SmackDown! confidential - part 1

TC: The other [big feature] is interactive grapples. And this is a big one, because the way the game has traditionally been, once you get to put your move on the guy, you just sit there and watch your attack. And this is something we've always been wanting to improve, because that can go on for like ten seconds where you don't have anything to do. So we wanted to make it a more interactive thing, where you're involved the whole way through, and we were able to do that. And just to mention, one of the ideas that's been sitting in our head for a long time - remember in Mario 64? The [fight with the] big turtle guy [King Bowser]. And if you remember, you grab him by the tail and you spin him around. Since way back then, we knew it'd be really great to do something like that with wrestling, where you're really doing it yourself. So there's a lot of that this year, with the interactive grapple, where you're really doing it, and you're seeing your guy shake the other guy, or slam him, or throw him, right when you want him to do it. So that's the big four things for this year.

Are there any wrestling legends you've wanted to include but haven't been able to?

CM: Usually, it all comes down to if we can work out the legal issues or not, with the people we want. So that's the situation, like Ultimate Warrior and people we couldn't get a contract with for whatever reason. Usually, we get who we want to, because there aren't any other problems usually.

To be continued...

Interactive grapples and gameplay inspiredby God of War? Sounds like a recipe for kickass wrestling. In part two, Hiromi, Taku and Colin tell us about their hopes and plans for next-gen consoles, and reveal what the revelations of E3 2006 mean for the future of wrestling.Check it out now.