WWE 13 game thread

CMpunked

http://ie.ign.com/articles/2012/05/29/igns-exclusive-debut-of-wwe-13

Change is inevitable. In the world of professional wrestling, change can come in the blink of an eye. One match. One move. One speech. The simplest things can change the fortunes of many in an instant. Over the past year, the WWE has undergone a sort of revolution, a shift in tone that has allowed two distinct ideas - sports entertainment and wrestling - to co-exist better than they have in the past. The show and the sport are finding equal footing, and it’s largely due to the efforts of one man, CM Punk.

Within WWE’s revolution, CM Punk is its visionary. Almost one year ago, Punk sat down on a stage in front of millions around the world and did something remarkable for a form of entertainment that is as orchestrated as it is raw and real - he spoke his mind. His electric speech struck a nerve with passionate fans who love the art of wrestling more than the theater that surrounds it, but don’t always feel listened to. Punk proclaimed himself the ‘Voice of the Voiceless’, vowing to change things for the better - or quit. Since that fateful day, things have been different. Talented performers who couldn’t catch a break started to appear on television more. Storylines started to become more interesting, using talent in smarter ways. The line between wrestling’s intertwined notions of reality and fiction began to blur. Many found themselves, for the first time in a long time, more captivated than captive.

Mirroring those changes, THQ drastically changed its approach to wrestling video games. Discarding the notion of ‘Smackdown vs. RAW’, the publisher rebranded and revamped its core wrestling simulation product into something entirely different - WWE ’12. The simple motivating factor? The product had grown stale. The changes introduced in WWE ’12 would be significant, but they wouldn’t address everything. This wasn’t by accident. THQ knew that the development time for one game couldn’t contain all of the alterations it wanted to make. The publisher and its development team had committed to a multi-year plan. This year more of that vision will be revealed in WWE ’13.

BTW, there's a very good 3 minute interview with punk on that link.


Screenshots:





More shots here.


Heres an interesting point made down the page:

ROAD TO WRESTLEMANIA IS DEAD.
ENTER: ATTITUDE ERA MODE.

THE RETURN
OF ATTITUDE
The Attitude Era symbolizes all that can be rebellious, shocking and brazen about wrestling. In many ways it embodies the best of the industry, and was responsible for some of the greatest personalities and storylines of all time. During the late '90s, the WWE lived on the edge, and sometimes crossed the lines of decency, to beat its competition. The result was a period of unprecedented success.

As much as the modern era of the WWE is forging its own path, it owes much to the stars that emerged some 15 years ago. The Attitude Era created a new world for the WWE. It rewrote the rules. It’s unlikely the company, or the sport, will ever see such radical thinking again. Born mostly out of necessity, those in charge seemed to literally do anything and everything that came to mind, at first in hopes that something would work, and eventually to keep that momentum going.

The ‘Road to Wrestlemania’ experience for WWE ’12 attempted to tell an original storyline focusing primarily on three wrestlers - Sheamus, Triple H and a created wrestler of the player’s choosing. In an effort to dictate the overall narrative, many matches ended through scripted cutscenes that took control away from the player. Whether because of the limited character selection, or the fact that the storyline removed match control from the player, many were averse to the entire concept. It turns out THQ has been listening. ‘Road to Wrestlemania’ is dead. That's where Attitude Era Mode comes in.

Despite the fact that the Attitude Era is a well-documented part of history, THQ’s goal here is not to reinvent the past, to change things just for the sake of doing so. This single-player mode is an abridged recreation of a memorable time in sports entertainment, allowing players to journey through various storylines as eight of the most popular superstars of that time, including “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.

The chapter-based saga moves through WWE’s struggle and eventual triumph during the so-called “Monday Night Wars,” which saw the company on the brink of defeat at the hands of a powerful rival, WCW. Told from the perspective of the WWE during that period, matches and in-game cutscenes are supplemented by superb video packages assembled by WWE’s own editors. These short vignettes put matches, feuds and larger industry developments into perspective, not only keeping the overall story going, but giving a bit of a history lesson in the process.



