The Official Smackdown vs Raw 2 thread

[Dark-Slicer Diago]

It's hard to believe, but it's been almost five months since THQ's WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW shipped to retailers nationwide and we've had plenty of time to think about it ever since. Sure there's no denying that it was an excellent wrestling game (and our 8.4 score reflects that), but no matter how good something is there's always room for improvement. SmackDown! vs. RAW is no exception to that rule, and that's what got us thinking. What could THQ and Yuke's add to the 2005 edition to make it even better than before? What features, extras, and goodies could help shape the next iteration of the franchise into the single best wrestling game ever made?

After talking it over with our fellow editors, we've managed to narrow down our previously enormous wishlist of feature to 21 essential inclusions that WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2 absolutely must have. You could consider these requests as an open letter of sorts to both the THQ and Yuke's development teams so that they know exactly what it is we'd like to see, what it is we expect, and why these bonuses would be so cool in the first place. And now without any further ado, we present to you the 21 essentials for WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2.

Bigger and Badder -- Expand the Superstar Roster
It's great to have all the big name wrestlers in the lineup, but after playing as most of these guys for years it's a lot more refreshing to have choices beyond the traditional roster. Give us guys like Billy Kidman, Akio, and Kenzo Suzuki so that we can have a legitimate cruiserweight division and a reason to fight for that belt. Throw in Heidenreichs, and the Bashams, and Orlando Jordon so that we can relive some of Thursday's biggest angles of the last year or so. And whatever you do, don't forget about recent up and comers like Snitsky, Simon Dean, and Muhammad Hassan. In other words, give us as many recent WWE superstars as humanly possible and if space is an issue, use double-layered DVDs -- believe us, it's worth it.

Information Overload -- Complete Stat Tracking
With so many different things to do in the wrestling world and so many things to keep track of an automated stat-tracking system is absolutely necessary. Let no small detail go unlooked, unchecked, and unrecorded. With this system any player can see what percentage of play time has been done with each of the wrestlers in the game. It would also be possible to see wins, losses, and overall success.

But that's still just the tip of the iceberg. What are the player's favorite moves, total number of submissions, total number of finishing moves, etc.? What's the shortest match, the longest, and the average length of time for each fight? By giving so much information that players will almost drown in it anyone can take a glance at the info and get a better idea of what kind of a fighter they are and even what areas they can then focus on more to be a batter player. More is most definitely better and if the wrestlers could sneeze, we'd want a sneezing percentage. Give us everything


Sure the Undertakern gets the proper intro, but what about CAWs?

Say My Name! -- Personalized Announcing
Both Madden and NCAA have been treating us to pre-recorded names. If a name was common enough according to the U.S. Census, then it was recorded by the announcers. After entering the name into the character creator the game would use its own audio file to create a personalized experience. It's a beautiful thing and it should become more of a standard. Starting now!

Rest in Peace -- Casket and Buried Alive Matches
Since the moment the original SmackDown first powered up on our PlayStation Ones, the thought of slamming some hapless soul into a nearby coffin and closing him in forever has been at the top of everyone's dream list.
How long has the general public been asking for casket matches anyway? We don't even want to speculate. But regardless of how long we've been waiting, the time is now to finally give it to us.

But how would it work? It's simple -- borrowing the mechanics from the already existing Bra and Panties match, the mode would utilize a similar tug of war system centered on the closing of the lid. Getting your opponent in the casket would be the first hurdle to overcome (use a timed meter not unlike the reversal bar to do this), while shutting him in would be the second part (using the aforementioned tug of war system). Boom! It's an instant match mode that would probably get more play the most of the other existing ones.

And hey, while the team is at it, it wouldn't hurt to throw in Buried Alive matches either. The principal and mechanics here would work essentially the same way as the caskets, with the location and appearance of the trap changing form. There's absolutely no way you wouldn't play it.

Float Like A Butterfly -- Tighter Animations
Something the videogame industry needs to work on is fluidity. Wrestling games in particular seem prone to featuring stiff puppets as opposed to lifelike humans. Now, we're not asking for a lot of instant reaction movements, but we would like some more polished transitions between current move sets.

