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Newsletter 12
Hello and welcome to the WGU newsletter #12!
In this issue
*************
1) In THQ's own words...
2) Thanks guys
3) Back in the saddle
3) Are you new to the WGU?
1) In THQ's own words...
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When WGU was created, it's primary intention was to convince a
company
like THQ to produce another great wrestling simulation along the lines
of
the AKI or Fire Pro series. We were naive and we were stupid. THQ has
no
intention of ever doing this for us. Before you accuse me of stating my
opinion as fact, let me bring your attention to what was said by THQ
CEO
and president, Brian Farrell, at the THQ annual E3 analyst and investor
luncheon. What I'm about to share with you came right out of the mouth
of
the president of THQ. Could you ask for a better source?
When asked if he knew about any upcoming wrestling games from another
developer, Brian had this to say,
1) "The wrestling (game) is defined by the license. People watch the
WWF.
Unlicensed wrestling I just don't think works."
He was referring to past games from EA which he states were "crushed"
THQ's games at the time. I find his ignorance on this subject amusing.
Yes, THQ's WM2000 and No Mercy were more popular than EA titles like
Mayhem and Backstage Assault. But it had nothing to do with a WWF vs.
WCW
license. EA's games were lacking and THQ had the AKI engine. Let's turn
the tables and compare older games like WCW vs NWO Revenge and
Acclaim's
poorly recieved Attitude and Warzone games. In this case, THQ still had
the upper hand over the competition when they had the WCW license
instead
of the WWF! So, Mr. Farrell's assumption that a WWF(E) license will
help
them crush the competition can't even be backed up by their own history
of game sales. Their games beat the other games because of gameplay.
Their precious WWE license won't save them when a game with greater
gameplay
is released in the future.
2) "We always look at the bottom line, dollars. How do you make the
most money."
Does this quote even need an explanation or interpretation? THQ's goal
is the same as that of any other major corporation. They attempt to
make
the largest possible profit by keeping costs low and sales high. That's
why all THQ games lately are only as good as they need to be to make
that
initial sales peak. That's also why they make the games as "pretty" as
possible instead of spending a lot of time and effort on the gameplay.
People buy with their eyes first. Would you buy a game you've never
played
before if the box contained no screen shots? Probably not. But what if
that
box and website had gorgeous images of your favorite WWE wrestlers? A
lot of
people would even go so far as to pre order that game in advance,
wouldn't they?
So what if the gameplay is bad? It's not like people are going to
return it.
Or will they? Are there really enough so-called "true gamers" out there
to
affect the direction of future Yukes games? I hope so, but even if THQ
and
Yukes announced they were improving the gameplay could we trust them?
Remember,
they made a point of telling us when WMX8 was in development that it
would
incorporate a lot of the No Mercy traits that Nintendo fans were so
dedicated
to. Did they deliver on that promise? You be the judge.
3) "We've also made a minority investment in Yukes."
"The way we look at wrestling is, very simply, it is a brand"
"We have a (WWE) deal that goes through until 2013."
These three statements alone did more to solidify my commitment to
developing a new game than anything I've seen or heard so far. Did you
think there was a possibility that THQ would dump Yukes? Not likely,
seeing
as how they've actually invested in the company. Did you think they
would
someday take fans of wrestling sims seriously and spend more time on a
better
engine? Not if they see wrestling games simply as a "brand". This helps
explain
why som many gamers are tricked into buying the games based on how
great the
intros and character models are. THQ said it themselves, they're in the
business
of selling the WWE brand. Not once did they mention a desire to be
faithful to
the "sport" of pro wrestling. Did you think that there might even be a
longshot
possibility that another developer would make a better WWE game? Well,
even if
that did happen, it looks like we'll be waiting until at least the year
2013
to find out.
If anyone wants to check the validity of these quotes you can hear
the
speech for yourself at;
http://www.thq.com/assets/morePages/thqe3_presentation/THQE3_InvestorLuncheon.asp
Here are the estimated times of each quote;
23:50 Investment in Yukes
37:00 Wrestling defined by the liscence. Unliscenced games don't work.
39:03 We always look at the bottom line, dollars. How do you make the
most money.
49:50 We have a (WWE) deal until 2013
Bottom line, unless THQ witnesses terrible sales and consumer
backlash against
their product, they see no reason to change a thing. To it's credit,
WMX8 for
GameCube turned out to be a near perfect WWE game. It's hard to deny
that, on the
surface, the game encapsulates everything the WWE brand is today. Fans
of
pro wrestling simulations like the AKI, Fire Pro, or similar games,
will simply
have to look elsewhere.
