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Hey everyone, for the first time in many months, it’s once again time for an exciting round of Wrestling 101 Video Games News, with me, your host, Colin Gear. You may be wondering why “that idiot who only wrote two reviews and then disappeared” is now heading up this wonderful section. The reason is of course, I slept my way to the top! The HHH method to success is always easier than those that take “hard work” and dedication. This month, we’ll be taking a look at the joys that E3 has brought us, and the excitement yet to come in the Wrestling Video Game calendar.
Oh, okay, for those who want to know the real reason that I’ve now taken over from the superiorly funny and much more knowledgeable Russ, the reason is simple. After Russ’ interview for W101 with Adam Ryland, they hit it off and Adam liked Russ because Russ is of course, the perfect corporate shill. Long story short, I’m second in command for Wrestling 101’s Video Game section and Russ has now signed a contract with Grey Dog Software, so expect me to get all the juicy information of Total Extreme Warfare 2005 first, as I repeatedly bludgeon Russ in the head until he gives me information he’s under contract not to share. Wrestling 101 will certainly miss Russ, as he has for a long time been the glue that held this very section together. I can only hope I’m also sticky enough to keep the broken vase from shattering again, and to be honest I doubt we’ve seen the last of Russ. You know, since I talk to him every day. Oh hang on, just getting an Instant Message from him now.
Russ says: BUY TEW2005! THE HIT OF THE SUMMER!
Now you know why Adam Ryland wanted the guy. Anyway, we’ll get to TEW2005 soon enough I’m sure, but join me on the ride as I attempt to keep you informed on that a-happenings of the exciting world of WRESTLING VIDEO GAMES!
WWE News
WWE games as we know are an interesting batch, some incredibly good, some completely terrible. Sadly for those WWE fans who currently only own an X-Box, it seems for the reviews and news that this gaming fan has heard that Wrestlemania 21 has fallen into category 2, rather than category 1, which is sad considering the hype and previews of the game which made it look, well pretty anyway. I have yet to play the game myself, and I’m always a guy to reserve judgement, I mean I did buy all three LoW games despite the attacks they got, and heck I even enjoyed them, so maybe it’s not as bad as it’s made out to be. Just a quick heads up for those in the US who have a copy on Wrestlemania 21 and have problems getting on to live, I believe THQ initially released the wrong copy of the game.
Expect a full review of Wrestlemania 21 at Wrestling 101 when one of our review team actually get an X-Box.
One of the WWE games, last year that slotted into category 1 however was Day of Reckoning. DoR was finally a game that the Gamecube using WWE fans could be proud of after been burned by the Wrestlemania Series in the past, maybe the Wrestlemania series is cursed to forever be bad. For those Gamecube fans, I bring you good news, because it has been announced, confirmed and screenshotted that Day of Reckoning will be returning to the Gamecube in the form of Day of Reckoning 2.
From the information I’ve read, Day of Reckoning 2 will be similar to Day of Reckoning, however THQ and Yukes, who are actually known for listening to fans, have said that once again they’ve listened to the fans and will be working on this features that weren’t their strongest points last time. You’ll see expanded story mode, rosters and Create a Wrestler. Wonder if you’ll see “expanded” divas too… Well I suppose that’s another thought for another time. On the subject of story modes, it seems Day of Reckoning 2 will pick up where Day of Reckoning finished, as your character instead of working his way up the ladder will start as champion and the story will begin from that point. It’s certainly a new, interesting way to look at thing and we’ll find out if it’s a success when Day of Reckoning comes out this Autumn.
For those of you who are fans of the Smackdown! series for the Playstation and Playstation 2 and are worried because you haven’t heard anything about a new Smackdown game yet, it’s time to relax, because I bring you good news. It’s been confirmed that there will indeed be a Smackdown vs. Raw 2, and it will be for the Playstation 2. No other details have been released apart from that there is indeed a game so far, and similar to last year, THQ will not be bringing Smackdown vs. Raw 2 to E3, but rather wait until after E3. So we’ll hopefully have more information for you on that next update.
Fire Pro News
Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m pleased to announce for those of you who were afraid that the Fire Pro Series was dead and buried and Spike had moved over to King of Coliseum, that they’re still life in the loved 2D Wrestling Game yet. Announced quite quietly before E3, Spike confirmed that they are currently working on Fire Pro Returns. The game is believed to be released in August, with a vast range of features, including 8 Player Mode, sadly it looks to be a Japan Only release, so for you fans on the Fire Pro Series, you better start saving your money now so you can get your very own Japanese PS2, just to play this wonderful piece of computer game.
TEW2005 News
For those fans of the Booking Simulator and all-around generally popular PC game, Total Extreme Warfare, it has been confirmed for quite some time now that TEW2005 is in development, and from what I’ve been told, they’re currently working on the finishing touches. The plan as far I know is for the game to be released during this summer. This at least explains why Russ keeps shilling it as “the smash hit of the summer”. I thought to give you a little taste of what you can expect from this rather hyped game, well-hyped by the Russ anyway, I’d show you the press release on the features planned for this game….HERE! (will open in a new window)
As you can see, it a lot of work has been put into the improvement of the game, so it’s not just an updated roster, although I do believe that one of the new roster addition is a former Video Games Section Guru in the corner of Joe Sexy. These are of course only rumours that have been fed to me by Grey Dog Software corporate shill and beta tester, Craig Russell.
Whether all the effort has been for naught will be decided when Wrestling101 reviews the game this coming Summer.
TNA News
There may or may not be a game, perhaps, possibly. Honestly, this is the only information we’re currently being fed, I’d honestly be better off trying to solve cryptic clues than figuring out if TNA will actually bring out a game. On more exciting news, my spell checker wants to correct TNA to Tina.
Well that’s all the gaming news that’s out and about at the moment, come back next month where hopefully we’ll have begged someone with an X-Box to give us a review of Wrestlemania 21, and hopefully we’ll be able to tell you, our dear readers the latest news on WWE, Fire Pro, TEW and figure out if there is actually any news on TNA.
Until then, I’ve been Colin Gear and I’ve been stealing Russ’ job.
Colin