We'd also like to see the collision detection that initiates and finishes movements significantly tightened. The best way to go about attaining this greater level of overall smoothness would be to combine physics driven collisions and interactions with more animation routines. The result would be arms that properly interlock and a takedown that quickly and smoothly segues into a leg lock without any of those stiff or jerky in-between actions.

Timed Attack -- Skill Over Button Mashing
As gaming in general advances, so should the mechanics of gaming. Fight Night proved that boxing titles needn't rely on brainless button smashing to achieve their goals, so why can't wrestling learn?

Everything from getting up, to grappling, to winning grapples, to countering should feature a greater emphasis on timing, rather than repeated controller shattering. To further focus on this more skill-based game style, the future of WWE should penalize its players when they pound X one hundred and seventeen thousand times in a row by making them miss moves or become otherwise vulnerable.

We imagine the future of wrestling being more about skilled interactions and anticipation. But honestly, we'd be happy if there were a few mini-games that governed actions as simple as getting up off the mat.

Oh So Tired -- Wrestler Exhaustion
Wrestling matches take a lot out of you, so why not reflect that in the gameplay? The longer a match wears on and the more damage that has been done, the more of an effect it should have on your character. Near the beginning of a contest, for example, players should have the ability to do anything they want from their repertoire of moves -- but as the bout wears on they'll slowly lose the ability to pull their more devastating maneuvers.

At first your wrestler should slow down a bit, but eventually it'll take longer for him to recover, get up from his own high-flying attacks, and the power of his strikes would decrease substantially. If he was in too rough a shape, your tired gladiator could find himself falling off the turnbuckles, bleeding more easily when taking strikes, and possibly even losing the use of a limb if it's been damaged enough.

Luckily, an added crowd meter would allow you to come back from the brink of an ass-kicking (kind of like Shadow of Rome does), where solid comebacks, spectacular moves, and effective taunts would give you the ability to do something you normally couldn't do. How awesome would that be?

Better Online -- Ranking Systems, Voice Chat, Titles
Every fighting game needs an online component these days or at least they should have one. That may still be some wishful thinking on our part, but we might as well think big and go all the way. There needs to be an online ranking system that will allow players to show that they are some of the best videogame wrestlers in the world.

To make the experience secure there needs to be some way to make sure that no cheat devices are being used or at least give players a possible way of reporting cheaters so that they can be removed and their victories against other players considered null and void. Then, and only then, will online fighting feel solid and other features such as belts and defending belts can be introduced and mean something.

To add in to the experience, voice chat would be a huge help as well. That way two friends could play each other and taunt each other or just chat for the duration of the fight. Winning is good, but trash-talking the whole time is even better.

The Crowd has its Say -- Destructible arena objects, superstar-specific crowd interactions
The feeling of a WrestleMania is all about interaction. The wrestlers can destroy everything in the immediate area and the crowd can shout at their favorite heroes. If there is something, anything, that can be picked up or jumped onto, then it needs to have the ability to be utterly destroyed. By that same token, if a wrestler has a trademark move or phrase, then the crowd should react accordingly. When Kurt Angle walks down to the ring the crowd should be shouting, "You suck!" at him. When Stone Cold Steve Austin shouts out the crowd better be yelling, "What!?" every damn time. Enough of the stock crowd that just moves up and down and has a generic crowd noise, we want the feeling of the event.



Feel the Burn -- More realistic body damage
Maybe we're spoiled by Fight Night Round 2, but it would be the best if the wrestlers had some more realistic damage being done to them. If someone takes a hard hit, then we want to see some blood on the clothes. The faces should get bruised and cut after repeated bashings. It's cool to see the status icons on the top of the screen show how badly each wrestler is hurt, but to show it in the game's graphics themselves would be the business. It would be even better if the blood stains stayed where the damage was done. Players could then "paint" the mat with their opponent's face.