THQ isn’t simply relying on the allure of legendary stars to boost its Attitude endeavors. It has learned from previous ‘Road to Wrestlemania’ efforts. Seeing this new mode in action proves that. First off, the vast majority of matches are just that - matches. While there is certainly a desire to stay true to history, and tell the stories the way they played out on television, the developers of WWE ’13 are mindful that wrestling fans want a fun game first and foremost. Therefore each match is broken down into a series of main or side objectives, which are clearly labeled when on-screen, can be easily accessed, and will disappear from a list when they are completed.

In general, main objectives are simple (pin your opponent, grab the title), allowing players to advance the storyline simply by winning matches. However optional side objectives are more meticulous by nature, setting more specific victory conditions - asking players to put an opponent through a table, for example. Those looking to get the most out of WWE ’13 will want to pay attention to all the game asks of them. A wealth of bonus material can be unlocked by completing all side tasks, and there can be several per match. The developers have even included a few ‘hidden’ objectives, opening up further rewards if players decide to pursue a more comprehensive strategy for beating the mode.

There’s an emphasis here on the core game experience, without the clutter and complication that can arise by trying to dictate the conclusion of a match, robbing players of the feeling of victory or control. Backstage sequences were particularly guilty of this, placing players in odd environments that the game’s mechanics poorly supported. There’s some good news on this front: they have mostly been removed, with the exception of a few matches that take place outside the ring.

WWE ’13 is such a massive product that describing gameplay changes and a radically overhauled single player concept just scratches the surface. THQ has yet to fully reveal the Attitude Era mode, which has substantial depth. Universe Mode hasn’t surfaced. Create-a-Superstar has its upgrades. New matches, rings and moves are on the way. And all of this is to say nothing about the roster, which contains stars from the past and present, including a formidable array of wrestlers from the late ‘90s. THQ’s revolution may have started last year, but if WWE ’13 is any indication, the publisher is continuing to radically reinvent the way it approaches its sports entertainment video games. Wrestling fans couldn’t ask for more.

I'm quite looking forward to this...

GTR63

Read on N4G earlier that there will be nearly as much attitude era guys as modern ones.
Is this out the same week as Assassins Creed III, think so.

JohnMarston

CMpunked wrote: »

ROAD TO WRESTLEMANIA IS DEAD.
ENTER: ATTITUDE ERA MODE.

Im at work so i cant express myself fully but:

Penn

The product had grown stale. The changes introduced in WWE ’12 would be significant, but they wouldn’t address everything. This wasn’t by accident. THQ knew that the development time for one game couldn’t contain all of the alterations it wanted to make. The publisher and its development team had committed to a multi-year plan. This year more of that vision will be revealed in WWE ’13.

Translation:

We knew WWE '12 would suck. But rather than take a year off and work solely on WWE '13, we released WWE '12 knowing it wasn't up to scratch and wasn't what we wanted to do. But of course, we didn't say that at the time.

Its just going to be another unfinished game. But this year something different. The Attitude era featuring wrestlers from that generation .

Steve austin
The Rock
Bret Hart
Triple H
the Big Show
Chris Jericho
The Undertaker
Kane

Hmmmm wait a minute. i am beginning to notice a trend.

Professey Chin

THQ rely on the WWE games more then they really should (but they don't have much else). Being allowed take a year off was never gonna happen

MitchKoobski

There would be uproar from WWE if THQ would even try and suggest not having a yearly release.

Fifa has a release every year with updated teams and very small updates to gameplay. Sometimes you might get a new game mode, sometimes there might be a particular feature added to the gameplay, but thats it.

If there wasnt a yearly WWE game, people would be complaining that the wrestlers aren't updated. The argument could be made to do it as dlc and just have one game every now and then, but you could say the same thing about Fifa.