Have I misinterpreted Mr. Farrell's statements or read too much into
them?
I invite your responses at Dave@WrestlingGamersUnited.com any time.
1) Thanks, guys
***************
As you may know, I had to leave town for a few days to attend to some
rather
devastating family business. My father passed away after a brutally
hard
sickiness and I had to pick up and go without even time to let everyone
know
that the newsletter would not be sent that week. I'd like to thank you
all for
writing and offering your condolences. I will answer each and every one
of
your emails personally but please be patient. I have a weeks worth of
email
to catch up on as well as interviewing candidates to the programmer
position
at WGU.
I got my love of wrestling from my dad. Even when I was a little kid
living
in the Canadian praries my dad would take me to Stampede Wrestling
shows where
I got to see the Hart family in action as well as Andre the Giant and
other
future superstars in dirty little gyms and community centres around
Saskatchewan.
And every Saturday morning we'd watch Maple Leaf Wrestling on tv from
Toronto
which was one of the first WWF shows I remember seeing. If, God
willing, one
day we're all sitting around playing the greatest wrestling game ever
created
by the WGU, we can all thank my old man for being a good father and
showing his
sons a good time when they were young. Thanks, Pa.
3) Back in the saddle
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As you can imagine, I have to work pretty hard to catch up with
things
after taking a week off. The most important thing right now is to talk
to
some of the programmers who responded to my announcement at CDIS and
Digipen.
The sooner I can find someone suitable to the task, the sooner we can
get
the design document started and the sooner we can move forward. At this
point,
work has already begun on the preliminary artwork for the game and I
can tell
you that it's looking pretty damn sweet. This game is going to have
more
"attitude" than anything you've ever played before. It's nice to have
the
freedom of nothing to loose.
Also, I was looking at the WGU website today and I realized
something. If
you weren't on the mailing list you'd think the WGU hasn't done
anything in
three months. The reason I haven't been posting the newsletters on the
website
is because I want to save the game development news for the game's
official
website which will open once the game is officially announced. At this
point
were just a bunch of rabid wrestling fans trying to do something most
people
think is impossible. But once the design document is done and the game
is
physically being constructed you can expect to follow the games
progress
more closely on the 'net. Unlike other game companies that wait until
you
buy the game before finding out how lame the CAW is ( I won't mention
any names
...except for THQ) I plan on sharing every aspect of the games progress
as it
happens. You'll know every move, CAW part, and gameplay detail before
you
spend a single penny on the game. Sounds refreshing, doesn't it?
But that's not the only reason I don't post news on the website. Truth
is,
I prefer communicating with you guys more directly and the newsletter
format
offers me that feeling. Plus, I know that I'm talking to gamers who
really
care about what the WGU is doing and not just posting stuff for just
anyone to
read. The last thing I want to deal with is answering emails all day
that say,
"You suck! Aki sucks! Fire Pro Sucks! Please write back..."
So for the time being, what goes on with the WGU is just between us,
the gamers
who are NOT satisfied. Smackdown fans have their game and that's fine
with me.
We just want ours.
3) Are you new to the WGU?
**************************
If you just stumbled onto the WGU website and this is your first or
second
newsletter you might very well be confused about what exactly is going
on here.
Let me give you a short history if I may;
After Raw for Xbox and Smackdown3 for PS2 were released there was a
huge
amount of whining and complaining from certain gamers that the latest
wrestling
games simply weren't half as good as older N64 and even Dreamcast
games. So
I took it upon myself to put up the WGU website in an effort to lobby
the game
developers to give us a better game. They ignored us. Fine. So then I
decided
to investigate the possibility of developing a wrestling game myself
with the
support of all the loyal AKI and Fire Pro fans out there. I met with
people in
the gaming industry and one thing led to another and the next thing I
knew I was
sitting in an accountants office discussing the details of forming a
legal company
and obtaining investors to make the game. As it stands now, we have
secured at
least a small team of artists (with backgrounds at EA and Warner Bros.)
to
beging preliminary design work and are currently interviewing
candidates for
the programming and animation positions. I have every reason to believe
that we
will be the "Blair Witch Project" success story of the gaming industry.
Excited? So are we!
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As always, I'd love to hear from you if you have any ideas or thoughts
you'd
like to share. Some guys email me almost every day with another new
detail they'd
like in the game and it's those kinds of people I never get tired or
hearing
from. Don't be shy!
Talk to you next week.
Dave
Dave@wrestlinggamersunited.com
http://www.WrestlingGamersUnited.com
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