Welcome to the first monthly update of the year. As per usual, I’ll be your guide to the latest gossip that’s sweeping the nation, regarding wrestling game news. First of all, apologies for the fact that there was no update last month (and further apologies about the fact that I forgot to make a note reminding people of this in the forums…Whoops). As I’ve said in the past, it’s pretty much impossible to provide news and rumors on wrestling games, when there’s nothing to report on. In the past few weeks though, we’ve seen a bit more action, so let’s get straight to it.

As you may be aware, Acclaim decided not to release their new wrestling game, Legends Of Wrestling Showdown, before the end of last year. Currently set for launch later this year, LOW Showdown is looking pretty exciting. The list of new wrestlers to the game looks impressive, with names such as Ultimate Warrior, Jake Roberts, DDP and Sting (in his first wrestling game since WCW was bought) featuring. From early screenshots of the game, people like Bret Hart and Hulk Hogan, who have featured in past LOW games, are also present. The game is expected to hit US stores in June, with no UK release date as of yet, although I’ll be sure to keep you informed when information becomes available.

Another non-WWE wrestling game that will be out later this year is the recently announced WXW: Rumble Rose. Devised by Konami, the game will feature incredible graphics, a brand new engine, busty ladies in very little clothing rolling around together and a humiliation system. What’s that? You want to know more about what I just said? OK, the humiliation systems involves you…Oh, you meant the girls in bikinis. Yes, WXW will be along the same lines as the DOA franchise, meaning that the only characters will be females with chests that would make Jordan look like TPT. Whatever that means.

In a recent interview, a Konami spokesman said that they were considering adding a topless mode to the game, so that you can see the ladies fight without a few bits of string hiding their naughty bits. It’s certainly a bold move, which should see the game gets a lot of publicity as the launch draws closer, but will it alienate young gamers who just want a good wrestling game with no nudity? We’ll see when the game comes out at the end of the year.

An interesting thing I found not too long ago was in Dr Tom Pritchard's latest column at WWE.com, where he said the following…

“Doing motion capture for a video game is a pretty cool gig. I had the privilege of working with some great people in Los Angeles at the House of Moves studio. Ohio Valley Wrestling developmental talents Mike Bucci,, Aaron Stevens and John Hennigan suited up to duplicate some very tricky and intricate moves. I was there as official “supervisor,” which basically means I would suggest or request various things throughout the day.

It looks like THQ will be coming out with the new game by early next year. Until then, there’s a lot of motion capture to be done. There are at least five more sessions to do. The days usually go from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. The House of Moves crew and its facility are first-class.”

So, interesting stuff. What’s this new game he refers to? When he says “Early next year”, does he actually mean 2005? Why would the game take more than a year to develop? Could I possibly ask any more questions? Whatever Dr Tom is referring to, it’s got me interested, that’s for sure.

Finally, in the only real bit of WWE gaming news, the McMahon family business have launched a new site in collaboration with Gigex, to provide online gaming news under the WWE banner. The site can be found at http://games.wwe.com although I’m sure we’d all agree that it’s not even half as good as my columns.

Again, there’s not much point in posting release dates when there are so few titles due to come out in the near future, but that doesn’t stop you from visiting the Wrestling101 Video Games Shop where all the cool people go to buy their games.

So, that’s your lot for this month. Fingers crossed that THQ will start announcing their WWE games for Christmas 2004 within the next few weeks, or I’ll be stuck with having to show you pictures of the half naked ladies from WXW, which I’m sure everyone would hate. Seriously folks, I’ll be back next month for the next W101 Wrestling Games Update. Until then, stay safe, and keep buying from the Wrestling101 shop.

Russ