I'm really looking forward to this. I really enjoyed WWE '12. You can tell the work is being done by actual fans. The whole WCW-theme of last year really shows.

GTR63

The Great Chinholio wrote: »

THQ rely on the WWE games more then they really should (but they don't have much else). Being allowed take a year off was never gonna happen

THQ have a lot of games that while good should of been better eg UFC, Saints Row, Red Faction, Homefront I have high hopes for Darksiders 2 and Metro Last Light but I always have the feeling that they could screw them up but both have been delayed so I am expecting something reasonably polished.

seandotcomm

Roster Leak

Superstars (38)

Albero Del Rio
Big Show
Booker T
Brock Lesnar
Broduc Clay
CM Punk
Chris Jericho
Christian
Cody Rhodes
Daniel Bryan
David Otunga
Dolph Ziggler
Epico
Heath Slater
Hunico
Jack Swagger
Jinder Mahal
John Cena
Justin Gabriel
Kane
Kevin Nash
Kofi Kingston
Mark Henry
Primo
R-Truth
Randy Orton
Rey Mysterio
Santino Marella
Sheamus
Sin Cara
Ted DiBiase
The Great Khali
The Miz
The Rock
Triple H
Undertaker
Wade Barrett
Zack Ryder

Divas (7)

Alicia Fox
Beth Phoenix
Brie bella
Eve
Kelly Kelly
Kharma
Nikki Bella

Attitude Era (32)

Animal
Big Bossman
Big Show (Attitude)
Billy Gunn
Bret Hart
British Bulldog
Cactus Jack
Chris Jericho (Attitude)
Christian (Attitude)
Dude Love
Eddie Guerrero
Edge
Godfather
Hawk
Kane (Attitude)
Ken Shamrock
Lita
Mankind
Mark Henry
Mike Tyson
Mr. McMahon
Road Dogg
Shane McMahon
Shawn Michaels
Stephanie McMahon
Stone Cold
The Rock (Attitude)
Triple H (Attitude)
Trish Stratus
Undertaker (Attitude)
Vader
X-Pac


If you go to the THQ site you can see that there's 32 slots for Attitude Era stars. This roster was leaked before the site went live. Was got by trial and error of going to the roster page and editing the page address to the name of an attitude era star eg: http://wwe.thq.com/fighter/x-pac

only the above 32 names redirected to an error 404 page. which means their page was temporarily hidden until the roster reveal. The leaks from last year worked the same. thq have since copped it and redirected all alumni names to the error404 page. The list was compiled by a few people who managed to try a few addresses before they were taken down.

I'm well happy if this is the list of attitude stars. hopefully more like the APA will make the DLC

gnfnrhead

Same as every other year from the sounds of things. "awesome new innovative features!!!!!" which in reality will be a half assed, boring waste of time.

Stop trying to come up with new modes. They all suck. I don't think it's a stretch to say that the majority of people just want a decent story mode that doesn't force you down one path. Do that instead!

JohnMarston

That roster needs John Lauranaitis and an Attitude Era Vince McMahon

Also there is a distinct lack of Attitude Era divas

starviewadams

No AJ?!

rovert

starviewadams wrote: »

No AJ?!

The rest of the Divas will be DLC most likely.

GTR63

Bossman and Big Show eh....is that create a storyline feature thingy still in the game.

CMpunked

GTR63 wrote: »

Bossman and Big Show eh....is that create a storyline feature thingy still in the game.

That's going to be hilarious!


I hope for the current day wrestlers who were active in the attitude era; Show, Jericho, etc, they have their attitude era attire available also.

seandotcomm

CMpunked wrote: »

I hope for the current day wrestlers who were active in the attitude era; Show, Jericho, etc, they have their attitude era attire available also.

They will yea. I actually dont think I've been as excited for a Wrestling game since WWF Attitude and No Mercy came out back in the day

DM_7

Would i get anything for WWE 12 if i traded it now? I don't use the x box much this time of year.