Tag-backs Allowed -- The ability to counter anything
Having any move that can do damage without any possible way to counter it is something that should be completely banished. It takes the fun and the fairness away from the fight. By putting in a possible counter for every move out there the game becomes more of a skillful fight. Experienced players would be able to throw moves and counter-moves like crazy so that when a powerful move is pulled off and bloodies the opponent there's that feeling of deep satisfaction that wouldn't come from a cheap attack.

Besides, WrestleMania 21 on the Xbox has this feature so why shouldn't we?

[Dark-Slicer Diago]

Expanding Your Horizons -- Use Other Organizations
The WWE archive is huge, and SmackDown should learn from EA's example and institute its licenses into its games. The WCW, ECW, and OVW brand names are all owned by the WWE, for example, which opens up a world of possibilities in terms of the career mode, possible story events, arena types, and more.

The Long Haul -- 25-year career mode
One year just isn't enough to feel like an entire career. How about a full-on 25-year experience? This would let players create a character, work him through the low-level fights, become a renowned fighter, and go all the way through retirement. Making horrible movies and acquiring a drug habit would be out of the picture, but at the least this would give the game more of a complete feel and allow players to truly develop a character even further.

To start out with the first challenge would be the Tough Enough competition. After that the wrestler would move into the OVW and compete with the crusty older wrestlers as well as other young up-and-comers. The next steps would be to graduate to Velocity and Heat before getting into Smackdown!, RAW, and PPVs.

Along the way the wrestlers would be able to develop relationships with the other wrestlers in the game that would have lasting effects. There could be alliances, rivalries, and feuds that would help to determine what the matches would be. This would complete the character truly becoming a part of the WWE world and help to take a step away from something that's "just a game" and become something immersive. Oh and for crying out loud, give us two-player seasons again!

That Old Bum Knee -- Career Injuries
It's one thing to have injuries impact a match in progress, but what if sustained damage actually carried over through the entire career of a wrestler...? What if an excess of cuts scarred a pretty face and altered crowd perception? How about if the more sustained damage there is, the more worn and feeble a wrestler becomes as the years go by?



If the old knee gets bent out of shape match after match after match, then it should fail quickly late in the career. And, what if 20 years into it all a wrestler's right arm turns useless and his limp from that ridiculous chair bashing he took two years ago causes his entrance to be a little sluggish? What if all that helped to determine what matches he was and was not awarded? Taking better care of your wrestler would then be a priority. Now that's character development, baby. And besides, cuts add character, so why ditch 'em?

Hometown Heroes -- Real Venues
Last time we checked, wrestling didn't take place in some random Hollywood backlot, so where are our real stadiums? We need crowds and hometown favorites. We need the untamed wildness of Mile High versus the downtown glitz of Staples. Where are the Universal Amphitheatres, Rod Laver Arenas, Allstate Arenas, Pontiac Silverdomes, Madison Square Gardens, Cow Palaces and Nassau Coliseums of the world? We need those and more.

If the universe were perfect, specific venues would even have an effect on wrestler performance as well as entrance routines. Since it is not perfect, maybe THQ could plaster the sides of arenas with advertisements to offset costs.

Fighting Out Back -- Backstage Areas
One big backstage area is simply not enough. Here Comes the Pain offered five or six different areas to choose from, but in the future we need boiler rooms, dressing rooms, hallways, parking lots, bathrooms, green room / lobby areas, shipping and loading docks, city streets, technical booths, and just about everything else that makes a real place a real place.

More important than all of those areas is how they could conceivably be tied together seamlessly and even present real gameplay innovations like choking a man with some electrical cord, dropping a wrecked car onto a wrestler, or stuffing the Macho Man into a port-a-potty and rolling the whole thing down a street.

In addition to a large amount of useable objects (read: weapons), every room could contain specific points of interest. Like The Punisher, the use of each point of interest could play a mini-game that, if properly completed, could result in a spectacular animation routine. Showdown: Legends of Wrestling did it, why not SmackDown?

The Pen Is Mightier -- General Management
Brawling is one thing, but for those of us on the Vince McMahon trip, where's our arena management? In the years to come it'd be great to finally sit behind the desk of greatness and wield the pen of ultimate power -- it'd be great to set t-shirt prices and establish a traveling routine!

