WWE SmackDown! vs RAW 2006

[Mountainous Cleavage]

Awesome, CAE is in.

[FLiam]

And CAE is?

Create an Entrance?

If so, they would rock of awesomeness.

[zero]

And CAE is?

Create an Entrance?

If so, they would rock of awesomeness.

Yep, I assume it will be pretty much the same as DoR and DoR2, which is awesome. But it can be a huge pain in the ass as well, here's hoping they fix some of the annoyances with it for SDvR06.

[Mountainous Cleavage]

Yeah, CAE = Create an Entrance. I'm assuming its in because at the end of the article on CAW/CAB, they said that theres other creation options like CAE and create a stable.

[R.W.]

Full legends list to be announced tomorrow over on IGN

[ravenjuice]

Does it say create a move on there? Or are my eyes playing tricks again?

[zero]

Does it say create a move on there? Or are my eyes playing tricks again?

That is an ongoing rumor, I don't see how the hell it would work though. Or why they wouldn't be hyping the hell out of it.

EDIT

Big update tomorrow over at IGN

So to recap -- Friday is WWE Day here at IGN. On tap is...

-- All legends finally named

-- 3D Locker Room explored

-- 20th Arena Revealed

-- Mystery Title Shown

-- No Mercy PPV Simulation (Insiders Only)

-- THQ Answers Reader Questions (10 for this week)

-- Another Superstar of the Day

Also, on Monday -- two more surprises.

Oh, and Cena has his spinner belt, and it actually spins. So even if the gameplay is terrible, the season mode sucks, and online play is wrecked like last year, we still get the spinnah!!!

Edited October 7, 2005 by Zero

[EddieRuckus]

Due to Cena's belt, I will now make a black rapper and beat the crap out of him to become champion and keep the spinner on it. Then Chris Masters will come out of nowhere and win it.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Sweet. I'll have to keep checking this topic tomorrow during break

[R.W.]

Does it say create a move on there? Or are my eyes playing tricks again?

I think it's a poorly named "Create A Moveset", that's all.

[ravenjuice]

yeah, that would be the logical answer. Although surely it would be possible, kind of like create a trick on tony hawks? Just link different parts of other move's together?

[Mountainous Cleavage]

I may not like the guy, but I'm kind of disappointed that they couldn't do Masters' entrance right.

[Guest Helmed Horror]

I may not like the guy, but I'm kind of disappointed that they couldn't do Masters' entrance right.

[zero]

Here's the Q&A

As we've learned, two ladders will be coming into play this year. My question is what are the advantages? Will we be able to perform special maneuvers with dual ladders or is this simply an upgrade, as it suitable is pertaining to tag-team match-ups.

Cory Ledesma (THQ): This year we've added some new fighting elements when you are on the ladder with another opponent. There are now strikes and grapples you can do on the ladder as well as reversals to those moves. The addition of the extra ladder is to offer more weapons and opportunities for multiple Superstars to use the ladder. We are definitely looking into adding new special maneuvers with dual ladders in the near future. I personally loved the ladder match at WrestleMania 21 and all of the new moves they were able to do with multiple ladders. So hopefully we can start incorporating some of those cool new moves in future games.

Will there be player injuries implemented into this year's season mode? For example things like a broken leg or a torn ligament that will cause the player to miss a number of weeks. He may also miss title shots or important matches because of the injuries, something like the madden series.

Cory Ledesma: This is a great question and a subject we talk about frequently when planning out Season Mode each year. Unfortunately there won't be any injuries in this year's Season Mode. Injuries in our current Season Mode format would interrupt/alter storylines and force us to create a lot of extra scenes to support injuries. But a cool feature we did add this year is whenever you get cut open in a Season Mode match your character will appear with a bandage on his forehead in the cut-scenes the following week. So, your character won't be magically healed.

However, injuries do happen in a surprise mode that we have not announced yet. Stay tuned on IGN in the future to find out more about this surprise!

