Am I getting old? Do I just not care anymore? Midway is a company facing challenges much bigger than the usual posts on wrestling forums slagging their TNA game so maybe I just feel that complaining falls on deaf ears. There was a time when a poor wrestling game infuriated me but now it seems I just shrug my shoulders. It's hard to get too worked up about when you've experienced the same pattern of dissapointment since Wrestlemanie X8.
What about you? How much do you even care about bad wrestling games anymore?
Well I have to say that TNA Impact to me is not a bad game the gameplay and mo capped moves makes it pretty good IMO its pretty fun to me with a friend but the AI could use some work...
But at best a nice solid base for things to come kind of like how you guys are doing Dave with Uprising...
But the main reason why most are bashing the game is Midway promised things they didn't put in to the final release most likely due to time issues but no telling how or what forms of bugs they had to splat while it was in development that was mostly taking up all there time
To some gamers on forums * cough * Gamefaqs * cough * they believe games don't have bugs and don't take up time something could take up to weeks or maybe months to get working currently thus ending with a game thats half done with what the developers promises were
As for me I could really careless what people think about what I like so I also don't care about bad wrestling games if that is if you think its bad......or the general public
It's not much how today's wrestling games - it's how they just aren't what they used to be. Look at it this way - Midway is a company that is famous with one certain game - Mortal Kombat. And yes - they made the fighting top-notch. But they have absolutely zero experience with the grappling - the ground on which a good wrestling game is made. Clunky controls are a part of Midway's style - learn to mash buttons carefully and at the right time like a pro in order to master the game. The graphics are nice, but if I was programing, I would just simply do it old school - X is for grappling, O is for striking, then hold X longer for a tres kewl grapple, and O for tres kewl strike. The rest are tons and tons and tons of moves you won't have the time to use, CAW that plays God better than the real God, at least 100 match types, a house full of items and at least one decent storyline. What they gave us were bad controls, 5 Caws (0 for the PS2 game), "what moves?!" and the only cool stuff is the X Divison match, and actually - not a bad storyline. Actually I think the storyline is the only great thin in the game. Like I said a lot of times - Midway won't screw the game up, but it won't make it good either. They can't do the job that for instance - PWX does. If you, Dave, had the money THQ/EA/Midway have, you couldn't make a bad game. It's impossible! Answer - you aren't getting old (either that, or I am a 16 year old grandpa) and I am getting pissed off with sh*t wrestling games, but what of it? Nothing's gonna happen whatever I do. Deaf game companies will keep making poor games and the fans can't stop them. All we can count on now is Japan to teach them what a good wrestling game is all about... and of course - PWX to teach the whole world once and for all what true wrestling is all about...
[quote][cite] PWX_Dave:[/cite] What about you? How much do you even care about bad wrestling games anymore?[/quote]
Really the truth is i don't care much about wrestling games that come out in North America much. Been disappointed too many times through the years since No Mercy. Since Wrestlemania X8 (which could've been a very good game with some more effort). Year after year purchasing a brand new gaming system just to play a wrestling game. When the first Xbox came out, i found out RAW was coming out & was hyped as hell for RAW, so i paid like $600+ for a brand xbox 360 game system bundle....remember xbox was just coming out & i was disspointed as hell when i played RAW & to this day regret plunging down $600 bucks i coud've used today because i am unemployed currently. Same thing with ecw Anarchy Rulz bought a new dreamcast system just for this crap. Same thing with Day of Reckoning 1 & 2 (which are good games in my opinion but could've been better, again with some effort put in). None of these games truly came close to the No Mercy experience. NONE.
The truth is i don't look forward to wrestling games anymore (with the exception of Fire Pro Returns which i bought & just fully so, it was worth it & looking forward to PWX), otherwise i don't care about any other wrestling games that's being released today because i've hyped myself up for the crap they call wrestling games & wasted alot of my hard earned money in the past way too many times & fell flat on my face when i played them because my expections were so high for them. Well i don't do that anymore.
I expect disappointment now. But TNA superceeded my expectations of how shitty the game would be. I mean i thought it would at least be as good as warzone
I don't have much of an answer to the question, but I wanted to comment on something else in the newsletter, and there doesn't seem to be a thread for it, so let me just say: I'd totally play [i]Dave Wishnowski Presents: We're Out of Toilet Paper Again[/i].
There was a time that I would BUY every wrestling game that I heard about...It's not happening that way anymore. I don't have SvR 08 (I did waste 5 bucks on a pre-order to get the demo that I never used towards the game after playing said demo), I have no plans on getting 09.
I didn't follow development of iMPACT, but would hear little tid bits from time to time...enough to drain any enthusiasm from the game. I had it from Gamefly for around 4 or 5 days. I've played worse games, and I sure as hell have played better.
I'll be interested to see what happens with the Wrestlemania Legends game...but I don't have any plans to put any time into it at this time.
I don't care any more. really I'm done with svr. I don't like TNA cause I don't like the 6 sided ring, I don't watch the wrestlers, etc. The game's too young. I do like the engine though. Actually the TNA engine + a good CAW + more moves + the Legends of Wrestling roster = happy Action937
I haven't been disappointed in a wrestling game for years now. Because I expect nothing.