There's so much going on behind the scenes of wrestling that it seems almost shameful to omit such a wealth of worthy gameplay from the ever-evolving genre, especially when other sports titles are integrating more advanced managerial features with each passing year.

We imagine dealing with some of the more eccentric personalities of the wrestlers by balancing headliners with no names, turning heels into faces, making stars out of scrubs, and even telling a 50-year-old has-been that enough is enough. After that, we could work on traveling from city to city making sure all of the venue details are set. We could then book TV time, set up our own events based on current audience desires, and eventually move into some merchandising. If you want to get crazy, players could actually be encouraged to start spin-off themed wrestling organizations from scratch.

Your Money's Worth -- Five Matches Per Card
Even though we can create our own events with up to eight matches per card, our extended career mode should feature the traditional, realistic collection of five matches per card, which would of course allow us to play...five matches! Five instead of three. Seems like no big deal, you know?

Flashback Fever -- Relive WrestleManias
With Acclaim's Legends of Wrestling franchise long since dead, it leaves the rights to dozens of grappling greats ripe for the picking. THQ should use this fact to its advantage by allowing players the opportunity to relive some of the greatest WrestleMania matches of all time. Who can forget Steamboat vs. Savage and Hogan vs. Andre at WrestleMania III? Or the Ultimate Warrior's stunning victory over the Hulkster at WrestleMania VI? The possibilities here are endless, and the replay value would be too if this was included.

Comeback Kids -- Superstar Careers
Speaking of legends, it would be great if there was a way to use them in career mode and even better if it was specific to their status. Imagine coming back as Bret "The Hitman" Hart as a surprise guest at the latest Royal Rumble as you fight your way back to the top of the ladder. Old rivalries (Stone Cold or Shawn Michaels anyone?) could pick right up where they left off, and with so few legends available in comparison to the regular superstars it would be easy to customize this so that it matched the wrestlers to a tee.

Shiny and New -- Enhanced Creation Features
We don't know about you, but the time for additional character creation features is long past due. Not only would it be great to expand on the weight detection system by instituting realistic body types (no more 7 foot, 400 lbs luchadores please) in addition to the aforementioned aging option, but it would also be fantastic if you could customize your entrance animations and lighting effects just like RAW used to do. This presentational flexibility would allow players to create literally anyone they'd want and would make each wrestler a lot more unique too.

SmackDown! vs. RAW 2 could also benefit from even more original music selections, generic Titan Tron intros, and realistic clothing effects instead of the painted on look of the current competitors. Just look at something like Def Jam: Vendetta as proof of the possibilities and apply that to the WWE. The potential here is amazing.

So there you have it. Twenty one essential includes that we'd like to see in the next iteration of SmackDown! vs. RAW. Will they ever happen? We can't say just yet, but it doesn't hurt to dream (or to beg, in this case) now does it? Unfortunately we'll have to wait a couple more months before we know what the new version of the game will bring for sure, but in the meantime we'd love to hear what you think of these ideas and what you'd like to see yourself. We'll be back with more on SmackDown! vs. RAW 2 (or whatever it ends up being called) as soon as the info breaks.

straight from ps2.ign.com

[Dark-Slicer Diago]

post what you wanna see in it here and on the Smackdown video game board over at ps2.ign.com where THQ themselves will be checking in to see what you want in and try to input it

[Shaggy]

What about Maven?....sure Im one of the only few that likes him but he was in one of them and then they took him out for the newest one. What a rip off. Hopefully since hes more of a tv person now they will have him in the next one.

I would like to see the create an entrance type thing that the gamecube wrestling game had.

[Gouda]

I definatley want to see a "dynasty mode" type thing. Managerial things and all. Along with aging and injuries and stuff.

Also a better online mode.

[DS]

That all sounded pretty nice but I would still love to see WCW's 3 Cage Match. I would buy the game just for that. Oh and inferno matches. Not like ECWs brimstone where they caught on fire and disappeared, I want a nice inferno match.