I like the sound of the new story mode, where pre determined endings won't be used. I hate when you press a button during a match and get some cut scene instead of letting me have the actual match.

CMpunked

Some notable enhancements that i came across:

Pinning is now not only influenced by damage, but the power of the move that was previously executed.

Nice. This is something its needed for a while. Im sick of the AI or my nephew who i play with wearing me down, hitting me with a kick and winning with the pin. Its too frustrating.

Three settings - “Quick”, “Normal” and “Epic” - will affect the overall pacing of a fight, independent of AI difficulty. Factors such as momentum, damage, enemy aggressiveness and even kick out and reversal rates will be affected. The difference can be staggering.

I like this a lot. I hated in career mode how a simple throwaway match on raw could be 3 times longer than your 1 on 1 title match at wm, the last match in the career.

In general, main objectives are simple (pin your opponent, grab the title), allowing players to advance the storyline simply by winning matches. However optional side objectives are more meticulous by nature, setting more specific victory conditions - asking players to put an opponent through a table, for example. Those looking to get the most out of WWE ’13 will want to pay attention to all the game asks of them. A wealth of bonus material can be unlocked by completing all side tasks, and there can be several per match. The developers have even included a few ‘hidden’ objectives, opening up further rewards if players decide to pursue a more comprehensive strategy for beating the mode.

I hope there is a metric ton of these objectives and not just a poor list of like, 10 that you could nearly pull them all off in the one match. That would be a major letdown.


I would also love an array of attitude era WM/RR/SrvrSrs entrances. All the ones from 16-22 would be pretty cool.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Looks promising, I didn't really enjoy 12 at all unfortunately.

jaykhunter

Neomic posted this on another board, I think it's pretty important when considering WWE 13 by THQ.

it's more of the fact that THQ are spending way too much money on promotional campaigns for games, creating hype that they cannot live up to. Red Faction: Armageddon comes to mind. They also spent a ridiculous amount of money developing the uDraw which retailers couldn't sell, and bought very expensive licences to create games for it (Spongebob Squarepants being the most expensive). Not to mention their CEO, Brian Farrell, was making $700,000 a year, which they weren't making enough money to safely pay him that. Just poor money management.

Because of this, and being that they're a publicly traded company, interest in their product have gone down and their shares have gone from about $30 to currently $.61. NASDAQ required shares to be a minimum of $1 to be listed, and they have until July 23rd to get it back up to that point, which at this rate, is seemingly impossible. THQ will be gone by next Spring unless a miracle happens.

if THQ closes down after WWE '13 is released, then the servers will likely go down with it since THQ is hosting them in-house now. There's even the small possibility that they end up closing after the game goes "Gold" and the online not work out of the box on release day. THQ would have to try and cut a deal with GameSpy then to host the servers, which they really don't have the money for either way.

Anyone who's looking into purchasing WWE '13, just be cautious because if you think the online barely working this year was bad, imagine buying a game where the online servers no longer exist.

jaykhunter

There's a great article listing out just how THQ are in such bad shape : http://kotaku.com/5881479/how-thq-went-from-bad-to-very-bad Here's a snippet :

Blood Sports. THQ has a lot of money tied up in the licensing and development of games based on professional wrestling and UFC mixed martial arts. So much so that the licenses for both the WWE and UFC cost almost as much (with the UFC deal's dollar terms unknown, maybe more) than THQ is currently worth.The former games are...OK, the latter pretty damn good. But they've over-invested in a market that's always going to be a niche one, meaning the chances to make a ton of money, ala EA Sports, were always slim.


No Kids Allowed. THQ were once masters of the licensed kids games, thanks to their deal with Disney. And THQ used to make a lot of money from kids games. THQ doesn't make Disney games any more, though, and in fact doesn't make kids games at all, having closed down its last remaining family developers last year. It's a black hole in the company's finances it's been unable to fill.


