WWF European Exclusives
#PWHS #Article #WWF #EuropeanExclusives
The above set of three badges were released during 1991. They were not available to buy though, well not in 1991 anyway. The only way you could get a hold of them was to purchase the brand new game, WWF WrestleMania. Which was released in the United Kingdom initially through Ocean Software Limited and developed by Twilight. WWF WrestleMania holds the distinction of being the first game since the 'Fed's MicroLeague Wrestling in 1987 to be released solely for computer users. Two years prior in 1989 WWF WrestleMania was the WWF's first release on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), and no other gaming platform got that version, nor did any country other than America I don't think. The 1991 release was by no means the same game. Many advancements had been made since 1989. That was followed up by the 1990 release of WWF WrestleMania Challenge. That time both NES and Commodore 64 users could battle it out as their favorite superstars. Just prior to the pin bearing game being put out there, WWF Superstars was made solely for Nintendo's Game Boy.
In the US of A, computer gamers were simply not spending their time playing the WWF's wrestling game. More importantly they were not spending their money on them either. Yet the the NES releases were doing pretty well. Meanwhile over in Europe the computer based gaming scene was still strong in 1991. So strong it was worth their while to team up with Twilight to create WWF WrestleMania specifically for the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland), France, and Germany. During 1991 Those countries were able to purchase it for the CBM Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, and Commodore 64. Italy along with Germany and the UK got the Commodore's cassette edition. All of those were published by Ocean Software Limited. Ocean also published the ZX Spectrum version for France, Germany and the UK, while Erbe Software published the game for the Spectrum in Spain. A year later the game was made available for DOS PCs in the UK. Only a year later a publisher called The Hit Squad released the budget re-release of WWF WrestleMania in the UK only for the Amiga, Commodore and the Spectrum.
From what I can tell the free pin badges were only available in the United Kingdom and only with the Amstrad and the Commodore. The Amiga and the Atari versions came with a free fourteen minute video cassette of exclusive footage from Silver Vision. As far as I know the video was available in all of the relevant countries. However, the pins were made by a company called Dufort and Sons (now Dufort Associaties) based in Bristol, England at the time. Whether the deal was already in place or the WWF received a lot of positive feedback about the pins, a whole set of these pins were made available, exclusively for those in the UK.
Here is the complete set (click to enlarge):
Something I found quite humorous is the fact of the three pins which came with WWF WrestleMania, only one of the characters was featured in the game. Not only that, the three free pins were merely repackaged for sale with no new designs being made.The full roster had three playable characters: Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior and the British Bulldog. The non-playable characters were Mr. Perfect, the Warlord, Ted DiBiase, the Mountie and Sgt. Slaughter. Only three of the pins released in 1992 were featured in the game. That possibly was because a follow-up game was published by Ocean Software Ltd. in 1992.
Whatever the number of units sold was for WWF WrestleMania, it was high enough to release another computer only game specifically for European countries. This time it could be bought for: The Amiga in France, Germany, Italy and the UK; the Atari in the UK; the Commodore (floppy disc) in Germany, Italy and the UK, the latter also getting it on cassette; and all four countries got it for the DOS operating system. The Hit Squad republished a budget version on the Commodore in the UK during 1993 and for the Amiga in 1994. Germany also got a budget release in 1994 through Bomico Entertainment Software GmbH.
Did the badges correlate with this game any better? Well, there's a better ratio in this one. Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, the Ultimate Warrior, and Bret Hart were playable. While the non-playable characters were the Nasty Boys, the Natural Disasters and Money Inc. This release flopped badly. Reviews were not brilliant of the first game, so a lot of people waited to hear what others thought of this one before buying it. When they heard how nothing noteworthy had improved they simply skipped it. The WWF actually did not even attempt to release another PC only game again for nearly a decade. Heck, it took them four years to make one compatible with the PC platform and that only lasted for one game in 1996.
As someone who grew up in the UK, it is always surreal to find out how much stuff we got, or didn't get in some cases, different to America. I actually still have the Bushwhackers' pin. I always figured the kind of stuff I've spoken about above was available anywhere it was sold. The more I find out about this period in particular the more I find the World Wrestling Federation really was zoning in on it's European audience and marketing specifically for us. From music release to the above pins and games to Silver Vision home video.
Whatever the number of units sold was for WWF WrestleMania, it was high enough to release another computer only game specifically for European countries. This time it could be bought for: The Amiga in France, Germany, Italy and the UK; the Atari in the UK; the Commodore (floppy disc) in Germany, Italy and the UK, the latter also getting it on cassette; and all four countries got it for the DOS operating system. The Hit Squad republished a budget version on the Commodore in the UK during 1993 and for the Amiga in 1994. Germany also got a budget release in 1994 through Bomico Entertainment Software GmbH.
Did the badges correlate with this game any better? Well, there's a better ratio in this one. Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, the Ultimate Warrior, and Bret Hart were playable. While the non-playable characters were the Nasty Boys, the Natural Disasters and Money Inc. This release flopped badly. Reviews were not brilliant of the first game, so a lot of people waited to hear what others thought of this one before buying it. When they heard how nothing noteworthy had improved they simply skipped it. The WWF actually did not even attempt to release another PC only game again for nearly a decade. Heck, it took them four years to make one compatible with the PC platform and that only lasted for one game in 1996.
As someone who grew up in the UK, it is always surreal to find out how much stuff we got, or didn't get in some cases, different to America. I actually still have the Bushwhackers' pin. I always figured the kind of stuff I've spoken about above was available anywhere it was sold. The more I find out about this period in particular the more I find the World Wrestling Federation really was zoning in on it's European audience and marketing specifically for us. From music release to the above pins and games to Silver Vision home video.
Unique content strictly for the Professional Wrestling Historical Society.
WWF European Exclusives.
Author: Jimmy Wheeler.
Published: December 4, 2017.
Article: #182.
Editor: Jimmy Wheeler.
WWF European Exclusives.
Author: Jimmy Wheeler.
Published: December 4, 2017.
Article: #182.
Editor: Jimmy Wheeler.
Other articles by Jimmy can be Read Here.