[el fregadero]

More wrestlers and a longer career mode are the definite must-haves for it. Things like the exhaustion thing, better damage infliction, revamped CAW, and the stats influx also wouldn't hurt.

[DaveBrawl]

Long career mode that doesn't constantly repeat, plus the damage carrying over year after year and adding up is a great idea.

[Scarface]

I love creating my own wrestlers and I agree with the Def Jam FFNY thing they put. It doesnt have to look painted on. Also not being able to assault your opponent when they are doing a move on a tag partner is hella annoying. Put in this feature from DOR.

[Dark-Slicer Diago]

me personally, I would like to have the full roster, better call-names and have what they did with Wrestlemania 21 were even CAWs have voice-overs and a hometown

[Disturbed316]

Longer, better career mode, CAW voice over and LA FUCKING RESISTANCE

[PorkSoda]

Better online mode. As in you can wrestle with all the modes or at least more than just a single or a bra and panties. If you can't do all, get singles, tag match and like 5 gimmick matches or so. I played about 5 matches so far online and got my ass kicked in all of them

The roster is one thing they definitly need to focus on. Put in EVERYONE including La Resistance, William Regal, Lita, Rosey, Spike Dudley, Shannon Moore, Nunzio, etc.

Story mode has to be good. Yeah.

CAW should be great. Better than SmvsRaw.

I think it would be a nice touch, but what if they bring back the create a ring feature like they did in WWF Attitude for N64? Or Create a fan? Create an entrance (Ring lights, music, pose) and create a move. I'd be interested in those

[el fregadero]

Create a ring and create a fan should be at the bottom of their list of things to add to the game.

[KingofOldSchool]

I don't think the game needs more match types, actually I think a few of the current match types in Smackdown vs. Raw could be tossed away. What I really want to see is a longer, more drawn out story mode much like No Mercy's story mode. And I *WANT* these wrestlers in the game this year...

Raw:
SNITSKY!!!
Maven
Rob Conway
Slyvain Grenier
EUGENE!
William Regal
Simon Dean
Muhammad Hassan
Lita
Tyson Tomko

Smackdown:
HEINDENREICH!
Paul London
Kidman
Spike Dudley
Akio
Orlando Jordan
The Bashams
Luther Reigns

[Nervous Ferret]

create an entrance, deeper rosters, ect. whats been mentioned in this thread

[Disturbed316]

Oh yeah, and put back in the tag titles.

[Volchok]

screw just the Tag Titles.. put back all the titles...

[Hired Hitman]

Better moves, no more of those stupid looking punches and kicks and throws, it looks stupid when you do a lightning fast throw then the next move is very slow.

[DaveWadding]

They need to start by making a game that doesnt suck fat black dick.

[Hired Hitman]

They need to stop taking notes from David Wadding's Sex Life

[El Santo]

Hey, is THQ still slated to make the next Smackdown game? I thought WWE and THQ had a falling out over THQ withholding money. That doesn't mean that WWE can't work with Yuke's, however.

[Cool King]

Get rid of the Parking Lot Brawl,It just SUCKS!

Make The Divas playable in Story and make them bleed.

Put the Legends Videos in with there music too.

I can't think of anymore,so when I do,I'll post them.

[Marcyo]

Make up some videos. There are original themes in that game, why don't they make up some videos? Just, IE, show some clips from a graveyard for those who'd wish to make an ''undead'' wrestler, or funny/colorful clips for clowns. Anything and everything. At least 10 videos.

And yes, I'll say the same as Cool King, make the freakin divas BLEED!

Also, a longer - and i mean loooonger - season mode would be appreciated.

[Marcyo]

Originally Posted by Cool King! Get rid of the Parking Lot Brawl,It just SUCKS!

Word. at Parking Lot Brawl, at Inferno Matches, Casket and Buried Alive matches, 2 on 3 handicaps, WCW 3 cages, Ambulance, Texas Bullrope, Last ride matches... Anything they can come up with.

