A Generic Video Game Podcast About Wrestling
A perhaps-ly named conversation about video games between Anthony Ernst and shidoshi.
//Episode 002
//Show Note: In addition to talking about wrestling games, we chat about 3D, The Girls of Gaming, GameArts & Wolfteam, cutscenes in the 16-bit era, Sonic CD’s soundtrack, favorite game soundtracks, missing the bits, console wars, book report on The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers, the fun of doing interviews, San Diego Comic-Con, figures, and the downfall of Square Enix.
//Radio site: radio.morningproject.com
//Email: generic@morningproject.com
//Twitter: Anthony (@24bitAJE), shidoshi (@pikoeri)
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gogogoldberg
August 24, 2014 — 15:46
I was hoping you would speak about your wrestling fandom at the time you were playing the games. It’s a small quibble for an otherwise fantastic marathon of a podcast.
I loved the AKI N64 games. During that time, I was watching WWE, WCW, and ECW. I would create the characters that I liked from the shows and add them to my “show”. The synergy between those games and the wrestling of that time was incredible.
These days, I think you guys have it right. I would prefer an unlicensed game with all-new characters. A new Saturday Night Slam Masters would be amazing. Apparently, Goichi Suda worked on the early Fire Pro games. How great would a wrestling game made entirely of original Suda 51 characters be?!?!?!?
Regarding ring movement in a 2-D game, Toukon Club for the Famicom had an interesting way of tackling it. The perspective of the ring turned based on character movement like dropkicks or grapples. You can find footage of the game here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6Ua510Uwj0
For entrance themes, prior to the AKI games, the SNES Royal Rumble game was the one to beat. The entrance themes seemed so close to the real thing. I would sit and listen to almost all of them before picking a character. Here is an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7R8xs4w7Y4
Lastly, the Fire Pro GBA games had a few things going for them. My favorite thing about the first one is the Audience Match mode. You selected a style, had a match, and then were rated based on the style. The lucha style had to include high-flying moves. The American style needed to have both wrestlers getting damaged and some close call near-falls. Despite being arbitrary at times, it was a lot of fun.
The crowd in Fire Pro also reacts reasonably well to moves. You can designate signature moves that the crowd will get excited for and the crowd will go nuts for the finishing move. However, if you over-used those moves, the crowd would start to groan and boo. It isn’t exactly organic, but it is a step in the right direction.
Anthony
August 26, 2014 — 11:03
@gogogoldberg : Thank you for the kinds words and impressive insight. Shidoshi and I will do our best to maintain a strong podcast and improve over time. I’m very thankful for the fan support on this network of podcasts and appreciate people like you listening. I’m still a diehard wrestling fan myself, and look forward to future pro-wrestling video game installments. The only thing you have to ask yourself gogogoldberg is….. WHO’S NEXT?!