The next smackdown i couldn't really care less about. A lot of the wrestlers on it i've used time and time again... theres only so many times you can pick HHH and be excited to see the pedigree. If we're looking at newer wrestlers... is anyone actually foaming at the mouth to use The Miz? Match type wise.. they're adding the inferno match about 10 years too late... the hell in a cell will still no doubt be too close to the ring and have the handy hinged panels on the top and generally the same crap from SD2 on the PS1. Everything else they're adding stinks of Russo style gimmicks... and with the speed they add a new one and discard an old one ... you can tell they're just throwing as much poo at the walls and seeing what sticks in a hope to hit a chord with the fans.
I've been emailing them for 2 years asking them to add a virtual league where we register which wrestler is our fave online - then each week they set up a fixture list and we play those games... So everyone who picked HBK would play as HBK vs whoever he is up against that week. The servers record how many times HBK won and lost and whatever the majority result was that's the result that gets marked down. at the end of each week they tally up the results and update a league table and we await the following weeks fixture... this goes on until say wrestlemania where they announce the winner.
But they're more interested in limiting movesets, removing key moves such as hogans leg drop and spending months reanimating 15 stunners. Then the following year they re add hogans leg drop and act like they've done us a favour. Reminds me of Big Brother (1984) with the chocolate rations.
I'm hyped about TNA as it's going to be something different - new match types, a new style of ring... loads of wrestles we've had to create in the wwe games if we want to play as them and loads of moves we haven't been able to use before. They also have a decent roster in TNA... despite the condition of the performers in the real world in a game it doesn't matter.
Legends of Wrestlemania game looks really nice as it's a chance to relive my childhood wrestling memories in a better form that the 2d sprites we had back in the day. Hopefully they'll really give it a good shot and not just half arse it.. But early impressions makes it look like they really are trying to capture the old school feeling. Now if only they could smooth out the problems with Savage and Warrior.
Once PWX comes the rosters of games wont appeal to me anymore as i can add my own dream rosters to pwx. Although i will probably still look at TNA2 and Legends of Mania 2 to see if they add anything that's not possible through mods like specific match types. But really... if i had the choice of a gimmick match dreamed up by russo or a 2 on 2 tag match Demoltion vs Road Warriors... or The Rockers vs Motor City Machine Guns or Tirador vs Radiation i'd pick the gimmick match.... nah only joking... I'd pick the roster over the gimmicks every time. Gimmicks get boring after a while but a moddable roster can last you forever!
[quote][cite] PWX_Dave:[/cite]Just curious about the general attitude of everyone here. But which of the following games are you anticipating the most/least and why?
The next Smackdown Legends of Wrestlemania TNA Impact
Thanks for your feedback![/quote]
The wrestling game i am anticipating the most is Legends of Wrestlemania followed by the next Smackdown & then TNA Impact. In that order.
The reason i anticipate Legends of Wrestlemania the most is because i hope the gameplay is different but different in a good way. And another reason is the legends roster. But if the gameplay sucks...the roster doesn't mean anything. I just hope the gameplay is good.
The second most anticipated game on my list is the next Smackdown which seems to get better in some areas & worse in areas than it did good in the year before. I am beginning to think it's a deliberate attempt by THQ/YUKES to milk the fans.
And the last & least anticipated wrestling game on my list is TNA Impact. It looks great visually but from what i read about the gameplay it's just not my thing.
I wish you had PWX on this list because i really don't give a s---t about these games actually. The only reason i will buy any of them is if they are actually very good.
Legends of WrestleMania. I loved the LoW series and I have been anxiously waiting for THQ to announce their own legends game. So far it looks awesome. Now, if they would only get Bret Hart's Sharpshooter animated properly I will be happy :p
Smackdown should be pretty good. The new tag team mechanics sound promising, and create-a-finisher looks great so far.
TNA, I dunno. It sounds too arcadey for me. It sounds a little like WWF WrestleMania Arcade and In Your House. Which, I believe were also published by Midway. I'll keep an eye out for it, though.
I kid, to tell the truth I'm not really looking forward to any of them.