Once again Divas aren't playable in season, is there a specific reason for that? And is there a plan to make the Divas playable in season on the up and coming games?

Cory Ledesma: Every year we have a certain budget of cutscene time that we can work with due to the time it takes to create these scenes as well as how much space we have on the DVD. So, these are the main reasons that Divas will not be selectable as your main character in Season Mode this year. In order to make 'playable Divas' work in Season Mode, we would need to create custom storylines just for them. Creating those custom storylines would take away cutscene time from the main Season Mode. Our main goal is to offer the user the experience of being on WWE programming and experience the same drama and entertaining storylines you see on television each week. We want to offer that to its full capacity so that we can tell really compelling stories.

Also, the goal of Season Mode is the quest for the championship at WrestleMania, so it's difficult to come up with compelling storylines for an entire year for Divas with a limited roster of 6 or 7 characters. We would of course love to do Tag Team and Stable specific storylines as well, but they fall under the same category as Diva storylines. However, we understand the importance of Divas and that some fans would like to experience the entertaining storylines they can offer. So, we will continue to explore the possibility of making specific Diva storylines. We also made a conscious effort to incorporate them in our current Season Mode as much as possible during storylines and as managers similar to what the WWE does in their storylines.

Have you ever thought to take a transition away from the standard gameplay that we are accustomed to and start over fresh, or possibly keep some essence from the standard gameplay but it expand on it highly to make it seem entirely new?

Cory Ledesma: Sure. We are diehard wrestling fans and gamers here at THQ. We talk wrestling all the time. We are always looking for ways to improve the wrestling game genre. Whether we talk about new game concepts or how to improve our existing games. Of course, I don't want to reveal any of our secrets or future plans, but I can promise you we will always be pushing the envelope of the wrestling genre here at THQ. I also think fans are going to be extremely happy with the direction we took this year with the New Momentum system, New Stamina system and some of the cool features that stem out of those new systems such as playing possum, stealing taunts and double knock-outs.

In online last year many people used cheap tactics to win like Gameshark. So my question is if THQ but like some kind of checking device for cheating online to check if a user is using Gameshark and be banned like in SOCOM 2?

Cory Ledesma: This is unfortunate, but we do not check for Gameshark cheating online. Players will have profiles this year with detailed stats, so you will be able to weed out the cheaters by name and if they have some suspicious stats. This is something we will look into the future to fix.

I could have sworn that Jeremy Dunham was using Gameshark when he beat me online last year [Ed's Note: Yeah, you wish buddy!]

My question is about the roster, not to reveal it but what is the determining factor on who makes the cut? I don't see it having to do with who's currently in the WWE, because if that were the case, the Dudley's would be in the game and not Haas or Joy as they were cut first and yet their in the game. Does Vince McMahon have the final say on who is put in? Is it THQ? How does this work exactly?

Cory Ledesma: I knew this question was going to come up because I constantly see these discussions on the IGN message boards. Here's the explanation: As some of you know, a roster needs to be set very early in our development cycle in order for us to begin work on models, storylines, animations, etc. So this is why you occasionally see a small amount of Superstars who are no longer with the WWE still in the game. As everyone knows, the WWE is always changing and that's one of the many things that make it so great. The WWE does a great job keeping the show fresh and entertaining. New Superstars come up and occasionally Superstars leave. And unlike traditional North American sports, there is no 'off-season' or trade deadline in the WWE, these things can happen anytime in the year. With that said, the WWE and THQ try our best to predict the future as much as possible, but anything can happen in 6 months. So instead of removing these Superstars we decide to leave them in, so that the game can have a bigger roster and a wider variety of options in other modes.

As far as the roster decisions, THQ works very closely with the top creative people in the WWE to create the best roster possible. The WWE also likes to keep the games fresh just like the show, so sometimes we make decisions to add Superstars who are up-and-coming rather then some Superstars who have been in the game the last 3 or 4 years. I hope this answers your questions. Unfortunately I can't go into any more detail than that.

