not hinting that they would do that. But I mean, with the ability to upgrade a game online, it's something down the road that if they think that they, you know, if there's enough calling for it, perhaps they do. If they don't, again, you know exactly what you're getting. Look, if you've ever played Toten, you know exactly what you're getting. And you're eliminating a lot of bugs and issues right off the bat too to where as you know new code with any game you know it can be buggy you've got a lot of trial and error with it you know you're sending out some beta code you're working through it to where is this you know you're keeping a little simple a little more simple a little refined to which to me is probably going to be a more reliable game from the start. I've never really been a big pinball purist per se. Like I do like remakes with modern day technology. The biggest thing that stood out to me was the art packages between the two. And originally when I heard that there was going to be like a different art package and for Brian Allen at Flyland Designs, he's got artwork that's been, you know, wildly celebrated inside of pinball, more so outside of pinball. To be honest, if you get a chance, you can kind of go online and you can check out his artwork. I was a little bit torn because when I remember the art package on Tales of the Arabian Nights, it's always been very appealing and captivating to me. And I'm like, man, I don't know if you should really mess with that. Again, I'm not a pinball purist, but I thought that was one of the things maybe you should not have tinkered with. When I see this art package from Brian Allen, I got to be honest, I prefer it. Like, if I agree, I'm stunned by it. And he did a really nice job. It's tastefully done. It looks modern. Everything like the feeling of Toten is there. It doesn't feel foreign in the sense where it's like, oh, man, this is like totally reskinned. And I have to really ask myself what game it's I mean, it's beautiful. And I think you're exactly right, because, you know, what you get with Brian is what you get a lot of times. You know, it's a very I won't say over the top, but it's a very reimagined world. And I say that loosely because I own all of his back glasses. Like I love his artwork. I have them all hanging up in my basement that he's done over the years. Your monster bash, medieval madness and everything. But like I said, it's a very reimagined. The characters are very eccentric in a way and stand out. They pop. They're very different from the original characters. And I'm kind of like you. When I was thinking about that, I was kind of like, ah, you know, I mean, I like his stuff, But I just don't know if it if it belongs on something like this, if he was to go that route. But like you said, like what he did was so very tasteful. It kept it kept imagery that that you're used to from Brian, but it was subdued a little bit. And it is perfection. It's like you said, like this. I prefer this. Like when you look at them side by side, you make the original art package, the original colors. While he stayed very true to it, you'll know what I mean when you're looking at the photos. It's just, it is so much more pretty. It's just a beautiful game. I don't know, for the lack of a better term, that's a sexy art package. It's a great upgrade. That being said, I can appreciate if someone's in the mindset of, hey, I just want it to look like my original Tales of the Rabia Nights. Totally, totally get it. If I had the choice, I'm going for that other art package. And I'll be curious to see if there are people that own the original that might consider having, you know, upgrading to the different art package with the new Toten game. Because if you have an original game, sometimes it's hard to part with that. Like you want the original, original game. So for them to have this completely new approach to art, it's fun. The other thing that I really liked is on the play field, that lamp.