[Cool King]

Originally Posted by Marcyo Make up some videos. There are original themes in that game, why don't they make up some videos? Just, IE, show some clips from a graveyard for those who'd wish to make an ''undead'' wrestler, or funny/colorful clips for clowns. Anything and everything. At least 10 videos.

I was just gonna post that.

[Drakul]

Originally Posted by Marcyo Make up some videos. There are original themes in that game, why don't they make up some videos? Just, IE, show some clips from a graveyard for those who'd wish to make an ''undead'' wrestler, or funny/colorful clips for clowns. Anything and everything.

I've been saying that for years.

[Mike the Metal Ed]

I found Parking Lot Brawl fun, I'd be willing to drop it for another game mode though.

[Mike the Metal Ed]

Also:

More, if not all wrestlers currently contracted to WWE
Get rid of Bra and Panties for something useful (it would also free up some more space for extra textures)
TNA move sets
Better CAW, SYM had it nearly perfect, except for painted on clothes and no entrance attires, then they fucked with it too much, and get rid of those stupid blurs on the front of tights and on women's chests, just because some people like to make nude CAWs, why make the rest suffer?
WCW/ECW PPV logos POSSIBLY
Create an Arena WWF Attitude style POSSIBLY
Better AI, for fucks sake, make it so that Legend difficulty makes them wrestle better, not just reverse everything.
Custom call names, as mentioned above
No voice overs in season, all it did was waste disc space, make the game less up to date and make season mode unbearably repetetive.
Legends could be better, but no real complaints after last years selection

[deathtrap]

My Arena's were always bright gold, everywhere.

[Cool King]

Make the CAWS better during a match.

Well,when I play and I try to hit a CAW with a weapon it goes right through them,it also does that when I run and grapple and other stuff like that.

And I agree with HardKore UK,make the A.I better. It's just really bad.

And get rid of Bra and Panties too. If THQ do get rid of the Parking Lot Brawl they could replace it with an Ambulance match or they could do Legend Matches,they could have an Inferno Match,the Old Cage match(The one with the little blue cage) and other old matches.

[Mike the Metal Ed]

I also think an old school Bingo Hall arena for Legends would be good.

[Cool King]

Yeah,and have the In Your House and the Old RAW and SmackDown! Arenas.

And in the next game,you should be able to defend your Title whenever you want.(Like SmackDown! 1)

And make the prices for Create A Belt cheaper.

[Dark-Slicer Diago]

Legends have their proper video/theme at the time they whore the attire they were given

Everyone have there current themes with the exception of Stacy as we all know why she will never have her theme in the games, but Ric Flair should have 2001 Space Odassy theme not his 1992 theme

Defent titles in exibition like Cool King said since it was in Smackdown 1 and No Mercy

as me and many ppl above me said, FULL ROSTER WITH EVERYONE CURRENTLY EMPOLYED IN WWE, LA FREAKING RESISTANCE MORE THAN ANYONE AS THEY WERE SUPPOSED 2 BE IN FOR 2 YEARS, and each time they were the Tag Team Champs at the time,

Bring back the Tag/World Tag/Women and Cruiserweight Titles

NEW legends like "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Jake "The Snake Roberts", Ultimate Warrior, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, Razor Ramon, "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith(this time keep him in and not partically remove him, I said partically because his model is still in and if you want to use him look at Code X to find out how), Owen Hart, Harley Race, Austin and Hogan but keep Bret, Andre, Superfly, Piper, Foley(change to Foley), Rock(make current)

how about a special season challanges, meaning ask Bischoff or Long for a Tag Team Title match, after you prove yourself be defeating the Tag Team Champs, you get a shot for the belts and when you win them, every week a new Tag Team challanges you, like the night after you win the belts say Ax and Smash of Demolition challange you for the tag belts, then the next we if you chose RAW The Rockers challange you, if Smackdown The Bushwackers, I think that would be a nice thing to add in season, and if you beat those teams you win them as selectable superstars, but Michaels would be Legend Michaels as he'd look like how he did then and not now

[Dark-Slicer Diago]

Legends have their proper video/theme at the time they whore the attire they were given

