|
Newsletter 10
Wrestling Gamers United newsletter #10
Hello and welcome to the WGU newsletter #10!
It should have been out yesterday but I was very busy sorting through
the Electronic Entertainment Expo reports from the guys on the floor.
I can't begin to tell you everything I've heard so far but I've done
my best to sum it all up for you in this weeks newsletter.
In this issue
*************
1) E3 Screwjob
2) Move Movies
3) Sick Obsession
****************************
1) E3 Screwjob
Honestly, when I heard THQ announce WMX8 for GameCube I was elated.
I make no effort to hide my fanatical love for the N64 games THQ
released
over the years; Revenge, WM2000, and finally No Mercy. Sure, THQ told
us that AKI, the team of programmers responsible for actually creating
those famous games, would no longer be working on Nintendo's wrestling
games. When I heard it was going to be Yukes I felt a little uneasy,
given their past history with American wrestling games.
But wait!
THQ made very deliberate public claims concerning our worries over the
future of the Nintendo wrestling legacy. They told us what they knew we
wanted to hear; (I'm paraphrasing)
"Two former members of the AKI No Mercy team are working on WMX8."
"WMX8 will be more of a simulation like No Mercy than Smackdown."
"THQ realizes it is continuing a long line of respected Nintendo
wrestling games."
But, alas my friends, WMX8 was previewed this week at the E3
convention
in the U.S. and some very intelligent and trusted gamers have written
to
me expressing the same sentiment...
THQ lied.
Flat out, shamelessly, arrogantly, lied. All reports from E3 contain
the same basic opinions of the game. It's a beefed up Smackdown with a
few extra additions like reversals and (ohhhh I can hardly wait)
announcers. So WMX8's mouthpiece, Sanders Keel, wanted us all to go
preorder the game because it was going to be such a great and fantastic
wrestling simulation. A simulation that actually REMOVED the targeted
body part damage from the game engine. A simulation that one gamer
reported let Kevin Nash climb the turnbuckle and fly half way across
the
ring. A simulation that another gamer reported had him lose a match to
a sleeper hold, the ONLY sleeper hold, put on him by a badly beaten
down opponent. A simulation that apparently let Scott Hall take
repeated
Last Rides from the Undertaker and still get back up and fight like a
fresh opponent.
Does this sound like the game THQ promised us? Hell no.
Granted, on it's own without any comparisons to No Mercy, WMX8 is
looking
like a decent game. So why do people like us insist on comparing it
to AKI games of the past? Because THQ initiated the comparisons! They
were the ones who insisted on dropping names like AKI and No Mercy
during the development of this game so we'd all run out like trained
sheep and preorder the damn thing.
So what can we do about it? I'll tell you what I and at least 42
other
people told me they did. We cancelled our preorders of WMX8. Add it all
up and it comes to $2099.58 dollars of our money that THQ won't be
getting, and THAT'S a promise that won't be broken. Sure, it's not a
lot of money to a giant mega-corporation like THQ. But the way I see
it,
it's a few months of car payments for Sanders Keel that won't be coming
from us and that makes me feel pretty damn good.
I don't know about the rest of you, but the days of blind devotion to
any one game developer are over. I'll never preorder another game again
and I have three good reasons; SDJBI, RAW, and most heartbreaking of
all,
WMX8. THQ has blatantly and deliberately abused our trust and used our
love of wrestling games against us to fill their greasy wallets.
To hell with THQ and to hell with Yukes.
That's the end of my rant. I'd like to share the thoughts of
some of the gamers that attended E3 and hopefully by next week I'll
have their permission to do so.
2) Move Movies
Last week I mentioned WGU will be accepting vhs tapes of moves gamers
want to see in our new game. Well, within the week we'll also be
accepting mpeg and Real Player files via ICQ to make it even easier for
you to contribute to the game. If you'd like to get started editing
your clips for submission please try to keep to the following
guidelines;
1-Keep the clips short. We only need the move, not the entire match.
2-Mpeg is the preffered format, followed by RealPlayer.
3-Any resolution is fine, as long as the move can be clearly seen.
We'll announce the ICQ number in one week.
3) Sick Obsession
The quest to gather as much info as possible about all of the
moves ever used in wrestling has uncovered some of the sickest and
most obsessed wrestling fans I have ever met. I have to thank all of
you who have sent in list after list of moves, reversals, and taunts
to WGU in the past weeks. One of the most impressive efforts was sent
in by Ray Duffy. If you'd like to check it out you can view his list
at http://www.deathvalleydriver.com/bbbowm/bbbowm.htm and tell him
Dave at WGU sent you. I can't imagine the hours of work people involved
in a list like this and Ray was only one of many people who have done
something like this. Thank you to each and every one of you! If only
Yukes and THQ had your work ethic...
Thanks for your support, talk to you next week!
Dave
Dave@wrestlinggamersunited.com
http://www.WrestlingGamersUnited.com
|