Once Fire Pro Returns came out here I just play that, although I do want to check out the TNA game but other than that, the Smackdown games can rot in hell.
Legends of Wrestlemania looks and sounds very ingreging to me. By FAAAAAAR that's the one I'm most interested in. Then again I'm the demographic that it appeals to. But the new engine, the"wrestlefest" type things they are describing, the roster, the atmosphere... I definitely want to keep my eye on that.
TNA is a renter at best. I am a 80's and 90's wwf slut, so I don't know much about TNA in general. But the game is definitely in my gamefly queue.
Smackdown doesn't interest me in the slightest. As of this year, I'm done with that series. If I'm going to play a sub-par wrestling game, it'll be Legends of Wrestlemania... or homebrew wrestling 3... ha - just kidding.
Ed Boon is behind TNA Impact, which makes me think of Mortal Kombat and fatalities. They might come up with some nice ideas, but the very thought of doing button combos to perform moves scares me away. It didn't work too well for Akklaim's WWF games years ago, and it will not work today either. I suppose Impact is the most intriguing with it's cast of new stars, unique ring and a totally new company developing it. Still, the game sounds like it is trying to be arcade like, which worries me, and Midway is an arcade game company more than anything else. I can see this game being kinda fun, but lacking any real depth that most wrestling gamers are going to want. I do think that Midway will listen to fans though, and after this first game, the next installment of Impact might be much improved. So I'm more excited about Impact 2 than this game.
Smackdown, I have't bought a Smackdown in years, but I have played the demos for the 360 to see how they played. They made some progress, but it is not really different from the old games 10 years ago. The single biggest issue I have with Smackdown is how a wrestler can just lie down and stay down for long periods of time. You can just keep doing the same move over and over again until they finally counter it, or you counter it. This might happen in real wrestling at times with a face taking an extending beating, but in video games it is not fun at all. That's another area No Mercy had figured out. You can only do a few moves in a row on a downed opponent, no matter how much damage they have taken in the match. They can get up, and even squat for a second. During that animation, you can't grab them and beat them more, and that makes the fight fair and more interesting.
Legends sounds fun, but the bad taste of the other "Legends" game is enough to keep me at bay, even though they are different companies.
None of these games really excite me. I might rent them to see if they are decent games, maybe one will be worth buying.
I mean, the way I see it, I'll buy the next Smackdown game. They aren't great, but they are fun to marathon play for about a week, tops, and then it just sort of dies out. I don't know, maybe online play is redeeming? I have never got around to plugging a cable into my PS2 and trying it out. It might have the same appeal that like a FPS game has, to where you beat it quickly and then play it forever online (Call of Duty 4 for me).
I personally barely have a pulse for any of the upcoming wrestling games. It's all pretty much been done before and I agree with Outrider that a large part of the problem is lack of fresh content. I'd say I'm most looking forward to the Legends game. I still play the Legends of Wrestling games from time to time just for the rosters and this new game has my interest for pretty much the same reason. I have to wonder though, if they let it evolve as a franchise what will they add to sequels? There are only so many legends and match types that would be appropriate. Know what I'd love? A Monday Night Wars era WCW game updated for current gen.
I'm mildly interested in the new UFC game but again it's the same problem that wrestling games are facing. Other than pimp out the graphics can you really do much more in terms of gameplay than the original UFC game for Dreamcast? Granted there is room for improvement but not much as long as the aim is to replicate the UFC experience which is generally very little stand up action and a lot of time spent on the ground. I think the MMA game genre is headed for the same arcade vs. sim debate that wrestling games have always faced.
I know I have no pulse on the state of current wrestling games. I get all my info whenever Dave puts something in the newsletter.
I also just hooked up my PS2 (Dern 360 died on me....every disc I put in gives me an UNPLAYABLE DISC error) for the first time since I moved, and I actually put in Showdown Legends Of Wrestling first and broke out my ASPW3 as well.
[quote][cite] Monitor:[/cite]ASPW3 grows on me more each time I play it[/quote] Good to hear. According to an online FAQ this game has a few obscure wrestler-specific counters, and also Misawa's secret Christmas tights.