Red Faction. A few years ago, THQ brought back the Red Faction franchise with Guerilla, an open world game with a robust physics engine. It had its problems, but it sold well, reviewed well and had a lot of promise for a sequel. That sequel, Armageddon, proceeded to improve nothing, and indeed in many ways removed the best bits of Guerilla. It was so poorly received that it contributed to the premature shelving of the entire franchise, only a couple of years after it had seemed on the cusp of bigger things.


Red Faction, Part Deux. Oh, but it wasn't just the games world where THQ blew it with Red Faction. It also thought it would be a good idea to make a TV show about it. Not one based on the awesome Guerilla, though. It made one based on the awful Armageddon. The show was equally awful, which is why you probably never saw it, or had even remembered it existed until now. Sorry. Way to blow a franchise's chances at multimedia cross-over, THQ!


Homefront. A disaster. THQ marketed this game as a serious contender to the military shooters coming out of Activision and EA. The thing is, Activision's shooters are made by Infinity Ward and Treyarch. EA's are made by studios like DICE. THQ's shooter was made by...the guys behind Frontlines. Homefront did a few neat things, especially in multiplayer, but it was a short, linear, boring and occasionally stupid/insulting game. The gulf between the amount of marketing behind the game and its eventual quality perhaps best sums up THQ's problems of late; namely, you can't just throw money at bad games and hope that'll make them better.


uDraw. A bizarre, and if accounts are to be believed, devastating business decision. Nobody ever asked for a tablet drawing device on modern consoles. And nobody ever bought one. The fact this thing even made it off the drawing board, let alone got to the stage where it was costing millions of dollars, is baffling.


Warhammer. Another example of THQ not really understanding a license, or its market potential. Warhammer 40K is a storied franchise, one that's very popular in Europe, but it's not so big in the US, limiting its global appeal. To have stuck Relic - one of the world's premier developers - on the license for so long is like grinding metal. The Dawn of War games, and even the latest Space Marine title, were always going to hit a glass ceiling because of that license.

The long and the short of it is that this game is being made by a company about to go out of business (and all the cutting corners involved, in a project that generally cuts corners) so it's likely going to suck.

gnfnrhead

The only thing I ever did online was download a few wrestlers to try freshen it up. I'm sure WWE could handle that part themselves if it came to it.

Besides, I doubt they will have much trouble finding someone else to take it on. I'm guessing it sells a fair amount every year.

JohnMarston

No William Regal on the roster either.

Boo! :mad:

Professey Chin

I wonder how EA would actually do with the license. Their MMA game was much better then THQs UFC games but the lack of the UFC brand killed it.
Their Def Jam fighting games from the PS2 were actually pretty enjoyable in arcade gameplay wise (like the allstar & wrestlemania games)
All we have to do is ignore Mayhem & backstage assault :pac:

jaykhunter

EA would be a great coup for WWE. Massive brand. And WWE will love their obnoxious anti-piracy measures :P

CMpunked

EA would be a great company to take over the licence. Their analogue based gameplay could be very interesting when it comes to wrestling.

Garseys

100% agree on EA, Especially considering their attention to detail.

I'm looking forward to WWE '13. Just for the attitude era stuff, how i've longed to have a match between Austin and Rock on RAW is WAR in a modern game.

We'll never get a roster the depth of RAW 2, which had pretty much every active competitor in 2003 on the roster (apart from Jeff Hardy I think? )

Machismo Fan

All this game needs is Mr. Laurinaitis to be great.

JohnMarston

Machismo Fan wrote: »

All this game needs is Mr. Laurinaitis to be great.

And an attitude era Vince McMahon in his black tanktop.

airmax87

I know It was a long shot, but I really wanted Steve Blackman in the list haha.

The "leaked" roster has no Naked Mideon so no purchase from me I'm afraid.