I'm setting myself up for the next big disappointment though. Legends of Wrestlemania might just break me. I'm really trying not to look forward to that game, but my old ass can't help it. A simplified, possibly "wrestlefest-ish" game, all my favorites, only xbox 360 and ps3, I'm so looking forward to it.
Basically only Legends and PWX have the potential to disappoint me. But the disappointment would be great for both if I don't like them because I have high expectations.
I'm strangely feeling hopeful about the Legends game because they claim to be really stripping it down control-wise into a more old school arcade feel. This is one game I hope stays away from the sim style. I hope it's the opposite of King of Coliseum in every way. These days I'm playing nothing but old arcade ROMS and would love to see Mat Mania 3D. We should be so lucky.
Wrestling games seems to be in a similar place that rock music was in the late 80's. Guitar players kept getting faster and faster until there was nowhere to go and the whole scene crashed. Nirvana came along and helped hit the reset button. How much more complicated can WWE games get? How much prettier? How much more 'real' looking can the animations be? The entire wrestling genre needs to be wiped from the face of the earth, our memories erased, and a fresh start needs to happen with a whole new cast of characters and a whole new wrestling universe.
I actually do care because wrestling gamers are rabid. We'll buy ANYTHING because we have to have our fix. The developers don't have to make anything good, because we'll buy it anyway. We vote with our wallets, first. We need to quit pre-ordering every game to come down the pike and do some research first. Wait for the reviews, and get more than one opinion. Rent it if you can, or try the demo if one is available. And then, and only then, go drop our $$$ on quality games.
Wrestling games have been real hit & miss for quite a while, and it's really annoying to see a bad game come out. The technology has never been better to create something extraordinary, unfortunately it tends to overdrive everthing else- including common sense. While it's true that graphics & sound are an important part of the experience- control, ease of play, and "the fun factor" shouldn't be forced into the back seat.
Some of the best games ever are: "Exciting Hour/Mat Mania", and its' Nintendo counterpart "Pro Wrestling". They lacked the graphics & 5.1 stereo of today' games, but they were FUN! You could pretty much learn the 2 button controls of these games in a matter of minutes, and could pull off the limited but well designed moves with extreme ease in no time. The rosters were limited, but they still had personality & style (Starman, The Pirhana). The game play was challenging without being aggrivating. The characters hidden in the crowd of Mat Mania (darth vader, Popeye, ZZ top, an Alien, etc) are a nice touch, and gave the game dimension. It follows the time- honored K.I.S.S formula: Keep It Simply, Stupid!
I have been playing Fire Pro Returns, and it is a very "old school" in its' gameplay. We need more games like it.
I stopped having high hopes after I pre-ordered Wrestlemania 21. So much hype, so much time waiting only to get a glitchfest. Also, I'm not much of a hardcore gamer as much as I was, so when I know a game is going to be bad, I wait for reviews, so I don't expect much these days.
its true wrestling fans do pretty well buy anything to fall down the pipeline though smackdown 08 was the first i bought in 5 years cause quite honestly the series sucked so i thought hey its been 5 years maybe its worth another chance sadly i was wrong.
DOR1 and 2 were simply awesome if lacking on the features they did have the best damn CAW modes around DOR1 though id say is better than DOR2 in the CAW department. still DOR1 CAW id like to see it be the model for CAW modes not crapdown.
DOR2 though id to see its gameplay mixed into the no mercy world with DOR1 CAW and i think wed have a killer game sadly not even a DOR3 is coming out so it depresses me that in order to get a good wrestling game i have to go back to at least what was it 2004 when DOR came out? then skip to 2000 for no mercy and thats pretty much it besides the other AKI no mercy prequel games thats it as far as good 3d wrestling games go its quite sad actually.
TNA though i think is a rock solid base engine to work with and is fun to play though i havent quite finished it but then again spore and now colonization 2 came out and a recent obession with project 64.
as 2009 ill rent it and thats just to see the create a finisher and inferno match id MAYBE buy it if femaleswere match restricted but thats a maybe and at this point a buy aint happening.
though since 2007 when smackdown came to wii and not DOR3 ive pretty much lost all hope for a new wrestling game oh and i never cared for firepro so thats not an option though i do have it just cant get into it.
I don't get as dissapointed as I used to. 10-15 years ago wrestlinggames were better, considering the lesser technological possibilities at that time. The technology today should open up for new possibilities with both more realism AND more fun. Thing is, people who watch "wrestling entertainment" are the majority. People who see through the added bullshit gimmicks and minigames and such are a minority. I don't bother to get annoyed. I'd rather get excited about the possibilities of making indiegames, which are getting better and better, like Dave mentioned. My dream is a userbased wrestlinggame with both interwiews, storylines, live trashtalking segments, several wrestling promotions in several countries and such. But for now, a deacent grappler would do fine. You're not getting old Dave, the big time developers are!
No disrespect to Dave and the crew, but at this point, even with PWX keeping my interest for the last few years, I'm almost content to believe that wrestling games will suck until a true fan with a complete understanding of the fundamentals of wrestling were to get into one of these companies and use their passion to convince a major company to take a shot at recreating not just WWE or TNA but the culture and allure of professional wrestling itself. The biggest problem with all these games is that no one has been able to capture the pacing and storytelling of a match accurately. I dream of the day when I and my friends can recreate the drama of something like Angle/Benoit from RR '03 or Hart/Austin at WM 13. It's all about pacing and representing different styles in more than just visual sense.