Everyone have there current themes with the exception of Stacy as we all know why she will never have her theme in the games, but Ric Flair should have 2001 Space Odassy theme not his 1992 theme

Defent titles in exibition like Cool King said since it was in Smackdown 1 and No Mercy

as me and many ppl above me said, FULL ROSTER WITH EVERYONE CURRENTLY EMPOLYED IN WWE, LA FREAKING RESISTANCE MORE THAN ANYONE AS THEY WERE SUPPOSED 2 BE IN FOR 2 YEARS, and each time they were the Tag Team Champs at the time,

Bring back the Tag/World Tag/Women and Cruiserweight Titles

NEW legends like "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Jake "The Snake Roberts", Ultimate Warrior, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, Razor Ramon, "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith(this time keep him in and not partically remove him, I said partically because his model is still in and if you want to use him look at Code X to find out how), Owen Hart, Harley Race, Austin and Hogan but keep Bret, Andre, Superfly, Piper, Foley(change to Foley), Rock(make current) and LOD but make LOD the new Tag Team Legends, read below for the other teams that would go under that catagory

how about a special season challanges, meaning ask Bischoff or Long for a Tag Team Title match, after you prove yourself be defeating the Tag Team Champs, you get a shot for the belts and when you win them, every week a new Tag Team challanges you, like the night after you win the belts say Ax and Smash of Demolition challange you for the tag belts, then the next we if you chose RAW The Rockers challange you, if Smackdown The Bushwackers, I think that would be a nice thing to add in season, and if you beat those teams you win them as selectable superstars, but Michaels would be Legend Michaels as he'd look like how he did then and not now

[Joe Kerr]

I didnt read all that but my understanding is its being released for playstation 3...and Playstation 3 is being released around christmas time 2005

[Dark-Slicer Diago]

check the PS3 thread I made awhile back I post some more info on it

[Jaded-Dragon]

Here's what I had to say about everything on IGNorant...

Just a few things I would like to see.....


The exhaustion system:

I'm not too fond of the fact that I all I have to do is beat a person down until their head or body is in the red, then hit my finisher and the match is over. I've never liked that. I very much enjoyed the system used in THQ's N64 wrestling games. It was some-what like an exhaustion system. Even if you beat an opponent down for 15 minutes, then hit your finisher, if their spirit (attitude) was high enough, they would still kick out. This made for some intense back and forth matches.

Also, if a person had been getting beat down for a couple of minutes and had low spirit, then was able to pull off a big move, it gave them a large increase in their spirit meter. Much like a momentum shift in a normal wrestling match.

I think a sytem similar to this should be implemented.


More specific damage:

It seems a little odd that I work an opponents body down to the red and the only thing that happens due to this, is after they try to do a move to me, they kind of stagger and clutch their side.

If I work on a guys leg, I want to see him limping and moving slower. If I work on his body, I want to see him clutching his side as he moves around the ring. If I work on his arm, I don't think he should have an easy time trying to power bomb me. Perhaps if my above suggestion was used, the spirit meter level would determine if he could pull the move off or not.


A GM/Dynasty mode/booker mode:

I should be allowed to take the role of a GM. I should be able to book a card and decide who gets to go up for titles. In smackdown! 1 THQ had a feature that showed how over your match was with the fans by a percent value. A system like this could be used to determine how good of a booker the fans think you are.

Random feuds should start between superstars and escalate to the point where you decide how they should end the feud (Hell in a cell, ladder match, iron man match, etc.). For instance, let's say I make a match between Chris Jericho and Edge. Jericho wins, and after the match is giving an interview backstage, suddenly Edge attacks from behind and the two start feuding. Something of that nature.

You should also be able to make special stipulation matches. Like say I want to have a 6 man battle royale with stars who's superstar points are under 80 and the winner gets a shot at the title. Since normally there are only 2 or 3 people who are able to challenege for the title, this would give me more options for creating a card and storyline, and give someone a chance to win the title, who other wise may not ever get the chance to challenge for it.

Another angle could start as a wrestler feeling that I have not been giving him the oppurtunity he deserves. He becoms bitter and decides he is going to take on the entire WWE and take me down, starting an NWO-esque story angle.