Charlie Haughy

X Pac and billy gunn are apparently officially in this game now.

Im guessing it will have some DX gimmick in it.

Cherry_Cola

Disappointed at the lack of Val Venis, Gangrel & Kai En Tai.

Professey Chin

THQ after losing the UFC license to EA
Another nail in the coffin

GTR63

The Great Chinholio wrote: »

THQ after losing the UFC license to EA
Another nail in the coffin

G'man Dana a man of his word alrite.

rovert

For the mods, forum and posters sake I don't want to veer off totally into MMA but UFC, WWE & THQ are all very much codependent. Anyway found this interesting:

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2012/6/4/3063672/ufc-and-ea-announce-new-video-game-deal-at-e3#104385270

BrianC93

Jaysus they can't have an attitude era roster without Farrooq and Bradshaw

airmax87

BrianC93 wrote: »

Jaysus they can't have an attitude era roster without Farrooq and Bradshaw

Id buy it just to see the entrance.

BrianC93

airmax87 wrote: »

Id buy it just to see the entrance.

ah yea sure thats the highlight of the game ha

GTR63

Wonder would they ever release 2 copies of the game like Pokemon do, one with a modern roster the other with a attitude one. I trade D-Lo Brown, Gangrel and a female Steve Blackman holding a nest ball! for Jey Uso, Trent Barreta and Cody Rhodes who has Surf AND Fly.

CMpunked

GTR63 wrote: »

Wonder would they ever release 2 copies of the game like Pokemon do, one with a modern roster the other with a attitude one. I trade D-Lo Brown, Gangrel and a female Steve Blackman holding a nest ball! for Jey Uso, Trent Barreta and Cody Rhodes who has Surf AND Fly.

You don't think THQ are in enough financial trouble? :pac:

GTR63

CMpunked wrote: »

You don't think THQ are in enough financial trouble? :pac:

I'm only having the craic really. I wouldn't be suprised if they sold the wwe licence after this game. As long as Darksiders 2 and Metro Last Light get released I won't mind.

Cherry_Cola

I reckon they held back a few names for the inevitable DLC they have planned for it. They need to scrape every cent they can get out of it.

Were is Steve Blackman, The APA , The Mean Street Posse !

GTR63

Deleted User wrote: »

Were is Steve Blackman, The APA , The Mean Street Posse !

I reckon The Posse will be held back(again) for big megabucks DLC. Joey Abs, Pete Gas and Rodney should really be coverstars.

airmax87

Course they should be coverstars look at their quality haircuts.

Furious-Red

As noted earlier, the first week of pre-orders for the THQ’s WWE ’13 video game were up 250% compared to WWE ’12.

http://www.prowrestlingscoops.com/wwe/wwe-news/rikishis-son-training-to-be-a-wrestler-wwe-13-note/

CMpunked

Furious-Red wrote: »

http://www.prowrestlingscoops.com/wwe/wwe-news/rikishis-son-training-to-be-a-wrestler-wwe-13-note/

that could sound so much more impressive if we actually knew numbers.
250% isnt that great when last years numbers could be 100 or something.

JohnMarston

CMpunked wrote: »

that could sound so much more impressive if we actually knew numbers.
250% isnt that great when last years numbers could be 100 or something.

I think the pre-order dlc of the 2011 version of The Rock was a big selling point for last years game. Definitely over 100, but not by much

Loughc

JohnMarston wrote: »

I think the pre-order dlc of the 2011 version of The Rock was a big selling point for last years game. Definitely over 100, but not by much

I pre-ordered it just to get the Rock, grant it I pre-ordered it like 3 days before it was due to be released anyway!

CMpunked

lockie1983 wrote: »

I pre-ordered it just to get the Rock, grant it I pre-ordered it like 3 days before it was due to be released anyway!

That was my tactic too. I know the local GS sends their orders out a week before the game comes in so thats when i went down to put the order in.