3 posts tagged “wrestling”
As I mentioned on Friday, I had a chance to head down to the Ziff Davis office and check out the XBOX 360 offering of SmackDown! vs Raw 2007. The preview of which went up today and can be seen here at 1UP. If it sounds like nothing more than 800 words of verbal fellatio, then mission accomplished. I was very impressed with last years game but now that I look back on it, I almost feel silly as SvR'07 completely demolishes it in every which way.
Concerning subjects that I didn't get to touch upon in the preview, our access to the wrestlers within the game was extremely limited. So limited to the point where I just didn't even bother to mention it. The press is, currently, allowed to see only seven wrestlers from this years roster. Off the top of my head that seven included John Cena, Rey Mysterio, Undertaker, Triple H, Shelton Benjamin, Kurt Angle and someone else who escapes me at the moment.
Speaking of Rey Mysterio, it does make me pretty happy with myself that THQ took into consideration -- of all things -- a joke I made during my closed door preview of the game. Back in May, everything we were shown consisted of nothing but Rey Mysterio versus John Cena. Something about Mysterio struck me as odd though. In reality, Mysterio is a shorty, coming in at only 5"2. So why was it that he was practically standing eye-to-eye with the 6"1 John Cena?
It was then explained to me that everything about WWE merchandising, and in effect SmackDown!, are put through an approval process of the WWE. They're the ones that mandate that all the wrestlers in-game must have chisseled abs, regardless of their actual physique and so on. So if they want Rey Mysterio to be six feet tall, he's going to be six feet tall.
Having cracked enough jokes on Rey Mysterio back in May, THQ went to the WWE and told them they yes, people have definitely noticed that Rey Mysterio is a giant compared to how he is in real life. This past Friday when I saw Rey, they were quick to point out the changes they had made to his model thanks to my hatred for that little man. Thats what you get for exploiting Eddie Guerrero's death, Rey! And you thought the god awful Chavo Guerrero -- Chavo Guerrero, don't even get me started on that piece of trash. And he thought the Chavo Guerrero heel turn was bad.
The incredible shrinking Mysterio aside, the improvements being made to this years game are incredible. I tried going back and playing last years game over the past couple of nights and its really just not as exciting anymore. That is the sign of a good sequel and the feeling that November can't come soon enough.
File this under "bail out!" as the German division of THQ let slip that the Playstation 3 version of WWE SmackDown! vs Raw 2007 has been cancelled. I would consider this to be a huge blow to the Sony camp as (1) SmackDown! has always been seen as a very Playstation-centric series and (2) this is the first year that the series has gone multiplatform. Essentially, THQ just gave Microsoft more ammo in the thunder stealing contest as SmackDown 2007 will be making it's debut alongside the PS2 version on the XBOX 360.
Admittedly, THQ has arrived pretty late to the PS3 party, so this is more than likely a scenerio where a publisher can't get the equipment and proper support that they need, so they just put it on the back burner for this year. Still, it doesn't help the ongoing reports of waning 3rd party support for Sony's $600 dollar monstrocity. Even at this point, I'll go ahead and say that SmackDown will more than likely show up in Sony's yard for the 2008 series, but not after it misses a potential launch window debut and costs them a few sales while they're at it.
As for the game itself, I got an opportunity to check out SmackDown! vs Raw 2007 behind closed doors at E3 this past May and it's coming along brilliantly. Before the 2006 season, I was a complete SmackDown hater. I simply never enjoyed the arcadey feel and general looseness of the gameplay. The 2006 series changed all that and with all the amazing changes that Yukes and THQ is making with this years sequel, it has easily become one of my most anticipated titles of the year.
For now, all thats left for Microsoft is to hold a kickin' dance party at Peter Moore's house. Whose house? Peter's house.