A more in-depth and everlasting career mode:

I partial to the system used in Smackdown!2. The events that happened were all pretty random, as far as who you were feuding with. I also think the match rating system should return. Your rating should determine how much you get paid for the match, and also how fast you raise through the rankings. Doing something like this could make using the cheap table DQ win virtually useless.

The career mode should go on forever, and I should be allowed to switch who I am controlling at anytime, much like Smackdown!2, and control multiple people. A second player should also be able to join in, like the earlier smackdown games. I remember in Smackdown! 1 me and my friend made caw's and had them both in season as a tag team. Even though we rarely were in a tag match together, we atleast could play with our caw's in season at the same time, and the ability for a tag team was there.


Oh yeah, counters and reversals should definitely be more skill oriented. Button mashing is lame... period. I hate to refer to this game for anything, BUT... Backyard Wrestling had a system that was more based on timing. If you were to take a system similar to that and expand upon it, such as having a higher technique skill would grant you a larger window of oppurtunity to press the reversal button. But if you press the button and miss your chance, your opponent should land the move with extra damage.

The technique skill could also determine which counter you can perform. For instance... RVD is wrestling agains't a jobber. If the jobber can get one off, it should be simple and basic like RVD goes for a sleeper hold, the jobber escapes by backing againgst the ropes and shrugging off RVD.

Now same situation... This time the Jobber has a moderately high Tech skill. RVD goes for the sleep. Now our Jobber is able to grab the top of RVD's head and do a chin breaker.

And the last situation...
Jobbie's Tech skills are maxed now, so let's see what hppenes when RVD goes for the sleeper. RVD hooks on the sleeper, Jobber works his way to the side of RVD, then lifts him up for a back suplex and RVD comes crashing down.


So more points would not only determine your defense against these very things happeneing to you, but it also effects the length of time a person has to press the counter or revearsable button for a successful counter.

I hope some of that made sense... I'm a little torn up at the moment. What I was trying to say is cool and neat, I'll come back on tomorrow and try to clean some of it up a bit.

Ok, minus a few typos, my post came out pretty decipherable. Anyway, the technique stat should have much more to do with the reversal system, rather than just how often your guy reverses. As for the window of oppurtunity to reverse a move, I was thinking something along the lines of like .25 seconds for skill 1 - 4.5, .5 seconds for skill 5 - 9.5, and 1 second for a skill of 10. One second is a fairly decent time to see and react, so it would still be challenging, but not impossible.

I'm against the 4-way TLC match... for now. If they change the engine a bit I would be all for it. Example: I beat my opponent down until his or her entire body is in the red, I clothesline them down.... now strictly speaking, they should be near death regardless, but I somehow still have to hit them with my finisher to keep them down long enough for me to grab the belt. If they're hurt, they should be hurt. They shouldn't be hurt, but are still able to get up in .25 seconds. Fix that, and I'm all for it.

Casket matches, No. They tried that in Smackdown 2 and it was horrible. All it was, in a nut shell, was an I quit match. Meaning it used the same type of premise.

However, I do like the idea of being able to mix and match the types of matches you want. Way back on PSone, WWF Attitude had a feature like that. You could pick a first match type (singles, tag, cage, etc.) then set a special stipulation for winning, like first blood.

I'd also like to see the King of the ring tournament make a return, especially if they do include a GM/booker mode.

Oh and one last thing, also in Attitude you could customize the entrance ways and the ring. Like choose what color lights you wanted, what ring apron, the color of the mat, the color of the ring ropes, etc. That needs to be implemented as well.

[Marcyo]

Originally Posted by Cool King! And make the prices for Create A Belt cheaper.

Yeah. Having a reasonnably cool belt costs 300 000$.

[KingofOldSchool]

Originally Posted by Joey Radd I didnt read all that but my understanding is its being released for playstation 3...and Playstation 3 is being released around christmas time 2005

No, the new WWE game will be on the PS2, which will be the last game that will be released for the PS2.

[el fregadero]

The last game or the last wrestling game?