Where do you guys get the input from when you decide which NEW moves are included in the game? Is it from Puro wrestling? Indy wrestling? How many new such moves this year?

Cory Ledesma: Well a large majority of new moves are decided by the roster and any new Superstars we have of course. As far as new moves not associated with the roster, Yukes' gets their inspiration from a variety of sources. Their animation team consists of some really diehard wrestling fans. They watch everything from WWE, Japanese wrestling, Indy wrestling and Mexican luchador style wrestling. They pick moves that are new, unique, and visually appealing. I really don't know how many moves are exactly new this year. We've overhauled quite a bit animation-wise; we have something like 40% new animations.

Will there be a new soundtrack?

Cory Ledesma: Yes, there will definitely be a new soundtrack this year. We got some really cool tracks this year including some exclusive tracks made just for WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2006. The soundtrack has a wide range of music, with a nice mix of some rock and some hip-hop. These tracks and the instrumentals tracks can also be used for your Created Superstars entrance.

How much input do the fans have when it comes to the game? Do you use a lot of the ideas suggested on boards such as these?

Cory Ledesma: I think you'd be really surprised how much input we gather from the fans on the IGN message boards. We are especially interested in seeing the fans' reactions when new articles are posted on IGN. We like to see whether you guys like the new feature or what you hope to see in the new feature. We also get a lot of input on what Legends you want to see in the game. We know you guys are diehard fans and that you have really good ideas. It would be a shame if we ignored our fans and I want to thank you guys for the great feedback and dedication you show. You guys do make a big impact on the game's direction.

Is it true that WWE SmackDown vs. RAW will be out in the UK first this year? I live in Scotland and all the retailers here say it's out the 11th of November. Also, I would like to thank THQ for making the SmackDown games.

Cory Ledesma: To be honest, I don't know the exact release date in the U.K. and as you probably know dates can change, so I don't want to go on the record with an exact date. But it's great to see that the SmackDown vs. RAW games have a big following in Scotland and I promise you that you guys (and girls) will love this year's game, as it is the deepest and most ambitious wrestling game we've ever made!

Typical bullshit from THQ's publicity people if you ask me. Nothing new revealed, and it's basically THQ dodging tough questions, sucking off the WWE, and claiming they care about the fans. THQ didn't give a shit about the fans until they almost rioted after they released WrestleManiaX8

[MalaCloudy Black]

But a cool feature we did add this year is whenever you get cut open in a Season Mode match your character will appear with a bandage on his forehead in the cut-scenes the following week. So, your character won't be magically healed.

O RLY?! KOOL!

Stupid.

They had that in, like, WCW/nWo Revenge ffs..

[zero]

I really wish THQ would visit EWB instead of the IGN boards because the tards over there request the stupidest shit to be put in the game. Seriously, you'd think they play the game to watch an entrance. I mean, I like entrances too but they say shit like "OMFG, Shaun Mikales hazent where dat chaine male atyre cense 2003!11111111 FUCK TIS GAME1!!!!!!!!!11"

[TMM]

Weren't they suppose to reveal a bunch of stuff today? Like the other legends? I'm really interested in knowing who they are.

How many legends are there on the game? Isn't it about 15 or something?

[zero]

Weren't they suppose to reveal a bunch of stuff today? Like the other legends? I'm really interested in knowing who they are.

How many legends are there on the game? Isn't it about 15 or something?

13 Legends, updates trickle in as the day goes on.

[TMM]

Weren't they suppose to reveal a bunch of stuff today? Like the other legends? I'm really interested in knowing who they are.

How many legends are there on the game? Isn't it about 15 or something?

13 Legends, updates trickle in as the day goes on.

13...I knew I couldn't count. What updates have there been today? I went there earlier and saw the Q&A and the John Cena superstar profile and that was it.

[zero]

Cena's profile was yesterday, the only update today was the Q&A. Usually their big updates come in around 5 or 6pm Eastern US time.

Edited October 7, 2005 by Zero