Technōs Japan's 1991 classic arcade game WWF WrestleFest is set to be rereleased as an arcade home cabinet this Fall, according to a new report from The Toy Book.
The new cabinet, which will be retitled to WWE WrestleFest is being developed by Basic Fun! — a global toy designer and marketer that has previously made electronic games (such as miniature versions of classics like Tetris and Pac-Man).
This latest move is reportedly representative of the company's plan to enter the home arcade market, which is an area that has, up until now, arguably been dominated by companies like Arcade1Up.
“We’ve been in the handheld video game business for a long time,” Basic Fun! CEO Jay Foreman told The Toy Book. “We love the category and saw a gap, as did many licensors. We decided to fill the gap, and our customers have responded well so far.”
Dan Westcott, the senior vice president of global marketing at Basic Fun!, meanwhile, said about the new range, “Expanding into Home Arcade was a natural next step. It complements our successful Handheld Arcade Classics portfolio and completes the full arcade experience.”
WWE WrestleFest is just one of the machines the company is planning to release this Fall, with the company also sharing images of other cabinets based on old Atari titles, such as Centipede and Tempest.
These machines will retail for anywhere between $179.99-599.99 and are reportedly being aimed at both families and collectors. They will feature the arcade game's original ROMs, and, according to The Toy Book, will be built out of "a mix of molded plastic and wood hybrids, true micro-switch joysticks, backlit marquees, and high-resolution screens".
The initial rollout of machines apparently won't feature Wi-Fi connectivity, but this is something the company has on its roadmap for the future.
You can read more details about the new machines here.