9:02

That's like a glitter bomb, man. You see that? It's all sparkly. It looks really, really cool. And that's like a center kind of toy in the game and have it all sparkled out. And it's on both editions. If you really kind of deep dive it, and I'm just kind of looking at the feature matrix here between the two designs, it seems like the 30th anniversary edition, it's designed for, you know, the collectors, buyers that are looking for a little bit more exclusivity with the game. But the major differences that I can tell, one, first and foremost, is going to be that huge art package, that upgraded art package, in my opinion, upgraded art package by Brian Allen. The purple glitter armor looks pretty nice. Purples and pinks and those kind of colors can be off-putting for some people. I think it works great on this Toten cabinet. You've got the limited number of production, again, appealing to potentially collectors. There's a certificate and a metal plaque that comes with that as well. I would say I think the artwork's probably going to be the most debated thing that people will talk about between the two packages. Again, we talked about some collectors preferring the original art package, some people not minding or preferring the original. But I think a lot of people are going to enjoy kind of the modern interpretation of the art design. The Legacy Edition does have that Night Sky glitter armor package. So it's like a black with like a metallic flake inside. So you not just getting that flat like you do with a lot of the remake things or anything You not just getting you know a stainless or a matte black finish You know there a bit of an upgrade to that addition as well Yeah, for sure. And you have the apron, speakers and back box, game sync, RGB lighting. So, you know, when we say it's paying homage to that original game, there's a lot of upgrades that both models get. There's really not a huge difference, in my opinion, in between the models other than, again, I'm going to go back to it, Other than that, that R package, I think is the key seller to me on that. And at $1,000 difference, I don't know how you go wrong, regardless of what package you accept. And they're both beautiful games. And normally you would hear me say, you know, save your money. You know, I'm always a pro guy with stuff, arcade edition with Harry Potter and so forth. But in this one, I'm shooting myself in the foot sitting there saying about how the upgrade is worth $1,000. But I do think it is. It's so beautiful. I mean, again, what you said, you're not going to go wrong with either one. They are both beautiful games with them updating that legacy edition, you know, slightly to where it's still homage to the original. It's still very true, but it's just slightly enhanced. It's still a gorgeous game, but man, like I just can't get over that anniversary edition and what Brian did with that. It's just the subtle, the subtle things, you know, that within that and the coloring and, you know, like even just the genie on the side, That little extra spit of blue on there instead of just the genie in black, you know, with the bolt, like it's it's brighter, it's more airy and it just the whole game just stands out more. I'm looking forward to to see like that whenever you see colorized animations on those old dot matrix games, that's cool. You're getting that colorized display in both units. I'll be very curious to see what the overall kind of feedback is on this immediately, because I mean, right when it comes out, opinions are going to be formed. And then before you know it, this game seems like it may sell out really quick. It might be something that has a little bit of a slower burn. I would say probably the only real thing that people might be curious about is, you know, if you're not familiar with Pidge Ready Gaming, they are a newer manufacturer of pinball machines. They've got a few builds under their belt. So look, I mean, this is like a pretty quick down and nasty approach to us kind of giving the first impressions of this game. Well, it's a remake, too. There's not a whole lot to go over, you know, other than your cosmetic differences and upgrades. So, you know, but it's still interesting because there are things that are different. So it's definitely worth talking about. It's just, you know, you know what you're getting. It's totem. It's beloved. Everyone loves it. I think I brought this up in a previous episode. When I started collecting, like Toten is one of those titles that had always been very elusive, like you could never really find one. And if you found one, it was either super expensive where it was out of my price range, especially, you know, even at the time, or it was just kind of blown out, you know, a lot of play field wear, inserts cupped or ghosted, you know, shooter lane wear. To have a pristine example of the game, I think, is kind of a cool thing for me because that's the only time I would probably be able to own a Toten. And then again, to have all the modern day upgrades on the game is absolutely a plus. Again, as somebody that's not a pinball peerist, I like seeing the new approach to old titles because you kind of get the best of both worlds. You get what you're familiar with, with the games that you're used to playing, but then you get all the amenities of modern day technology. Uh, lighting, sound, updated animations. It's, it's a big deal for me being a big fan of that era of games. So here, here's the weird thing about me. I guess I'm probably kind of an outlier. Um, it's a game that has never appealed to me at all. It just never has. Um, Zach has a beautifully restored one, same thing, you know, with, with a couple of titles of that era. And I think that the reason being is when I first got And I would go out and play on location. You could find an Attack from Mars. You could find a Medieval Bannish. You could find these games. But as you said, like Toten is still kind of a rare breed, even in some good arcades that carry a little bit rarer games. So I was just never exposed to it. And I think that that, you know, I wasn't able to fall in love with it early on and then still just not getting, finding one out in the wild to play. It's just, again, never really appealed to me. And when I saw this game, it's one of those things that now I'm like, you know, I hate to keep just harping on that anniversary edition. But when I saw that, I'm like, OK, I've probably been missing a lot. I know what everybody's talking about now. I need to give this game a chance. I need to play this game. And seeing that that anniversary made me want to own it now, which I kind of laughed at because typically, you know, So just looking at something cosmetically doesn't make me want the game more, but it did in this case. And I was like, maybe we don't have to sell something. I love that, man. You know what's strange is this is one of the few games where the first time I was exposed to it wasn't even on a physical game. It was like a digital recreation of the machine. Oh, I think that's a lot of people with the game. Yeah, because it's just, again, you could never find one. They weren't out in the wild, really. You know not at that time you know and we talking like early 2000s when I got into the into the hobby probably a middle like 2006 I think is around the time that I got in But what really appealed to me really locked me in man I love the audio of the original And I'm looking forward to just hearing it enhanced with, I don't know if they did anything with like the core musical elements of it. But to hear it like through a modern day sound system I think is going to be cool. Because it is an unbelievably well-done game from an audio engineer perspective, especially back in that time, in my opinion. You know, a lot of those games were, though. That's the crazy thing. And until you update your sound system, you put something like a pin sound in there, and you got upgraded speakers and you bring it up. There's just a lot because of the old speaker platform and the old sound boards. There was some great engineering. There was some great effort put into those games. It was wonderful. You just don't hear it real well because of the old, you know, just the technology that was then and the cheapness of the speakers and boards. So I agree with you. I'm curious. I think even if they didn't touch it, it's going to sound just phenomenally different just because of that upgrade. Yeah, I love it. So, you know, again, we're looking at one of the greatest fantasy themed pinball machines ever created. It's back. The original gameplay is staying intact. The modern electronics and support infrastructure is all there for you on this game. You've got strong feature sets on both trims. I mean, there's a relatively small gap between the additions. So, again, I think at this point, you just want to ask yourself, do I want the different art package with the different trim or do you want to go original? It seems like that's, you know, of all the different releases, when you think about tiers of pinball machines, I think there's a lot more that has to go into trying to figure out where the bang for your individual buck lies. In this particular instance, with such a nominal gap in between both versions, it should be a pretty easy decision for anybody to make if they're going to buy the game. Well, I'll tell you guys, like, you know, 399 games is not a lot of games, especially in this climate that we're in with pinball and scooping up, you know, things that could potentially be worth more value or these, you know, very limited games. It is not a lot. But, you know, I also wouldn't be mad if you don't make it into one of those games and they're all sold out because I still think the enhancements on that that legacy are going to you're going to be very happy with it. They're still gorgeous. You're still going to get a great game. But, you know, if you are dead set on trying to get one of those anniversary editions, I don't think it's something you can sleep on. Again, $3.99 is just not very many games in this market, and I think they are going to go very, very fast. The game's out right now. We'll keep this short. In the event you want to jump and get an order in, now is probably the time to do that. You can go to FlippinOutPinball.com and you can put the game in your cart and you can go ahead and check out. And again, just a reminder for pricing one more time. You've got the Legacy Edition, which pays true to the original, especially with the art package at $10,995 plus shipping. The 30th Anniversary Edition has the modern day art approach package with the purple glitter armor, etc. And that's at $11,995 plus shipping. If you would prefer to just deal with either Greg or I personally, you can email us. Greg, what's your email? Greg at flip the letter N out pinball dot com. And I'm Ken at flipping out pinball dot com. Just send us an email. Let us know what title you'd like. And please provide us with your address and phone number. And we can get an invoice sent directly to your inbox and the invoice will have a secure payment link that you can click on. Everything's encrypted. We never have your payment information and your order will be will be reserved. And if you want to get a shipping quote to just email us with your zip code, we'll let you know how much it costs to ship. We use FedEx Freight. We've had a really good experience with them and it's fast, right, Greg? It's lightning. It is very fast. So we don't know what the production timelines look like. So I think that's important to realize, too. I don't know exactly when if you put your order in, when you would get your game. We'll update that information as soon as we get that there. But hang tight. So you're looking at putting a deposit down when you contact us for your order or your order online. But all in all, I'm pretty happy with it, man. I don't really have a lot of criticism about it. I literally don't have anything to criticize about it. I know what Toten is already. I've already played the game. I already like the game. I'm happy to see the upgrades. I'm happy to see the options. All in all, it's a pretty feel-good title release for me. Yeah, about seeing a remake come out is like what you said, you know what you're going to get for the most part. A lot of pinheads do. And for those who don't really, aren't familiar with Toten, just ask around. Yeah, for sure. People are going to tell you what kind of game it is. So, you know, that's what's great about remakes. We know, we know what we're getting. I agree. I agree. So we'll wrap this one up. We have another podcast that'll be coming out next week. But for Greg Bone, I am Ken Cromwell. Don't forget to take some time out of your day and play some pinball and go to FlippinOutPinball.com and get your new game today. So long, everybody.